EA's Origin App, launched in 2011 as a competitor to Steam, failed to gain widespread adoption due to a cumbersome user experience and frustrating login procedures. Now, EA is replacing Origin with the EA app, a move that unfortunately comes with significant drawbacks.

Users who exclusively used Origin may lose access to their purchased games if they don't actively transfer their accounts to the new EA app. This means a potentially significant loss of access to a game library built over years.

Furthermore, the EA app only supports 64-bit operating systems, leaving users of 32-bit systems in the lurch. While Steam also dropped 32-bit support in early 2024, this transition highlights concerns about digital ownership and access. Most modern systems are 64-bit, but older machines running 32-bit Windows (like some Windows 10 versions sold until 2020) are now incompatible. A simple RAM check (32-bit systems max out at 4GB) can determine your system type. If you're running a 32-bit system, a complete OS reinstall is necessary.

This situation raises questions about the long-term security of digital game libraries. Both EA and Steam's abandonment of 32-bit support demonstrates the potential for losing access to purchased games due to evolving hardware standards. The issue is further complicated by increasingly prevalent invasive digital rights management (DRM) solutions like Denuvo, which often require deep system access and impose arbitrary installation limits.

A potential solution is to support platforms like GOG, which offers DRM-free games. GOG's model ensures that once a game is downloaded, it remains playable on any compatible hardware, regardless of future changes. While this approach presents challenges to developers in terms of software piracy, it prioritizes consumer ownership and long-term access. The upcoming release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on GOG further exemplifies the viability of this DRM-free model.