Origin covertly auto-adds Steam-purchased EA games

According to forum posts over at Day One Patch, gamers who bought Dead Space 2 on Steam are noticing something a bit odd – the game is being automatically added to their Origin library, and no one told it to do that.

As rational people, we can only think of two logical reasons for this:

Origin has become sentient and is closely watching everything you do. It’s picked up that you’ve purchased Dead Space 2 off of another digital distribution channel, and is subversively draining information from the competition and adding to itself, forming a network of Dead Space 2 data which it will use to take over the world…somehow.

The other only explanation – and it’s a long shot – is that Origin is trawling through your computer’s files and system registry, looking at how it can make your life easier by checking which EA games it can automatically add to its library, doing its best to cut out the middle-man.

Understandably, this ninja move by EA’s distribution channel has been met with fear and loathing from the general gaming community – but Origin accessing your files is hardly breaking news, so really, they only have themselves to blame.

EA has, in the past, refuted any dodgy dealings regarding Origin sniffing around your PC files, saying that the platform only transmits data needed to run the games. Still, it’s understandable why things changing without your permission would make gamers uneasy.

I prevent such occurrences by wearing a tinfoil hat, and not using Origin at all.