EA Just Released a Bunch of Older Games to Steam; Might “Ultima” Be Coming Soon?
If you’ve been following the Steam store recently, you’ll probably have noticed that EA added a bunch of titles from their catalogue of older games to their storefront there.
Some of the titles include Dungeon Keeper Gold, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Populous, and SimCity 3000. Can we expect to see some (or all) of the Ultima games make their way onto the platform as well in the near future?
(Hat tip: Infinitron Dragon)
I’d love to hear about the exposure the Steam store would give Ultima, but unfortunately these re-releases require agreeing to some awful end-user-license conditions. What’s the word on the “EA Play” wrapper software around each of these; is it a rootkit?
EA Play is a separate thing; it’s a subscription service that unlocks access to a library of EA titles. You pay a monthly fee ($4.99, at least that’s what I see in the Steam client) and you can install and play any included EA title from the Steam library. It’s broadly similar to Game Pass or PS Plus, and some other publishers (Ubisoft, for example) have similar offerings. (EA Play is also included with some Game Pass tiers, and is available for PlayStation as well.)
Anyway, it isn’t wrapper software.
And of course, Steam offers the games as standalone purchases. And what’s amusing is that I think all EA did is repackage the GOG releases of these games for release on Steam. I picked u p SC3000 on a lark, and there is literally a file called “goggame-2086050016.dll” in the folder…digitally signed by “GOG Limited”.
All of which is to say: I wouldn’t worry about any funky software above and beyond what Steam already is.