EA To Shut Down Origin Launcher: What This Means For Your Games And Mods
In a support document, Electronic Arts (EA) announced plans to shutter its Origin launcher in a few months, which raises the questions of what will happen to game libraries and accompanying mods. The good news is, your account and games (such as Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and others) will all transfer over to the EA app that replaces Origin. However, there are some potential caveats, depending on your situation. More on those in a moment.
Why is the Origin launcher shutting down? Simply put, it's a 32-bit application, and as EA points out its related support document, Microsoft is no longer supporting older 32-bit software. In contrast, the newer EA app requires a 64-bit version of Windows to run. That doesn't have to be Windows 11 or Windows 10, you can also run the app on 64-bit builds of Windows 8 and Windows 7.
EA app dashboard
To start the migration process, download/install the EA app for Windows for Mac (depending your system, naturally). When you install the EA app, it will automatically uninstall the Origin launcher. When it's finished installing, log in with your existing EA account (the same one you used for Origin). You may be asked to verify your email.
Once you're logged in, click on Library in the left-hand column. Your existing games should have migrated over, including both installed and not-yet-installed ones. Your in-game hours stats should have migrate to the EA app as well, along with anything you saved through Origin's cloud (*Phew!*).
That's the good news. The bad news? EA says, "We can't promise that mods will transfer to the EA app. Check with mod creators to see if your content can be transferred."
The other potentially bad news applies to anyone that's running a 32-bit operating system. On 32-bit systems, you will not be able to access the EA app, which effectively locks you out of your EA games library. Meanwhile, the Origin launcher is slated to shut down on April 17, 2025.
For those in that situation, the only solutions are to upgrade your OS (no need to re-download your installed games) or, as Microsoft recently urged half a billion users, upgrade your PC to one that is running Windows 11.
Still have questions? You can head to EA's support page for more details.
