EA on Origin: "We've learned a lot from Steam"

If you're expect a full-out bloody war between new EA storefront Origin and Steam, it's probably not going to happen.

SVP of global online David DeMartini told IG that it feels it learnt a fair bit from Valve with the publisher's newly-created marketplace.

"We don't see Origin and Steam as an either/or choice," DeMartini, who went into his current position after standing down as GM of EA Partners earlier this year at GDC, said to the site.

"Just because a gamer chooses to play Battlefield 3 doesn't preclude them from playing another shooter game, just as the fact that I'm on Facebook doesn't mean I don't also use LinkedIn. We expect people will purchase content and utilize both Origin and Steam.

"We've learned a lot from Steam, they have been good partners. We will continue to listen to our customers, expand the social feature set, and will make Origin the best service on the market."

Origin was announced last week to be EA's brand new distribution service, and will be the only place to be to buy a digital copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic when it launches.

More details on Origin will be unveiled tonight during EA's E3 press conference from 8.30pm BST (3:30pm EST/12.30pm PST/5.30am Sydney).