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I apprehend that Dragon Age: Inquisition won't come to Steam as it will be restricted to Origin. But I would like to use Steam Community (SHIFT+TAB) ingame to chat with friends and take screenshots - or use that sweet child o' browser.

I unchecked Origin ingame in the game's startup settings and added Dragon Age: Inquisition to my Steam library. But unlike other games, Steam Community is not being enabled ingame. When I execute DAI with Steam, Origin closes the EXE and reopens it, where Steam isn't hooked anymore.

How can I access Steam Community features in Dragon Age: Inquisition?

Bonus quest: It would be awesome if the command line -GameTime.MaxSimFps 60 -GameTime.ForceSimRate 60+ would be enabled, too.

Eat my specs:

Intel Core i7-4790K nVIDIA GTX 970 16 GB RAM Windows 8.1 64 bit

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  • Sending command line arguments is fairly easy; you just need to add them to the Steam shortcut from that properties window.
    – MBraedley
    Nov 30, 2014 at 17:03
  • Yes and it seems like they work. But no Steam Community is enabled, nor does my Steam say I'm currently playing anything.
    – Trollwut
    Nov 30, 2014 at 17:08
  • Does DA:I use a launcher program (besides Origin)? If what's running isn't what Steam launched, it won't track it, or enable the overlay for it.
    – MBraedley
    Nov 30, 2014 at 17:12
  • 1
    @Trollwut Did you right click the game in your Library, then Properties and check Enable Steam Overlay Ingame?
    – user92092
    Nov 30, 2014 at 19:32
  • 1
    Adding DA:I as a non-Steam game totally just worked for me.
    – Kareen
    Dec 2, 2014 at 18:59

2 Answers 2

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Mass Effect 3 has the same Origin issue, where if you launch the game .exe directly, Origin kills it, then relaunches it. That's why steam "loses" the game shortly after launch.

Luckily, Kotsu figured this out for us in this question.

Basically, you must add Origin itself as the non-steam game. This is because Origin requires that it be the parent process of Dragon Age, and if it isn't, Origin will kill the game and relaunch it. That makes Steam think the game is done, and you lose the overlay functionality. By linking directly to Origin instead, you keep the overlay on any game launched by that instance of Origin. Also, you can set Origin to exit after you close DA:I so that Steam sees you have stopped playing if you'd like.

Steps from linked Answer:

If you were hoping to access your Steam Overlay within the game, this will require a bit of a workaround.

Instead of having a direct shortcut to DA:I, you will have to create a shortcut to Origin:

  1. Clicking Add A Game in the bottom left of the library tab
  2. Add a Non-Steam Game
  3. Browse...
  4. Local Disk --> Program Files (x86) --> Origin --> Origin.exe

Make sure Origin isn't currently running, then launch it from Steam. Now, when you launch any game from this instance of Origin, you will be able to access the Steam overlay.

As you start the game at last with Origin, you may add your command lines there.

I can confirm the linked solution worked, and allowed access to the steam overlay. Also, since you need to launch the game from the Origin menu, you can use Origin's ability to set command line parameters (right click game, go to Game Properties...) to keep your MaxSimFPS settings.

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  • This looks good. I will try it this evening! May you please edit a short conclusion of the linked answer into yours?
    – Trollwut
    Dec 3, 2014 at 10:25
  • Your solution totally worked! I will mark this as the right answer if you edit the short steps of the linked answer in this question, as people here do love it when the answer is direct. .)
    – Trollwut
    Dec 3, 2014 at 20:32
  • There you go. If there is anything else you want, I can edit it further, or I think you can as well. Someone (me) will probably need to approve the edit though.
    – Kexlox
    Dec 3, 2014 at 20:50
  • This did not work for me or my friend. Restarted Origin etc. Will just add the game as "DA:I No In-Game Blame Origin" :P
    – Vael Victus
    Jan 11, 2015 at 22:41
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You can add a non-Steam game to Steam by following these instructions:

  1. Launch Steam.
  2. Click the Games menu, choose Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library.
  3. Browse for games on your computer or put a check next to the game(s) you wish to add to the Library.
  4. Click Add Selected Programs

Games added this way will have the Steam overlay.

You can set the command-line parameters by right-clicking the game in Steam --> properties --> General --> Set Launch Options

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