EA blocks Origin in Myanmar but promises to try and fix the issue

Over the weekend a Reddit user kicked up a fuss when they discovered they couldn’t access Origin games in Myanmar, but EA has said it plans to reverse this country ban.

The Reddit thread explained that when anyone located in Myanmar tried to access EA’s PC distribution service they were met with an error message that denied them access to their already purchased games. Using a VPN could circumvent the ban, but meant online gaming was next to impossible.

A bit of research from Reddit user trivial_sublime, showed that Origin was unavailable in the country. An EA support rep said this was due to US trade restrictions on Myanmar, however these were lifted at the start of October.

A Reddit user by the name of EA_Alex posted a response to the thread, saying EA is looking into the situation.

The short answer here is that this occurred due to the US government trade embargo on Myanmar” read EA_Alex’s post. In accordance with US law, EA is legally required to restrict online services to residents of countries that are embargoed. This isn’t an EA-specific issue—it’s an issue that impacts all companies offering services that are covered by trade embargoes.

As the OP has noted, the embargo on Myanmar appear to have been lifted earlier this month. Accordingly, EA is internally reviewing the situation and looking into whether and when service can be restored to Myanmar residents.”