It seems EA are finally getting in on the Kickstarter frenzy, with news of an offer that even the most cynical PC Independent developer would have a hard time saying no to, free distribution.

Origin, EA's digital service similar to Steam, is giving any developer that has a successfully crowd-funded, ready-to-publish, downloadable PC game 90 days of free distribution.

“The crowd-funding movement is incredibly healthy for the gaming industry,” said David DeMartini, Senior Vice President of Origin. “Gamers around the world deserve a chance to play every great new game, and by waiving distribution fees on Origin we can help make that a reality for successfully crowd-funded developers.”

Both Jane Jensen of Gabriel Knight fame and Wasteland designer Brian Fargo are optimistic about the program's ability to open doors for independent developers. "Having Origin waive their distribution fees for 90 days for fan funded games is a major economic bonus for small developers," said Fargo. "We look forward to bringing Wasteland 2 to the Origin audience."

While some developers will be hesitant to lock backers into a somewhat DRM scenario when a majority have encouraged free DRM versions, it will be interesting to see who takes up this offer and whether it will prove to be helpful for independent developers.

90 whole days distribution on a crappy platform that people hate, the use of which will probably lose them more sales than it will gain, wow how generous o_0

I think this is so Origin is an alternative way for people to get the game, not as the only possible path of purchasing the game. At least this is the case for Wasteland 2, they said it will still be available through other sources including steam. If it is used more competition with steam it can only be a good thing.

Agree with kettels, Steam still king but Origin ok enough I guess.