Migrating Your EA Games from Steam or Retail to Origin

[Rob Williams]

A little known fact about EA's Origin is that many games you've purchased elsewhere, either at retail or on Steam, can be registered and used through it. The problem: EA doesn't have a list of titles that support this. Until that happens, we've started our own, and welcome submissions to see it grow.

Read through the article, check out the support table, and then discuss it here!

If you want to add an entry to the list, please post the name of the game here, and whether or not it was successful.Please test the code at both locations on two separate days, to prevent a false entry in the table due to EA's servers being complicated.

 

[marfig]

I haven't tried anything else yet, but if you want to add a third column to that list, I can confirm physical retail versions of Dragon Ages Origins will be registered. But then and again, I suppose that is to be expected of any EA game being sold on physical stores. So not sure how valuable this piece of info is

I can't unfortunately help with anything else. My entire collection is composed of physical disks. What I will be interested in is to install and then see if I can register some non EA game that is being sold on Origin. I'll let you know ASAP.

Now, with that said, wow Rob! Just wow! Awesome what you did here, mate. Thanks a lot for all the work you have to gone through to give us this great article. :techgage:

Edit: for some reason -- maybe because of the late hour -- I completely missed the parts of the article where retail was specifically mentioned. I wrote this post without realizing you were already covering that ground. Anyways, I'll sure help on that area as soon as possible.

 

[eunoia]

Does this website seem amateurish to anyone else?

Also: Is Origin Computers pissed off right now?

 

[marfig]

I felt it was a little barebones yeah. Maybe amateurish, I dunno. The online store certainly isn't that appealing. It definitely isn't a Steam Store where consumers may find an hour has passed and they are still eagerly looking around the store.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

Maybe some of the failed transfers comes down to DRM/Securom based issues, though it won't explain all of them. Mass Effect 1 made use of some more serious DRM, while Mass Effect 2 did not (just DLC). But this wouldn't explain Crysis. Spore was both DRM locked and had a rather extensive online connection for universe populating. SW-KotR is just an old game, so maybe more difficult to keep track of serials.

It's nice that they offer the feature, always good to have backups of games in multiple locations (services) without having to pay for multiple copies.

 

[Rob Williams]

But then and again, I suppose that is to be expected of any EA game being sold on physical stores.

I didn't test a retail game; I just know it's possible to register them. What I figure is that if the CD key on Steam registers, then the retail copy will as well (they'd likely use the same code formats).

Now, with that said, wow Rob! Just wow! Awesome what you did here, mate. Thanks a lot for all the work you have to gone through to give us this great article. :techgage:

Thanks man! Glad you like it

Does this website seem amateurish to anyone else?

I kind of like it to be honest. It just lacks in content. Well, that's an understatement.

Maybe some of the failed transfers comes down to DRM/Securom based issues, though it won't explain all of them. Mass Effect 1 made use of some more serious DRM, while Mass Effect 2 did not (just DLC). But this wouldn't explain Crysis. Spore was both DRM locked and had a rather extensive online connection for universe populating. SW-KotR is just an old game, so maybe more difficult to keep track of serials.

Could be a DRM issue, I'm not sure. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to any of the games that we couldn't install, though. I mean, even Spore was supposed to be accepted but it for some reason wasn't.

On a side note, I have to say that I didn't realize just how clunky Origin was until I installed a game other than the BF3 beta. I installed Crysis Warhead, to see if the DRM would strike me again, and after downloading, I had to click "Unpack", then wait for that, then "Ready to Install", at which point a generic Windows installer popped up and allowed me to install the game.

I don't think Steam has much to worry about. I foresee many Origin accounts that have a small handful of games, rather than the bucketloads that many Steam gamers have.

Oh, and as for the DRM issue:



Ahh, feels like the good ole days.

 

[killem2]

THANK YOU!!!!

You have no idea how happy you are going to make my son. He is now 7 and he actually cried (and he almost never cries about anything), when I had to tell him if you bought burn out on steam, you are unable to buy the expansion cars. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to get a pleasant surprise.

 

[Rob Williams]

THANK YOU!!!!

You have no idea how happy you are going to make my son. He is now 7 and he actually cried (and he almost never cries about anything), when I had to tell him if you bought burn out on steam, you are unable to buy the expansion cars. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to get a pleasant surprise.

Wow, that's really the case? Are you sure it's not just tied to your EA account in general? With Test Drive Unlimited 2, I own the game through Steam but all car purchases had to be done on Atari's site, since Steam didn't handle the DLC.

Either way, hope this solution works out for you.

 

[killem2]

Wow, that's really the case? Are you sure it's not just tied to your EA account in general? With Test Drive Unlimited 2, I own the game through Steam but all car purchases had to be done on Atari's site, since Steam didn't handle the DLC.

Either way, hope this solution works out for you.

It is a known issue with just steam version of burnout. there was a period of time where you could do it, then for some reason EA stopped allowing it for burn out and steam and that was it I got that directly from ea and steam help desk people. Basically we should have bought them sooner knowing they were going to stop selling them through steam.

What ever the reason, this should fix it.

 

[Rob Williams]

Ahh, I getcha. Yes, I hope it fixes it also, and if it doesn't, just contact EA support. When the game is under Origin, they're bound to actually listen.

 

[killem2]

Well son of a bitch. I talked to ea about burn out that I just loaded onto origin, and they said they don't have DLC anymore for the game. (which is total crap, they just stopped it for the PC so they could sell more console BS). I filed a complaint with the California BBB.

I've gotten XFX and Newegg to get off their high horses when they were trying to screw me out of something that the legitimately should have been honoring, I'm sure I can get EA to buckle.

These are the times when I don't feel one damn bit of remorse about pirating games, when I need too. (GTA 4 was one, FF7 was another) If the DLC were available on a torrent, I'd steal it asap. Its one thing to not have content ever made, but to make it, then take it away when paying customers want it, and still only give it to the consoles, is lame as hell.

On top of that, it was available on steam. I wonder if someone else has bought it previously I could buy it from them. Hmm.

 

[Rob Williams]

On top of that, it was available on steam. I wonder if someone else has bought it previously I could buy it from them. Hmm.

From what I understand, that should work. There's a trade forum at Steam that you might want to check out. I have the same beef with DLC. In Mafia II, there was PS3 exclusive DLC at launch. Last December, it became available for the PC... in like three countries (Russia being one of them). I e-mailed 2K about it, and of course the answer was canned.

I don't get these companies sometimes.

 

[killem2]

Well here is the final response I will get from EA on the subject.

Hello Brandon,

The decision to retire older EA game services, such as the Burnout Store or other online features/servers, has always been a struggle for both EA and our consumers. On one end, we love the idea that our consumers love our older titles, but on the other end, maintaining the infrastructure so that the title remains an option to play is where the challenge lies. Over time we monitor the usage of each of the titles and when we identify the number of players for a specific title drop, it is no longer feasible for us maintain the game/features online. While I know that this is not the answer you were looking for, my hope is that you will find something that you enjoy in one of our newer titles. Do you like the Need For Speed games? I would be happy to provide you with a copy of your choice for the inconvenience. Just let me know which one you are interested in and what platform you would prefer (console or PC). If you would like a copy for the PC would you prefer a physical or a digital copy of the game? I look forward to your reply.


So I'll get Need for Speed Hot Pursuit for my son. He's played that before at one of my buddies houses and just loved it.

 

[Rob Williams]

Alright, I have a couple of thoughts here...

First, EA is giving you a free game for your inconvenience? That's awesome!

Second, if they are not going to sell the DLC anymore, the least they could do is offer it to the fans for free.

 

[killem2]

Yeah its more than valve or criterion bothered to do. From what I understand, the DLC in terms of the cars is already on your hard drive, it is just locked away and you need the patch to unlock it. : \

 

[Unregistered]

register older hardcopy games on steam

I just registered Crysis 1 on origin through (https://activate.ea.com/activategame.do) which is essentially EA games pre-2008. I did have one problem though, it didn't show up until i had a chat with support which is pathetic but gets the job done.

 

[Matt L]

I did my steam serial for shank and it worked.

Just so you guys know.

 

[Rob Williams]

Hmm, I am going to attempt the same thing! Thanks a lot for the tip

Curious though... does that include Warhead also?