EA Access: A new subscription service on Xbox One

[Sigma]

I mentioned this in the Xbox One thread, but I think it's thread-worthy as it's a really good deal IMO.

It costs $29.99/£19.99 per year or $4.99/£3.99 per month. When you sign up you get access to EA's "game vault" which gives you digital versions of games you can play while your subscription is active. At the moment, there's 4 games on offer - Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25 and Peggle 2 - and more will be added over time.

Included in this are early access full game trials, so you can try out upcoming games like NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA LIVE 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition up to 5 days before they're officially released and if you end up buying the game, your progress/save will carry over to it.

You also get a 10% discount on EA digital games and content on the Xbox One.

It depends what games you're into, but I think it's a great deal personally. I was tempted to buy Battlefield 4 as some of my friends play it, but it would have cost me more than £19.99 for that game alone.

[ThaJim2]

I never got an email and I was too stupid to check the messages on my xbox last night but I got the invite on the xbox. I actually got to messages the one from yesterday I tried but the code did not work so tried todays and it worked no problem. Went with the year up front. Put my copy of FIFA on ebay when I saw this announced which basically paid for the year.

[360]

Hmmm. Idk. Will their library eventually have every game they've made?(or contracted?)
I'm a bit suspicious.

[ThaJim2]

^On at least 2 of the screens you go though to sign up they make it clear more games are coming. If I had to guess the release schedule will go like this Sept NBA 14, Oct Need For Speed, UFC around Xmas. I doubt it will ever be all the games they ever made because they are just not charging enough to make it worthwhile to port them. I do think they will release basically every game that the make* for the Xbox One to the service at some point.


*Games like Titanfall where they are only the publisher might not make the service.

[BigCat8]

It being EA, I'm skeptical... but it looks like a damn good deal. I wouldn't mind paying a few bucks to play Battlefield 4 for a month or so.

I'm a PS4 owner. Sony said EA Access doesn't represent good value for its customers, but that remains to be seen. I'm interested to see whether EA expands the list of games available, or simply swaps titles in and out. If it's a growing list of games, that sounds like good value to me. If it's 4 games that get swapped every month... that still sounds pretty decent, actually- especially with it sounding like you can pay one month at a time. I just wouldn't be able to save my annual FIFA/NHL expenditures by subscribing. Playstation Plus and Games with Gold are great services, and EA is breaking interesting ground by offering this service as a developer/publisher instead of a hardware manufacturer.

Eager to see how it pans out.

[Sigma]

I hope they don't fuck it up. I don't see why they would remove old games from the service. For instance, with Battlefield 4 there's a bunch of DLC that you don't get with EA Access and they could make money from selling that to EA Access users, but only if those users are confident that they'll still have access to the game and that it won't disappear a month or two down the line. I hope they don't use the games in the vault like long trials, so they think "OK, well you've played Battlefield 4 for 2 months, so we're removing it now and if you like it you can go and buy it" cos I don't think that's a business model that consumers will be into in the long term.

[ThaJim2]

I hope they don't fuck it up. I don't see why they would remove old games from the service. For instance, with Battlefield 4 there's a bunch of DLC that you don't get with EA Access and they could make money from selling that to EA Access users, but only if those users are confident that they'll still have access to the game and that it won't disappear a month or two down the line. I hope they don't use the games in the vault like long trials, so they think "OK, well you've played Battlefield 4 for 2 months, so we're removing it now and if you like it you can go and buy it" cos I don't think that's a business model that consumers will be into in the long term.

The language they have used makes this seem highly unlikely. They basically said that if they have to remove a game they will give you a month notice before doing so. I get the feeling that they would only remove a game if they lose the license and hence the ability to offer a game. Say they lose the NFL contract they would have to remove the maddens because of the contract. Something along those lines.

For a game like BF that they own the IP on I don't see them taking it down except in a hot coffee situation where they basically had no choice.

[ThaJim2]

It being EA, I'm skeptical... but it looks like a damn good deal. I wouldn't mind paying a few bucks to play Battlefield 4 for a month or so.

I'm a PS4 owner. Sony said EA Access doesn't represent good value for its customers, but that remains to be seen. I'm interested to see whether EA expands the list of games available, or simply swaps titles in and out. If it's a growing list of games, that sounds like good value to me. If it's 4 games that get swapped every month... that still sounds pretty decent, actually- especially with it sounding like you can pay one month at a time. I just wouldn't be able to save my annual FIFA/NHL expenditures by subscribing. Playstation Plus and Games with Gold are great services, and EA is breaking interesting ground by offering this service as a developer/publisher instead of a hardware manufacturer.

Eager to see how it pans out.

I kind of laid it out above but EA has said they have no plans on removing any content and adding content as they go.

I love the Sony remarks and then the next day opening up their rental service where you can rent a game for 4 hours. honestly who thought a 4 hour rental is in anyway a good idea?

[Sigma]

The library of games on the new EA Access subscription service will be "permanent" and "substantial", according to a senior Electronic Arts executive.

EA Access, which was announced in July and is currently in beta, offers a 'Vault' of games that can be unlocked for £3.99.$4.99 a month, or £19.99/$29.99 a year. The service is only available to Xbox One owners, with Sony deciding against supporting it on PS4.

Games available in the beta include FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Battlefield 4 and Peggle 2, but EA chief operating officer Peter Moore says more major titles are on the way.

"The Vault will get its share of triple-A titles," Moore told CVG. "We haven't made any announcements to that extent about exactly when, where and how, but the Vault will be substantial."

Moore suggested that EA must carefully consider what it adds to the vault, whilst confirming that the publisher has pledged to not remove games from it.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/47 ... bstantial/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BigCat8]

The library of games on the new EA Access subscription service will be "permanent" and "substantial", according to a senior Electronic Arts executive.

EA Access, which was announced in July and is currently in beta, offers a 'Vault' of games that can be unlocked for £3.99.$4.99 a month, or £19.99/$29.99 a year. The service is only available to Xbox One owners, with Sony deciding against supporting it on PS4.

Games available in the beta include FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Battlefield 4 and Peggle 2, but EA chief operating officer Peter Moore says more major titles are on the way.

"The Vault will get its share of triple-A titles," Moore told CVG. "We haven't made any announcements to that extent about exactly when, where and how, but the Vault will be substantial."

Moore suggested that EA must carefully consider what it adds to the vault, whilst confirming that the publisher has pledged to not remove games from it.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/47 ... bstantial/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then Sony's comments about "good value" are complete BS.

There's legitimate concern that maybe this will encourage other publishers to start their own services and/or discourage EA from putting games on PS+/Games for Gold, but the value argument holds zero water.

[ThaJim2]

Its now live for everyone.

[Sigma]

Need For Speed: Rivals is the next game being added to the vault. They haven't given an exact date - they said "in the coming weeks". I was tempted to buy it a couple of times but I'm glad I didn't know.

[ThaJim2]

Need For Speed Rivals is now live on access as well as the 5 day NHL promo. DL them now. Apparently NFS does not support wheels though which sucks as I am thinking of getting the 100 dollar Ferrari wheel to play forza and horizon with.

[Sigma]

Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare has been added to the vault, so you can download the full game now if you're an EA Access subscriber.

[Hush]

Does this service offer the most recent entries of their sports games? And can you still get it for 29.99 per year rather than 4.99/month?

[Sigma]

You don't get the most recent sports games, as you're never gonna get that for $30/£20 a year. They probably tossed FIFA 14 and Madden NFL 25 in there because there were so few EA games available on next-gen consoles, but I reckon you're basically gonna be a year behind with the sports franchises, so you'll get the full game trial and 10% discount on the latest sports game, but you won't get the full game until next year's release comes out.

[Hush]

^^^

Yeah, I mistakenly thought initially that you would get the latest of each sports franchise, but it makes sense from a business perspective why they wouldn't do that. They still want to sell copies of the games to the diehards who buy sports games every year. This is still a great deal for those who aren't as picky about that and a good way to round out your "collection" and have some additional games to play.

[Sigma]

EA Sports UFC is being added to the vault on December 18th.

[Hush]

I already have Madden 25 and Peggle 2 so I'm waiting for them to add some more stuff to the vault I could actually see myself wanting to play before subscribing to this.

[Sigma]

NBA Live 15 is the next game being added, although I'm not sure when.

[Sigma]

NBA Live 15 is now available to download. I've downloaded it but I've not tried it yet. I've heard it's not great though.

EA have also announced that EA Access subscribers will be able to download Battlefield Hardline on March 12th (5 days ahead of the US release date, and 7 days ahead of the UK release date) and play it for up to 10 hours. As always, you can unlock achievements and your game save carries over if you end up buying the game. You might be able to finish the single player campaign in that time.

[Sigma]

Madden NFL 15 is now in the vault.

[Sigma]

The 10 hour full game trial version of Battlefield Hardline is now available to download. It's a pretty whopping 45.3GB.

[Sigma]

NHL 15 is now in the vault. They've done a really good job with this so far. With it being EA, I'm just waiting for them to fuck it up though, lol.

[Sigma]

FIFA 15 has been added to the service. This is the full list of games in the vault now: -

Battlefield 4
FIFA 14
FIFA 15
Madden NFL 15
Madden NFL 25
NBA Live 15
Need for Speed Rivals
NHL 15
Peggle 2
Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare
EA Sports UFC

[Hush]

FIFA 15 has been added to the service. This is the full list of games in the vault now: -

Battlefield 4
FIFA 14
FIFA 15
Madden NFL 15
Madden NFL 25
NBA Live 15
Need for Speed Rivals
NHL 15
Peggle 2
Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare
EA Sports UFC

Still holding out for something to push me over the edge to get this.

[ChaMerZ]

star wars battlefront?

[Sigma]

Titanfall has now been added. The map packs are free too, so you can get all the available content.

[Hush]

Still waiting...

This is an excellent value, but I just don't see myself playing the sports game enough to justify it yet.

[Sigma]

Dragon Age Inquisition is the next game being added to the vault. No word on the date yet though.

Also, EA Access is free for all Xbox Live Gold members this week, so you can give it a try and play any of the games in the vault.