Perhaps there is a future worth hoping for.
It's bad enough that we have apps launching our apps. While I tolerate Steam purely as a matter of convenience, every additional layer of software between me and the executable I'm seeking is a distance I'm forced to further stray from God's light. But a launcher launching another launcher? That's a crime against human decency, and no perpetrator is worse than the EA app.
Luckily, according to a tweet from BioWare, Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't require the EA app to launch on Steam. "We'll be Steam native - meaning the EA App will not be required to play the game," it says. The curse is finally loosening.
We're making great progress towards our fall launch date, and can confirm early that #DragonAge: The Veilguard is going all-in on @Steam features!⚔️We're verified on Steam Deck.⚔️We'll be Steam native - meaning the EA App will not be required to play the game.Details on…July 25, 2024
I don't remember much about Origin except the primal revulsion that the EA app's predecessor evoked by appearing unbidden when I asked Steam to fire up an EA game—kind of like when you're opening the fridge for some leftovers you're excited to get back to, and you're met with a subtle whiff that tells you there's something in there you'd be better off without. The EA app, meanwhile, is a vivid, waking terror.
Since the EA app replaced Origin in 2022, there's not a single EA game I've tried to play that it hasn't bungled in one way or another. There was a recent dark chapter in my life where I spent three hours repeatedly reinstalling the app just so I could play Battlefront 2. It was such a harrowing experience that when I got the urge to revisit Titanfall 2 a few months later, I was so thoroughly disheartened on seeing the EA app appear that I just turned my PC off and left the house.
The world is gentler outside. There are no EA apps beneath the trees.
By leaving the EA app behind, maybe The Veilguard is a sign of a kinder future where publishers understand that their additional layers of launchers are only ever worsening the user experience. Hopefully Ubisoft is paying attention. Ubisoft Connect isn't without its sins.
