EA Access Subscription Service Announced for Xbox One

Did you see the list of games?

$30 bucks for a year to play Madden, FIFA and BF4 right off the bat is a pretty good deal. I'm curious to see what, when and how many games they will be adding going forward.

I'm willing to bet my future kids and any of all my future money to anyone naïve enough to believe that if something like this takes off and becomes successful for EA other companies would follow suit. I can see Ubisoft doing this, you know damn well Activision is probably foaming at the mouth like a dog with rabies at this prospect, Capcom, Namco.... and before you know it you're paying a subscription fee of about $200 a year and that's not counting XBL or PS plus.

Look at how DLC started, It only took one company to do it and become successful and now DLC feels like a natural part of gaming. People don't even finch or complain about it anymore, in fact some people stretch out their hands and beg for it $15 map packs of stages that are "redone" for their "new game."

Well I guess it's inevitable where things are headed unfortunately. We have no one to blame but ourselves though soooo...........

So when this starts I get 4 games for a $30 yearly subscription they may add or take away games. I get demos for all EA games at least 5 days for their release. I can try games for 2 hours then get the option to buy it. So games like Star Wars battlefront, the mirrors edge sequel, all the sports title and battlefield games I can access 5 days early!

I see zero bad in this so far will def be looking more into this

If they add in games from less than nine months or so after release, I think this could be a good deal.

Hardware can be fixed and by the time when you can no longer get official hardware knock off will be made and legal like now with those systems that play SNES and Sega games.

hmmm.. could be good.. but then again why is everyone bitching about playstation now (or whatevers its called) this will be essentially the same thing... but only with EA..

And the moment you stop paying $30 a year all your games disappear?

I don't see any negatives with this though. It's not replacing anything, it's simply an additional option that is available for people. There are some people(especially those with low disposable income, for whatever reason.....recently had kids, lost your job, etc.) that will enjoy this, all they need is 5$ per month to get access to several full games. You try it, you don't like it then you just cancel and never look back....you just get set back 5$.

The problem is if enough people sign up to justify this, then Capcom, Ubisoft and others will bring out their own services and watch the cost skyrocket.

$200 a year is a bargain for all those developers games if it does go this way, in New Zealand I pay up to $110 for a single game, now if I could get 100's of games for as little as 200USD, that would save me thousands.

this news made my day

PS Now prices are currently insane http://kotaku.com/playstation-now-prices-are-currently-insane-1594025919. They want you to pay $5 to have access to a single game for 4 hours. (I'm predicting the prices will go down or else noone else will use the service)

If this EA service gives you full access to 4+ full games at the same price it destroys PS Now.

Why is EA still holding so much info when announcing such service?

All we know is that there'll be 4 games available from the start, you'll have to buy the DLC apart and can have early access to some games... and 10% discounts. I saw something about time limited demos as well.

But what about how the Vault's library will grow? Will there be new games monthly? Will there be a wait of a few months so a game is put into the Vault? etc.

I sense evil in this.

This looks like what PS NOW should have been.

I don't play any of those games but that's actually a good deal and would entice me to try some just because they are there.

did you see where it said more games would be added? no? of course not.

EA is getting too greedy.

FAQ

What is EA Access?

EA Access is a new program for Xbox One gamers that lets you play the best of EA for as low as $4.99 a month. Members can binge on an assortment of awesome games in The Vault, a handpicked selection of great Xbox One games from EA. EA Access members also have the opportunity to try new games five days before the release date, and enjoy 10% discounts on EA digital download purchases, including full games, downloadable content and in-game currency. Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply.

How do I join EA Access?

EA Access membership is available to Xbox One gamers through Xbox Live. You will soon be able to sign up through the EA Access Hub app after downloading it to your console.

Where else can I purchase an EA Access membership?

Coming soon, GameStop fans will be able to purchase an EA Access membership at their local GameStop retail store. In the UK, gamers will also be able to purchase their membership through GAME stores.

How much does EA Access cost?

Membership in EA Access has been priced affordably at $4.99 per month, but you can save even more: $29.99 for a full year.

When does EA Access go live?

You’ll be able to become an EA Access member this summer. We’ll announce the launch day soon. Stay tuned!

What is The Vault?

The Vault is an evolving selection of EA's Xbox One games that EA Access members can download and play while an active member. During the beta, gamers will have unlimited access to four great EA games: Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4, with more titles being added soon.

What will the pre-release trials include? Will my progress carry over?

Each game is different, so each game’s trial will be, too. In some titles you’ll be able to play one of the game's modes for a limited time, while other times you can jump right into the full game. And since you’ll always be playing the real game, any progress you make will carry over so you can pick up where you left off on launch day.

Who can become an EA Access member?

EA Access is available to all Xbox One owners in supported territories.

Will EA Access be available in my country?

At launch, EA Access will be available in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States with additional territories to follow.

guess you don't understand the concept of rentals. you know, that thing you got on the ps4 where it's $5 for a couple hours.

If sony made this deal with EA cows would be jacking off all over the place with 20 different threads and 300 gay gifs.

Sony has wiggle room on prices?

lmfao

Sony's broke my man. They have to lease out their servers and pay their server rental fees.

They have no leeway. The children must be fed and the bills must be paid.

EDIT: Charging 50 bones for a re-hash in less than a year, might open some eyes around here to the brokenness. I'm talking broke as a joke....broke. I'm talking losing money for 7 straight years broke.

So broke....they make rubber bands look like barge ropes.

Yeah there would be cow jiz stalactites everywhere! LMAO!

@Sophette: possibly yeah... but I also think gamers are pretty good at rejecting initiatives that fall out if whack with what we deem satisfactory. The worth of any of these services is only as successful as we're willing to pay. If this plan is successful for EA and other follow suit, they're still going to have to make the cost of the product cater to the masses.

I don`t get why you all are so happy. FIFA 15, Madden 15 and Battlefield Hardline is a few months away from release, and all EA offers is their old crap for a monthly fee. Who the heck would buy games like FIFA 14, when FIFA 15 is already out?

You know not everybody buys games as soon as they come out . Maybe its not for everybody but it is good for some

So $30 a year for some hand picked games EA will let you play, it does not even mention new games (what would the 10% discount be for if you had access to everything?), just for your information I would not even buy PSN access even if I had a PS4 because it is taking the piss.
I either own something or not at all. Seems to me they want to get people into this pay per month so they can milk people just to continue playing games they have already played. If you are fine with that then great, I'd rather buy the games when they go on sale and not pay for a subscription and play the game whenever I want without an internet connection if I want to.

@edwardecl: Where have you read its based on your internet connection? I was under the impression that you download the digital games it is not a streaming service like PS Now. Also you I buy madden every year, I like playing fifa at random times. These are the games for the Beta EA's games cover a wide variety. This will save me from going to buy then trading back in the games I dont play. I will subscribe for a year and I will have a owner ship of all the games in the vault for a year. Thats just 30$ I stand to lose money buy buying trading and re buying. I dont like having an excess of games collecting dust.

Sports games that will soon be worthless when the new titles come out...no online play ect.

The biggest benefit is full game trial. I wouldn't have bought BF4 and UFC were there a trial. I will gladly pay the $30 to try out Mirror's Edge, Dragon Age, FIFA, Madden, NCAA Football, NHL, NBA Live, Need for Speed, Battlefield Hardline, and Star Wars Battlefront.

No harm in them trying something different. I don't get many EA games, and need a subscription for old EA games even less, but if they can get a bunch of people buying in, more power to them.

How so? They sound it. You pay a similar yearly fee and gain access to games to download, yes PSN+ now offers extras on top of that. But somewhere in there they seem to share the concept.

The only bad thing here is that EA is only one publisher. If every publisher starts doing this it can become a mess, and it takes away from the services like PSN+ and Xbox Live because these games will be held away from those services I bet. And that you don't know what you get out of it. It's kinda like a pre-ordering+. You pre-order, but you don't know what you pre-order for sure, and on top of that you don't know for how long you can 'own' it.

This can be beneficial, but you are placing even more control in the hands of one of the less ethical gaming companies rather than deciding what you want for yourself.

I guess the main difference is that PSnow is streaming, while this is an actual download. Also, PSnow has you pay for individual games (for now), while access is all access pass for the games in the vault.

Honestly, while the selection is limited to EA titles, looking at the current prices, you can get 3x more games for teh same amount spent on EAaccess.

I thought PS Now was separate to the PSN+ games service? You know, that rental download thing on PSN+.

I appreciate the answer since I just didn't feel like answering once it was revealed he didn't research either after all this time. I gave the clue they weren't similar, but I guess that wasn't enough. PS+ is pretty old (years) so I'm just surprised at the confusion in 2014.

PSNow is just like renting individual games as you would streaming individual movies by renting. PS+ is an annual service where they assign you games (just as Games with Gold emulated that PS+ model, so it's not hard to understand if you owned an Xbox with Gold service). PSNow is a 'rent individual games by streaming' service. You choose a game, you choose the price, you rent it and then it goes away.

PSNow is like going to a rental store and choosing the game and paying an agreed upon rental price. What that store has on the shelves is what you can choose from and then you agree to pay for a day, 7 days, 30 days, etc. The service is ambitious with the streaming technology. There is no annual fee. Each game has it's own rental price and time. PSNow rental takes up no space on the HDD since it's streaming (other than the save for the game in the KB).

PS+ they assign you games which you download, like EA will do and much like M$ now does with Games with Gold (GwG). It's a mystery what you get for PS+ (or GwG) and every month you get something. You don't choose the games and there is an annual fee. PS+ also offers huge PS+ savings on games. Recently XBLG started a similar service very recently called Deals with Gold which also emulated the PS+ discount strategy. What you buy, you keep.

You don't need PS+ to access PSNow, you just need the internet. PSNow will eventually appear on phones and other devices as it's simply a "rent individual games service via streaming".

This EA service is closer to PS+ and GwG than it is PSNow. It resembles PS+ with discounts and downloads, I'd say, sure, but not PSNow.

@SolidTy: @HalcyonScarlet: Right Solid. It's closer to PS+. But i asked this on the comments on the article. Do we lose access if we let out EA sub lapse?

If i'm not mistaken (haven't use PS+ since moving to pc gaming), we get a certain select couple of games a month for free, but after that one has to pay for them, like Resogun after the time passes, If we don't pay for PS+, we lose access to the isntant games collection, correct? Anyone know if the same happens with EAccess?

If they do Vault rotations and remove the 14 year editions of their sports games, will we lose those games even if we're still subbed?

I would assume so, hence the subscription model $30 a year vs. $5 a month.

Let me throw out speculation based on the motives of EA: It seems EA is moving into PS+/GwG territory. That's the advantage of the subscription model, revenue for EA annually and the incentive for us to keep renewing is to keep the "vault" games. If they let us keep older games (after a lapse in the EA sub) then they would have users sub for $4.99 a month for select months and then not sub until they see something else. They would seek to avoid this. EA wants to get this going in the same fashion and go for the annual sub.

I should point out that GwG recently got changes in June where if you let your Gold subscription lapse, you lose the games. A large distinction on how GwG started, I believe last year.

For a firm answer, I would check the fine print or wait for more answers from EA as they obviously plan to roll this out on everything eventually considering they are primarily platform agnostic (although Ex-SEGA and Ex-M$ Peter Moore has a lot more say than he used to over at EA these days considering his promotion.)

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EDIT: It seems I've confirmed my post above by taking my own advice and looking at the fine print EA put out there. You want access to the EA Vault, you need to have an active EA subscription.

"The company says EA Access will "launch for everyone on Xbox One soon." Paying for the subscription will get you access to what EA calls its Vault, a collection of games you'll have unlimited access to as long as you're subscribed."

It gets worse though as EA's service is not as generous as PS+.

The terms of EA Access Subscription:

"...Vault Titles are subject to change and may be removed(!!!), and the online services for certain Vault Titles may be discontinued. In the event that EA changes the EA Access Services, including the removal of Vault Titles or discontinuation of online services for certain Vault Titles, we will provide thirty (30) days advance notice to you by posting a notice on http://www.ea.com/eaaccess."

"Vault Titles contain functionality designed to disable access to those Vault Titles in the event that (i) your subscription is canceled or otherwise terminated or (ii) EA decides, in its sole discretion to remove certain Vault Titles as described above."

This means that unlike PS+, your free EA games can be removed from your EA account while your subscription is still active. They can even disable the online functionality while subbed.

There's the catch and this is EA we are dealing with...

I hope no one pays for their shit...then again with the XOne sales.....they won't generate many sales anyway.

@FastRobby: @SolidTy: I agree that games probably won't be taken out of the Vault, and why paying for only 1 month to download all of them, like Solid said, would be too easy.

It's just that i've seen post on NeoGaf and everything, tha show that EA can indeed take out games from the vault. But if they did, what'd happen to the games we'd have downloaded? Again, i don't think they will, but since we're lacking some info, specualtion insues.

Also, Solid, great point about GWG needing you to stay subbed. I read that about a week ago, but wasn't 100% sure if it was true. Thanks for the reminder. Ironic. PS3 didn't require plus for multiplayer, now it does. Gold allowed people to keep their games while unsubbed, now it's doesn't.

Ce la vie. Anyway, it's sounding like a good deal for the current price. We'll have to see if EA doesn't screw it up somehow.

They can do Vault removals, even if you have an active subscription. They can also disable the online functionality. I posted this above, but here:

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It gets worse though as EA's service is not as generous as PS+.

The terms of EA Access Subscription:

"...Vault Titles are subject to change and may be removed(!!!), and the online services for certain Vault Titles may be discontinued. In the event that EA changes the EA Access Services, including the removal of Vault Titles or discontinuation of online services for certain Vault Titles, we will provide thirty (30) days advance notice to you by posting a notice on http://www.ea.com/eaaccess."

"Vault Titles contain functionality designed to disable access to those Vault Titles in the event that (i) your subscription is canceled or otherwise terminated or (ii) EA decides, in its sole discretion to remove certain Vault Titles as described above."

This means that unlike PS+, your free EA games can be removed from your EA account while your subscription is still active. They can even disable the online functionality while subbed.

There's the catch and this is EA we are dealing with...

This service will pay for itself. It is a great deal if you buy only a few games and a DLC a year. Early access? Sold.

I got something you can eat Alex. How about a knuckle sandwich? LOL.

Justin's cute when he's shilling.

Think you might have confused my contemptful laughter here.

Getting in on those incredible discounts, Simon? 10% off in-game coins in Plants vs Zombies! Insane value!