The Frustrating Cycle: When Steam and Origin Don’t Play Nice

Hello, fellow gamers!

I’m reaching out today with a bit of a conundrum that has left me scratching my head and, truth be told, significantly frustrated. This post isn’t meant to critique any brands or customer service teams involved, though I do appreciate their friendly assistance; unfortunately, they couldn’t provide the resolution I desperately seek.

Here’s the situation: I’ve recently purchased and installed three popular titles through Steam that my computer is more than capable of running. The hitch? These particular games require the Origin client to launch, as EA has opted not to allow them to run directly through Steam. So, when I hit “Play” on Steam, it inevitably boots me into the Origin platform.

This wouldn’t be an issue if Origin acknowledged that the games are indeed installed on my hard drive. Instead, it’s adamant that I need to download them. Here’s where it gets tricky—if I attempt to redownload through Origin, I’m faced with one of two outcomes:

1. If the game isn’t installed, it will initiate a new download through Steam.
2. If the game is already installed, I receive an error message suggesting the game could not be downloaded and to try again.

This creates a rather frustrating loop. I reached out to EA support for guidance, and while the representative was cordial and walked me through the usual uninstall and reinstall processes, it ultimately led to another setback. I had to endure several days of waiting for the games to download again (thank you, slow Australian internet!).

A tiny glimmer of hope came when another EA rep suggested troubleshooting from Steam’s end. Following their advice, I cleared my download cache and repaired my library folders. Miraculously, this seemed to solve the initial recognition issue—Origin finally acknowledged that the games were installed. However, upon trying to launch the game, it merely acts confused. The game attempts a first-time setup but ultimately does… nothing. It resets the Origin client back to its homepage, leaving me at a standstill.

I also sought advice from Steam support, but their response was disheartening. They informed me that I needed to engage with EA for further help or consider seeking a refund. This suggestion was frustrating; I had attempted a refund in the past but was denied due to my slow internet preventing me from finishing the downloads in time.

This unfortunate experience leads me to ponder why these games are available to purchase