I was at EA during peak Origin mania and the defining regret of my career is not having slapped sense into the appropriate people when I had the opportunity to do so.

We really did have a far better shot at it than even most insiders appreciated (to the point rival companies would tell me to my face how confused they were by the apparent failure to execute), however, the core team were more interested in fighting over who would take credit for it when it succeeded than ever ensuring that it would.

Most of those didn't try to create an open store. They only tried to create a store and launcher for their own products.

Always thought the hate against EA Origin was unwarranted. They 24 hour no questions ask refund policy back in ~2010 that took steam like 5 years to implement themselves.

Outside of being forced to use a game launcher to launch their games, what was the real crime? Not enabling gambling on their platform like steam?

Everyone that needs to respond to shareholders has tried already, and failed against a privately-owned company.

Gabe Newell is a billionaire and has shown no particular need to enshittify his brand just to extract more profit. May he blessed with health and a long life.