It's bad enough that an app launches an app, which Steam allows purely as a matter of convenience, but every additional layer of software between me and the executable I'm seeking forces me further away from the light of God. But a launcher launches another launcher” It is a crime against human decency and there is no worse perpetrator than the EA app.

Fortunately, according to a tweet from BioWare, Dragon Age: The Veilguard does not require the EA app to launch on Steam. It reads, “We will be Steam native - meaning you won't need the EA app to play the game.” The curse has finally been lifted.

I don't remember much about Origin, except that the predecessor to the EA app appeared on its own and evoked primal indignation when I asked Steam to launch an EA game. The EA app, on the other hand, is a vivid, waking terror.

Since the EA app replaced Origin in 2022, there has not been a single EA game I have tried to play that has not failed in some way. I once spent three hours repeatedly reinstalling the app to play “Battlefront 2”. When I wanted to play “Titanfall 2” again a few months later, I was so completely disheartened to see the EA app show up that I turned off my PC and left the house.

It's a kinder world out there. There are no EA apps under the trees.

By leaving the EA app behind, maybe The Veilguard is a sign of a kinder future where publishers realize that an additional launcher layer will only worsen the user experience. Hopefully Ubisoft will take note; Ubisoft Connect is not without blame.