Upcoming Origin Update Adds Twitch.tv Support, Ability to Add Steam Games

As much as EA would love us to all believe otherwise, I think it’s safe to say that most PC gamers don’t want to have to deal with Origin. Since its launch, it hasn’t offered as nice of an experience as Steam, and its features have been lacking. Wouldn’t it be nice if EA began pimping Origin up and turning it into a true Steam competitor? Well hold that thought, because with an upcoming update to the service, Origin will actually be offering a killer feature that Steam doesn’t: Twitch.tv support.

For those who may not be familiar with Twitch.tv, it’s essentially a YouTube clone with a major focus on games and offers the ability to stream feeds live. Want to play through Final Fantasy VI for the Super Nintendo while others watch? You can do that. While you stream, you can chat to those who are watching you, so it’s a true interactive experience and a compelling one at that.

For EA to build Twitch.tv support right into Origin itself is impressive. It shows that the company is interested in not only implementing features gamers want, but features gamers might not even know they want – and of course, features that the competition doesn’t have. The best part of all this? You’ll be able to stream non-Origin games as well.

That leads to the second major addition that this upcoming update is including. You’ll be able to add non-Origin games much like you can add any game to Steam. Heck – you could even add a Steam game if you wanted to, although that’s a bit of a clunky design… you’d be using a launcher to launch another launcher that launches the game. Whew, that’s enough to make your head spin.

Beyond these added features, the update also promises to improve performance and add a bit more flexibility to your friends list. There will also be an addition of a feedback survey, just in case you want to let EA know how you feel.

While one major feature isn’t going to cause many gamers to begin considering Origin to be real competition to Steam, it’s sure a great start.