Today I got some good news to share with everyone: We will soon be releasing Origin 8.5, a brand new update chock-full of changes. We’ve been listening a lot to your feedback, and with this release, we’re introducing a couple of really cool and highly-requested features: custom avatars and the ability to hide games, demos, and betas. But that’s not all! Origin 8.5 also extends cloud storage options to a number of new games, including Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and the upcoming Mass Effect 3, letting you play (and save) your games from any Origin-enabled PC.

For the full list of changes, here’s the official rundown of the release notes for Origin 8.5:

• Added the ability to upload custom avatars.
• Added cloud storage support for a number of additional EA games, including Mass Effect 3.
• Added captcha verification for increased security.
• Improved relevancy of friend search results.
• Progress bar now displays when installing games.
• Streamlined Origin update and installation processes.
• Game Add-Ons (DLC) can now be purchased and installed directly through Origin.
• Updated the look and feel of the Origin client.
• Users can now invite multiple friends to play at once.
• Users can now hide games in their Game Library.


Origin 8.5

Yes. Apparently EA will be moving to make future games Origins exclusive. A damn shame really.