EA launched their Origin digital storefront way back in 2011. At the time, I thought it made a bit of sense for them to crib the name — although then-CFO Peter Moore denied the connection — of Origin Systems for the service. “Origin was,” I wrote at the time, “always moving to embrace and use the latest and greatest technology; it’s not unlikely that they would have been among the first developers to move their products into the digital download space had they been around for its advent.” Before being sold to EA, Origin Systems was also a publisher in its own right, so having the Origin name on a digital storefront was also somewhat fitting in light of that.

Of course, Origin was a PC-exclusive storefront, and like other storefronts before it — anyone remember Impulse? — Origin was not really able to make a dent in the PC market. Steam is the king of the hill, still, in that respect, and is unlikely to be dethroned by any single publisher’s digital sales solution. We saw EA bring their games library back to Steam earlier this year, and now they are winding down the Origin brand entirely in favour of a somewhat different offering:

Electronic Arts is ditching the Origin name for something new: EA plans to replace it with a revamped desktop app (called EA Desktop), and “double down” on the EA Play branding, according to a report from GamesBeat.

EA describes its new app as a “next-generation PC gaming platform.” Using the EA Desktop app, players can subscribe to EA’s game’s subscription services, EA Play and EA Play Pro — the publisher’s recent rebrand of the EA Access service. Players can then download these games onto their PC and play them for as long as they hold the subscription.

With this rebrand and relaunch, EA will eliminate the Origin name from its suite of products. EA senior vice president Michael Blank told GamesBeat the new EA Desktop app will be faster than Origin, and let players engage with their games more conveniently.

EA has also partnered with Microsoft to include EA Play as part of Xbox Game Pass, if you have the Ultimate-tier subscription thereto.