More gaming companies are moving towards online shops, increasing the number of titles that are available digitally - as opposed to retail. While Valve's Steam service is the most popular form of the model, other companies have decided to try their hand at the same method. EA is possibly the most direct competitor to Steam with their own online service, Origin, which was released in June of last year.

Now, after a mostly lukewarm response, EA wants to know what gamers who use Origin think of it.

On EA's official website, the company posted an article asking users of Origin to leave a comment about the service, saying what their favourite feature is and what they feel could be added or changed for the better.

You can see the page for yourself and leave a comment by following the link here if you so wish.

While we already know what Gabe Newell thinks of Origin, it'll be interesting to see what the average player thinks of Steam's competition. What will be even more interesting to see is how EA responds to what the players say, and how they implement any suggestions or ideas given to them - if they do at all.

Last February, EA executive Peter Moore said that it would still be some time before Origin could be compared to Steam - approximately eighteen months to two years, according to him. However, while it might be unfair to compare the two on equal footing at the moment, it's very clear that EA's hasn't given up on the idea.

Whether it's because of arguably sketchy and controversial legal agreements or forcing player to sign-up just to play certain games on their PCs, it's pretty clear that Origin does still need some work done before it can be truly accepted as a viable alternative. To be fair, Steam has a huge head start on the digital download market but as the digital distribution becomes an increasingly acceptable option, it's not unlikely that someone else could come along and give Valve a run for their money.

What changes would you like to see made to the Origin service?

Source: EA