I have the feelis this is kinda pointless. If you still need to install and operate Origin to play EA games, is there going to be a functional difference?

That you will be able to load them through Steam  instead of Origin? Pretty biiiiiiiig stuff. 

Oh boy. Please put Dragon Age 3 and Mass Effect 3 on Steam... And then it's uninstall Origin time.

Do we know for sure you won't need Origin anymore? I'm not sure if taking it out would make EA happy, even if they are once again on a bigger platform.

Then again, if you still need their DRM 3rd party software, we're in the same place as before...

You still need Origin installed. It will be just like Ubisoft with their games and UPlay. And I also bet Red Dead 2 will require the Rockstar Launcher for Steam.

On the Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order page it states that you do need Origin.

HL3 with microstransactions and episodic content

Well, going by Jedi: Fallen order's non req to install Origin when using the Steam version, could entail the same happening for the rest of these gasmes, including BFV, which imo is a great sign, and something Ubisoft should be taking a lot of notes from (because we don't need 4 sodding layers of DRM on PC, just to play a single game).

If EA continue to sell their games on Steam, without requiring Origin at all, then I too would drop Origin and instead opt to use Steam for EA purchases (assuming these future games are not massive skinner-boxes with loaded MT's). Also, we could also be seeing the C&C remaster showing up on Steam, which will mark an 10yr gap since the last C&C that was sold on Steam, which was C&C 4. 

Tbh, it's better than hearing "ubisoft and other pubs, form partnership with EG". 

I want my Dead Space 3 and Command and Conquer collection transferred to Steam and off Origin. Kthzbye.

Who says it has to be a response to EGS though? Valve does plenty of things behind the scenes and is always advancing Steam with stuff like Steam Proton last year and just recently Remote Play Together. This deal could easily have been just-as-business usual for them regardless of whether the EGS existed or not, we don't know if EA approached Valve or Valve approached EA either. 

It'll be dumb if everything Valve does from now on since the inception of the EGS is just immediately credited to EGS because of "competition finally forcing them to do stuff" when they've already been doing plenty of different things for Steam for a long time already.