It would appear EA just showed up back on Steam with quite a substantial catalog of games. Meanwhile they also have a banner up announcing that EA Access is coming to Steam too, however that will work, and I assume that means everything on it will be available through Steam then. Do you guys reckon this is good news? I'm not sure what to make of it.

It is good news. Steam will put Sims 4 in their $5 a piece bargain bin like they did Sims 3

Assuming there will be some way to mix and match with Origin installs, yes. People who own the game on Origin would have to buy every pack again on Steam if there were none. I'm not giving EA any more of my money than I feel is necessary, and since I was already stupid enough to splurge on TS4 the first couple of years it'd be a real "fuck you" to the customer if there were no way to transfer these packs. I suppose you might ask why I plan to spend more on TS4 if I'm so negative about it, but the truth is there's such a tidal wave of content for it by now that there eventually ought to be some fun gameplay in there.

I think you're right that they're more likely to end up in Steam's bargain bin than Origin's. And there's a whole range of shady reseller sites out that are great if you want to buy a video game semi-legally for semi-legal prices without giving the developer money.

As far as I can tell, you'll buy the games on Steam, but you will still have to run them through Origin. I'm sure Sims 4 purchased through Steam will work the same.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a legal agreement between them to keep the prices the same on both Steam & Origin though.

You might have to buy the base game on Steam to be able to buy the DLC, though. (Basing that on the rules for Sims 3 on Steam.)

I have the sims 3 from Steam, because it doesn't have the last "update" with that miserable game chooser that the Origin release has. 1.67 IIRC for the Steam version. I can even load it without Steam! It's perfect, and I got it for $5 a pack too!
You CAN register it with Origin, but why would you ever want to do that?

I don't have any inside info on the Sims 4 negotiations, but you can buy the base game of Sims 3 on Steam.

Steam is just a store front to buy the games. Origin is still required to install and play, and I would bet there’s a contract in place that prohibits Steam from offering the game at a lower price than Origin.

I don’t know how DLC works with Sims 4 and Steam. For Sims 3 the steam version packs weren’t compatible with Origin’s Sims 3, but it sounds like purchasing with steam now basically just redeems a product code inside of Origin. They seem to be one and the same.

TS3 on Steam works independently of Origin because the game was released before Origin became a requirement for EA games. I'd say that anything before Origin's release considers the base game only, considering that everything up to ITF was released on Steam for TS3 - well after Origin was in place.

EA is now basically doing the same thing Ubisoft has been doing for quite a while now. They're trying to reel in people that absolutely refuse to use anything but Steam, but still getting you to use their bloatware in the process. I don't understand why anyone thought it'd be any different.

It bodes ill for a Sims 5 if that comes. It might only be available on Origin/Steam Access with subscriptions. A fully equipped game would be ultra expensive as a base otherwise and will have to be added to in packs and patches to be added there.

Just a surmise though as I expect all of it will be Cloud based in future.

Could be EA testing the waters, so to say. Basically them seeing if Steam releases are viable option for the direction in the future of their company.

Or maybe it's simpler than that and Valve just contacted EA and said "what's up? we want your shit on our shit again. Let's make a deal".

Actually see Sims 4 on Steam platform now. https://store.steampowered.com/app/...he_Sims_4/tp://

I wish I waited; it's less than half the price I paid. Do you think EA will reimburse me if I wrote to them?