With the recent partnership bringing many EA games to Valve’s storefront, many players are wondering if the Apex Legends Steam version will require the Origin client to be active in the background. Running two separate clients for a single game doesn’t sound like the most logical decision, but according to what is stated in the Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Steam page, this is going to be a requirement to play Respawn’s upcoming action-adventure game: “EA on-line activation and Origin client software installation and background use required.”
Apex Legends on Steam | Do I need Origin?
Apex Legends is one of several EA games that are coming to Steam in 2020, along with FIFA 20 and Battlefield 5. The multiplayer games will let both Origin and Steam gamers play together, offering cross-play in a way that not every storefront is yet capable of.
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Judging by the Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order requirement to have Origin running in the background, it’s normal to assume that something similar would happen with Apex Legends. However, it isn’t the case, as Respawn dev Michael “thezilch” Kalas clarified on Reddit:
“Not true. Your games will launch directly with Steam without running Origin.”
This is good news, not just because of the hardware load caused by having two clients unnecessarily running simultaneously, but also due to the likelihood that Apex Legends will take advantage of Steam’s in-built features, such as the Steam Wallet. It goes without saying that a few players are saying that they will try Apex Legends for the first time, confessing that they didn’t play this game yet because they “hate Origin with a passion,” as user yoshidawgz stated.
So, to answer the question if Apex Legends on Steam requires Origin running in the background? According to Respawn, it doesn’t, but we’re yet to see if EA is doing it on a case-by-case basis, or if Apex Legends is going to be the exception to the rule.
