Does Battlefield 5 Have Crossplay Between Origin and Steam?

Yes, Battlefield 5 fully supports crossplay multiplayer between Origin and Steam on PC. If you purchase Battlefield 5 on Steam, you can play with friends who own the game on Origin, and vice versa. So player populations are shared.

This means that even though Battlefield 5 requires the Origin launcher to play, buying it through Steam does not segregate you. You remain able to play with the wider Origin player base.

A Quick History of Origin and Steam

To understand the Battlefield 5 crossplay situation, it helps to first understand the background relationship between EA‘s Origin platform and Valve‘s Steam platform on PC:

• Origin – launched in 2011 as EA‘s proprietary PC gaming portal and store
• Steam – launched in 2003, operated by Valve, dominates PC game distribution

When Origin debuted, EA games like Battlefield were initially exclusive to Origin and not available on Steam. This fragmented the PC player base between the two services.

However, starting from 2019, EA began reconciling with Steam:

"EA Access is coming to Steam, and closer integration is planned between features and services like friends lists and matchmaking" – PC Gamer

This set the stage for better interoperability and shared multiplayer for EA games between the platforms.

Crossplay Implementation

For Battlefield 5, here is how the Origin and Steam crossover works:

• PC players matchmake together into the same multiplayer servers
• Requires an Origin account login even if playing the Steam version
• Stat tracking, progression and unlocks handled by your Origin profile
• Can freely switch between Steam and Origin copies without losing progress
• Core backend and updates still managed by EA/DICE

So in essence, Steam is now an alternative storefront for the Origin version rather than a fully separate ecosystem like it was historically for EA titles.

Steam Player Base Size

In early 2022, Battlefield 5 became available for purchase on Steam for the first time.

How as this impacted popularity and player counts? SteamDB tracks concurrent players:

Key observations:

• Peak player count on Steam at launch nearly 10x current average
• No public data available for Origin counts to compare
• Reviews indicate healthy activity crossplay activity

Overall, while hard statistics are unavailable, consensus is that the unified Origin and Steam player pool is thriving in 2024 based on crossplay.

Game Discounts and Prices

Historically, buying EA games on Origin compared to Steam often yielded better discounts:

"You‘re often better off getting games like Battlefield and FIFA on Origin rather than Steam if you‘re looking for the lowest price" – PC Gamer

A spot check of current BF5 prices shows this remains mostly true:

• Origin – $15.99 (60% off)
• Steam – $23.99 (40% off)

However, Steam promotions like seasonal sales are still worthwhile calendar events to monitor for deals.

The Future Relationship

In October 2022, EA announced plans to wind down the Origin brand by integrating more closely with Steam:

"We‘re now moving Origin features and functionality fully into the EA app and website. The EA app will become the main hub for launching games, connecting with friends and making purchases" – EA Blog

While the Origin client name goes away, the Origin accounts powering Battlefield multiplayer lives on.

So ongoing support for Battlefield crossplay between Steam seems highly likely into 2023 and beyond.

In Summary

For PC gamers looking to squad up Battlefield 5, rest assured – purchasing the game on Steam does NOT segregate you into an isolated island away from the majority Origin player pool.

Thanks to the integration efforts between Valve and EA, Battlefield 5 provides full multiplayer crossplay capabilities between Origin and Steam versions.

You still require an Origin account, but can alternate seamlessly between storefronts and matchmake together with the unified PC community.

So based on all evidence, no Battlefield fan on PC needs to worry about a fragmented player base. Hop on whichever version you prefer and start deploying across epic World War 2 battlefields!