Over the past year, both Microsoft and Sony have been pushing their online subscription services – Gold & PS Plus respectively – with the lure of free games every month, a great incentive for gamers. Now it seems video game publishers want to get on board with subscription services too, but honestly, it may not be as bad as we’re all thinking.
Yesterday, EA announced their monthly/yearly subscription service exclusively for the Xbox One – EA Access. For £3.99 per month players can access “The Vault” of EA games to download and play. The service is currently in beta with the option to download Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14 and Peggle 2 – with more games getting a 10% discount such as Dragon Age: Inquisition and Battlefield: Hardline and –assumedly – Star Wars Battlefront.
I would also assume we could see older games such Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare making appearances too – though EA has said that Titanfall will be excluded from EA Access to begin with. On top of being able to access a library of games, players will also be able to access demos of games five days before they release as well as getting a 10% discount on digital games and DLC in numerous EA games. For the cost of £3.99 per month for a subscription or around £29.99 a year, that’s an absolute steal. There are also no plans to remove games from “The Vault” once they’ve been added, which means we could see an absolutely massive library of game down the line. Could we possibly see older generation games coming to the service too?
However, after reading up on various articles and a response from Sony on why the service isn’t coming to PlayStation 4, I have a feeling this new service could fundamentally change the gaming landscape. For example, having spent more than £100 on EA games on the Xbox One since it launched last year I’d be more than inclined to sign up for the service and go completely digital with EA’s games for a fraction of the price. It would also allow more players to try games they might not have been interested in before.
What I find most puzzling though, is the exclusive partnership with Microsoft for the service. It emerged earlier today however, that Sony refused to have the service on the PlayStation 4 as it didn’t represent “good value to the PlayStation gamer”. This could either be another smart move on Sony’s part or the worst decision they’ve made in a long time. Not only are Xbox users now getting a decent deal on EA games – exclusively – but who’s to say that EA’s partnership with Microsoft won’t go further than EA Access? We’ve already seen Titanfall release on Xbox platforms and PC with no plans for a PlayStation port and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare still on the horizon for the PS4 and PS3 – nearly half a year after release on Xbox platforms. Remember when Mass Effect used to be an Xbox and PC exclusive? I have a feeling we might start seeing things like that again.
With EA Access not coming to the PlayStation 4 I’d not be surprised to see EA pull some support for their games on Sony’s PlayStation Now service when it launches, much like what happened with Steam and Origin a few years ago. EA have already pulled support for the Wii U and who’s to say they’ll snub PlayStation gamers in much the same way now that Sony have snubbed their subscription service.
Only time will tell what the knock on effects of EA Access will cause. Will other publishers such as Ubisoft, Activision or Square Enix follow suit if it’s a success? Will Sony perform a U-turn on their stance towards the service? There are a lot of questions that have been raised, but I’ll definitely be looking into EA Access when it’s a bit more fleshed out with a larger selection of games.
Will
By the sounds of it, you’re implying Battlefront, Hardline, Inquisition and practically all EA titles will be free to download in the full version of the programme upon release if you subscribe to it. However, from what they’ve released so far, they are only going to let older games or less popular games be free and put in ‘The Vault’ and the rest will simply have the 10% discount which i think you’ve misinterpreted as being 10% off DLC and not 10% off the full games as well.
It says ‘Besides the great games in The Vault, EA Access members will save 10% on purchases of EA digital content for Xbox One offered through the Xbox Games Store. From full digital-download titles like the upcoming Dragon Age™ Inquisition or NHL®15, to additional membership services such as Battlefield 4 Premium or even FIFA Ultimate Team points, it’s all 10% off for members.’ which implies dragon age and NHL will not be free but just have the 10% off deal which also supports the fact that it isn’t that good value for money in Sony’s eyes.
Smashsoul
Ah, my mistake. I must have misread that part, will amend it.
Gareth Jones
This article is nonsense. EA pulled support from the Wii U because its sales are terrible. The PS4 on the other hand is outselling its rival by 2:1. EA would have to be total morons to snub the console because Sony doesn’t want to host its service.
The reason Sony doesn’t want to host the service is probably related to the fact that they have a streaming service coming soon – where you can play PS, PS2 and PS3 games – from EA and any other publisher – on the PS4. Why would they want to dilute that with a competing service from EA?