'EA Access' subscription on Xbox One brings all-you-can-eat gaming for $5 per month

[Showan]

If they start adding games like Dragon Age to the vault, then count me in.  $30 a year is a great deal.

 

I do happen to play sports games, but got tired of paying $60 a year a while ago, so if I can get access to the latest versions of Madden, FIFA, etc, each year, then this is an awesome deal.

 

I wonder if MS is using this partnership as a test case as they work on a more universal system that works with any publisher and not just EA. I also wonder if this is part of the remnants of MS' original plans for the X1.  I kind of doubt they just threw together this plan with EA over the last few weeks.

This could be a game changer. Though I don't trust EA at all.

If this plays out to be bigger & better (more publishers more games at reasonable price point)

All MS would have to do is run a commercial and the X1 will print money.

[JonnyLH]

I'm confused, this sounds like an excellent deal on paper. I'm just thinking about the games you get in the subscription. For example, how long will it be until the new games get placed on there? If you're bothered about a game and you want to continue playing it after the 'trial' expires, then you're going to buy it digitally to get the 10% and not going to care if the game goes in the Vault to access anyway so what's the fuss about the vault? It's like a subscription to save you money on purchases which you could get for cheaper in the store anyway.

 

Have I understood this wrong?

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

No I think you've nailed it. 

 

EA Access will be split into two areas the Vault and Exclusive access. 

 

The Vault - older games that you have unlimited access to whilst you pay the sub. Games are limited at the moment but game will be added over time. How long you have to wait for the latest and greatest games we don't know yet. 

 

Exclusive Access - Play EA's latest and greatest 5 days before they're released. After that you'll need to buy the full game, which you can at a 10% discount. 10% is also for any add ons. Any progress made in the trial period will continue when you purchase the game. What wasn't clear to me, is if there is any limitation to the games. Can you play online? Can you play the entire campaign? 

 

 

Have I understood this wrong?

 

You understood correctly, I think what will sway a lot of people is how long before the newer releases are added to the Vault. I'd be willing to wait a few months to play the new releases but any longer and I think I'd be put off. I'd rather buy a disc copy as it'd probably work out cheaper.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I'm confused, this sounds like an excellent deal on paper. I'm just thinking about the games you get in the subscription. For example, how long will it be until the new games get placed on there? If you're bothered about a game and you want to continue playing it after the 'trial' expires, then you're going to buy it digitally to get the 10% and not going to care if the game goes in the Vault to access anyway so what's the fuss about the vault? It's like a subscription to save you money on purchases which you could get for cheaper in the store anyway.

 

Have I understood this wrong?

The problem is that there is no ownership and games can be removed from the vault at will. It seems like it could be a decent offer but then this is EA, so I'm highly sceptical. My concern is that games will only be added to the vault for a short period of time, making it little more than a premium demo service.

[George P Global Moderator]

It's a ongoing rental service, which is fine for me because I have little need for a game once I finish it.  There's only a few rare occasions when I bother to play a game over so I think this is a deal really and MS could hit it big if they can strike the same sort of deal with other big publishers.  Heck if this pays off for EA, which it probably will, then here comes Ubisoft and Activision and so on with their own service on XB1.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

The problem is that there is no ownership and games can be removed from the vault at will. It seems like it could be a decent offer but then this is EA, so I'm highly sceptical. My concern is that games will only be added to the vault for a short period of time, making it little more than a premium demo service.

 

Have a look here

 

They say that they don't have plans to remove games but if they do, they let people know and give notice. I guess it doesn't make sense to keep every single FIFA and NFL game with updates coming every year. As you said though, this is EA so who knows.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Have a look here

 

They say that they don't have plans to remove games but if they do, they let people know and give notice. I guess it doesn't make sense to keep every single FIFA and NFL game with updates coming every year. As you said though, this is EA so who knows.

As I said, I'm sceptical with EA. This is a company that is still charging ?32 / $54 for Battlefield 4 and yet they're going to give you access to that and other games for a fraction of the price? I mean, look at The Sims 4 on Origin - EA is charging ?60 / $101 for it. That's twice what I'd expect to pay for a new game.

 

EA has been pushing the price of games up for years and I can't see it suddenly changing that.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

As I said, I'm sceptical with EA. This is a company that is still charging ?32 / $54 for Battlefield 4 and yet they're going to give you access to that and other games for a fraction of the price? I mean, look at The Sims 4 on Origin - EA is charging ?60 / $101 for it. That's twice what I'd expect to pay for a new game.

 

EA has been pushing the price of games up for years and I can't see it suddenly changing that.

 

I'm with you there, like with most of these things, if they price it right it could make waves, but there are a few unanswered questions. Time will tell. 

[Mr. Gibs]

This is a company that is still charging ?32 / $54 for Battlefield 4 and yet they're going to give you access to that and other games for a fraction of the price? I mean, look at The Sims 4 on Origin - EA is charging ?60 / $101 for it. That's twice what I'd expect to pay for a new game.

I believe the EA Access is currently US only and in the US the prices are rather different to yours:

Battlefield 4: $35

Battlefield 4 Limited: $41

Battlefield 4 + Premium: $74

Sims 4: $60

Sims 4 Digital Deluxe: $70

[vcfan]

?We evaluated the EA Access subscription offering and decided that it does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect,? a Sony representative told us via email. ?PlayStation Plus memberships are up more than 200% since the launch of PlayStation 4, which shows that gamers are looking for memberships that offer a multitude of services, across various devices, for one low price. We don?t think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer.?

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/07/30/sony-ea-access-doesn_2700_t-represent-good-value-to-the-playstation-gamer.aspx

as if they were invited to participate in the service to begin with. And renting individual streamed past gen games for $3/4hrs and $8/week is such great value that customers have come to expect. :rolleyes:

[Showan]

I'm not big on EA at all.. I am giving the service a 30day run for $5.00

 

But this is a great deal (as long EA suppresses their greed) that's hard to pass up.

 

I may switch over to year plan, just to see how this fleshes out as far as content/service goes.  The way I see, if EA disappoints (which they do often) they $30 won't kill me...

[Alladaskill17]

An Ubisoft pass would be killer: Watch_ Dogs, Far Cry serious, assassins creed, rayman, etc. So much better than sports games

[firebelly]

I believe the EA Access is currently US only and in the US the prices are rather different to yours:

Battlefield 4: $35

Battlefield 4 Limited: $41

Battlefield 4 + Premium: $74

Sims 4: $60

Sims 4 Digital Deluxe: $70

 

I am in Canada and got in.

 

IMHO, this is great. I was thinking of buying FIFA in near future. for me this was a no brainer as I have not played any of the games they are offering. so four games for $30 is a steal. Let's see how it moves forward.

[Mandosis]

An Ubisoft pass would be killer: Watch_ Dogs, Far Cry serious, assassins creed, rayman, etc. So much better than sports games

Yeah, I would easily pay $30 for access to those games.

[trooper11]

Um, you guys do know that EA has more than just sports games in their portfolio right?

 

I mean they even mentioned Dragon Age as part of the future content. 

 

 

But yes, a Ubisoft offer like this would be cool.

[George P Global Moderator]

Um, you guys do know that EA has more than just sports games in their portfolio right?

 

I mean they even mentioned Dragon Age as part of the future content. 

 

 

But yes, a Ubisoft offer like this would be cool.

 

 

I'd jump all over a Ubisoft service like this, no questions asked.

[Alladaskill17]

Um, you guys do know that EA has more than just sports games in their portfolio right?

I mean they even mentioned Dragon Age as part of the future content.

But yes, a Ubisoft offer like this would be cool.

Right, and DA: Inquisition should be great, but with Ubisoft we wouldn't have to deal with sports at all, which I love sports, just not sports games. We would just have awesome open world or platforming titles with no risk of being offered rehashed sports titles year over year. If you love FIFA or madden and dont have them yet, or even battlefield, this would be a great buy.

[firebelly]

Anyone interested in co-op season in FIFA 14. If yes please add me. My gt is

Oubermansch

[vcfan]

reddit says CSRs are saying general release is tomorrow (Aug 5)

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

reddit says CSRs are saying general release is tomorrow (Aug 5)

 

That was a very short beta period. The more people they can get on the service the better I guess. 

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

That was a very short beta period. The more people they can get on the service the better I guess. 

 

There's not a lot they need to change infrastructure wise. Essentially all of it is in place for buying games digitally. All they needed to test was the subscription side of things.

[spenser.d]

Every game in EA's on-demand service will always be in supply

So you're excited about the prospect of paying one low fee for all-you-can-eat, erm, access to a swath of Electronic Arts' games on Xbox One, yeah? Well the outfit has a few new details that might make its EA Access service a bit more enticing. For starters, any games on tap in "the Vault" won't disappear once they've been added. That means that Battlefield 4, Madden 25, Peggle 2 and FIFA 14 from the beta aren't going anywhere, EA's COO Peter Moore tells CVG. He also says that additional AAA games will be en route, but that EA hasn't quite figured out the specifics of when just yet. Moore notes that the Vault's catalog will be "substantial" and that new, permanent, additions to it will be determined based on franchise and timing. "We have to make decisions along that way, so there's no template, like 30 days after a game ships it goes into the Vault," he says. Could EA be preparing the Vault for Titanfall? We'll have to wait and see.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/08/ea-access-vault-games-permanent/

Looking like an even better deal every day.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/08/ea-access-vault-games-permanent/

Looking like an even better deal every day.

 

Erm, not shooting the messenger but that contradicts what they EA help pages state here

 

"...and we currently have no plans to remove any game from The Vault, but we might not be able to keep games in The Vault forever"

 

But if we start getting games in the Vault 30 days after release I'll be very happy.

[spenser.d]

Erm, not shooting the messenger but that contradicts what they EA help pages state here

 

"...and we currently have no plans to remove any game from The Vault, but we might not be able to keep games in The Vault forever"

 

But if we start getting games in the Vault 30 days after release I'll be very happy.

 

It's possible their intentions are to keep them in the Vault forever, but there are things that could be out of their control. Perhaps an IP license changes hands or something of that sort and their forced to pull a game, etc.

[Skin]

Erm, not shooting the messenger but that contradicts what they EA help pages state here

 

"...and we currently have no plans to remove any game from The Vault, but we might not be able to keep games in The Vault forever"

 

But if we start getting games in the Vault 30 days after release I'll be very happy.

 

Typical legal wording and thoughts to cover their company down the road. Steam even has similar topics and wording for the items you bought not always being available, etc.