Classic EA Games Added to Steam

08.03.2024 - 05:49 / gamerant.com / Alpha Centauri / Sid Meier / Ea / Josh Tolentino

A ton of all-time classic EA games are now available for purchase on PC via Steam, after spending years off the online storefront. The EA games added include legendary strategy titles like Command and Conquer, city-builder games, and an open-world game that's absent from current-generation consoles.

The Steam platform is widely seen as the dominant storefront for games on PC, but for years competitors have launched their own digital distribution platforms to take a larger slice of the PC gaming pie. EA made its own attempt in the form of EA Origin in 2011, making the PC editions of EA-published and developed titles like Mass Effect Andromeda and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order exclusive to the app for a time. EA rebranded Origin as the EA App and relaunched in 2022 after years of criticism from players who preferred Steam or other launchers.

Now the EA Origin exclusivity era is over for a number of classic EA-owned titles. On March 8, 2024, EA released a series of older games for purchase on Steam, including Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and almost every Command and Conquer series game ever developed. The company also published a brief trailer promoting the move on its YouTube channel.

Strictly speaking, prior to this launch, a few Command and Conquer titles were available on Steam, such as the still-engaging Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3. However, the previously Origin-exclusive Command and Conquer: The Ultimate Collection bundle is now on Steam, collecting seventeen Command and Conquer series games and expansions into a single purchase. The bundle even includes Command and Conquer: Renegade, a hybrid first- and third-person shooter-strategy title that allows players to build bases and engage in combat from the perspective of one of the game's elite GDI Commando units.

Outside of Command and Conquer, EA also added Populous, Dungeon Keeper, SimCity, and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which were created under the aegis of legendary studios like Bullfrog Productions, Maxis, and Firaxis. The presence of the original Dungeon Keeper in the release wave may help some players feel better about the series, as the last time it showed up was as an ill-received Dungeon Keeper mobile spin-off in 2014. Finally, the wave of Steam PC releases from EA includes 2009's The Saboteur. The Saboteur was an open world action game set in World War 2, placing players in the shoes of Irish resistance fighter Sean Devlin as he fought back against Nazi forces in occupied Paris.

It's encouraging to see EA break somewhat with its policy of trying to keep its titles exclusive to the divisive Origin/EA App storefront. While the publisher is within its rights to withold titles it thinks will get players interested in using