EA announces subscription service for Xbox One gamers

[Shawn Knight]

Borrowing a page from the streaming music and video industry, Electronic Arts on Tuesday announced a subscription service targeting Xbox One owners. EA Access, in partnership with Microsoft, will grant members access to select EA games for a monthly (or annual) fee and early access to game demos.

The service will initially offer four top EA games: FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4 with more titles slated to be added to The Vault in the near future. Subscribers will also enjoy a 10 percent discount on purchases of EA digital content for Xbox One offered through the Xbox Games Store.

EA Access is being rolled out in beta to a limited number of players starting today with plans for a full launch "soon." Pricing is set at $4.99 per month or $29.99 for an annual membership through Xbox Live. Alternately, the membership will be available for purchase at GameStop brick-and-mortar locations soon.

The latter subscription option obviously makes the most financial sense if you're interested in the service although its success or failure will ultimately come down to which titles are added to the list and whether or not launch day games make the cut.

No word yet on when or if EA Access will be offered on other platforms.

Would you be willing to pay five bucks a month (or less with the annual membership) for unlimited access to select games? What would "make" or "break" the deal in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below!

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/57567-ea-announces-subscription-service-for-xbox-one-gamers.html

 

[cmbjive]

Would you be willing to pay five bucks a month (or less with the annual membership) for unlimited access to select games?

GameFly already does this, but to answer the question no, I wouldn't pay $5 a month for a membership. I like owning my games.

 

[treetops]

Maybe if they had more games, I own madden and sold my battlefield on ebay so meh what the point. Xbox one as a whole only has like 20 games, this next gen has been a big let down.

 

[Heihachi1337]

Wait wait, let me get this straight.
1) I pay for internet access to my ISP (Comcast, Google, etc.)
2) I now pay for Xbox online access
3) Now EA is asking for additional sub fees, despite paying for the above and purchasing their game

Welcome to the new world order of indentured servitude via micro-transactions. I guess poison is easiest swallowed in small doses.

 

[yRaz]

I remember when game demos were free...I'm glad I stopped buying EA games years ago. I'm nearing 27 years old anyway, I'm getting to old for this garbage. I buy maybe 2 games a year at this point anyway and it's usually something I see for $5 on steam. EA doesn't make a single product worth buying. More so now that they jam Origin down your throat. They want to start charging a subscription fee for demos and extra content, what a joke. Forget about being nickle and dimed, they're going after every last penny....

 

[ET3D]

Wait wait, let me get this straight.
1) I pay for internet access to my ISP (Comcast, Google, etc.)
2) I now pay for Xbox online access
3) Now EA is asking for additional sub fees, despite paying for the above and purchasing their game

You're wrong on the "and purchasing their game". That's the entire point, you don't have to purchase the game.

And come on, you're paying for internet access anyway. Do you lump it with any silly argument you have? "OMG I have to buy a game to play it. How dare they? I already pay for internet access!"

 

[ET3D]

They want to start charging a subscription fee for demos and extra content, what a joke.

At 27 year old, it's about time you learned to read.

 

[GeforcerFX]

I like how every negative comment so far has been by someone who obviously read 6 words of the article then just made there own conclusions. It a optional service that for some would allow them to potentially play more of EA's AAA titles they release every year. If madden and Fifa are major titles included and they are launch day access titles this would be huge for the people who buy those games every year at $60. But as others have pointed out physically owning the game is nice too, it could be like netflix where you have "x" mount of time to play before the game is removed and a different one replaces it.

 

[wastedkill]

The $4.99 a month is a joke but $25 a year is what I call a deal! specially if you say BF4 costs what $30-60? Wonder if this will come to PC...

 

[nazartp]

I like how every negative comment so far has been by someone who obviously read 6 words of the article then just made there own conclusions. It a optional service that for some would allow them to potentially play more of EA's AAA titles they release every year. If madden and Fifa are major titles included and they are launch day access titles this would be huge for the people who buy those games every year at $60. But as others have pointed out physically owning the game is nice too, it could be like netflix where you have "x" mount of time to play before the game is removed and a different one replaces it.

EA just want a steady stream of revenue. Subscription service eliminates seasonality and peaks and values due to the timing of new releases. It also, to an extent, mitigates the effect of major failed launches. Say EA banked on Dragon Age Inquisition and it flopped - results in a big hole in cash flow.

Ultimately will depend on what they'll have in the library and how good the new releases are to keep people playing. $5/month equals to a purchase of a single AAA game in a year. To make me keep paying it year on year - that's a different story.

 

[RustyTech]

My allotment for anything EA related has been reached and in about 3-4 years I'll give them another shot (as in 1 shot) to see if they got it right; otherwise, I'll keep my $25 this year and every year going forward - EA doesn't deserve them with the kind of crap and half-"baked" games they have been releasing.

yRaz said it correctly - demos...because they're not games.

 

[yRaz]

They want to start charging a subscription fee for demos and extra content, what a joke.

At 27 year old, it's about time you learned to read.

"EA Access, in partnership with Microsoft, will grant members access to select EA games for a monthly (or annual) fee and early access to game demos"

 

[GeforcerFX]

They want to start charging a subscription fee for demos and extra content, what a joke.

At 27 year old, it's about time you learned to read.

"EA Access, in partnership with Microsoft, will grant members access to select EA games for a monthly (or annual) fee and early access to game demos"

Your not grasping the concept of "early access", the demos will still be released you just get first crack at them with the subscription. It's like with there open betas, pre-order customers usually get a 2-3 day head start on the beta.

 

[yRaz]

Your not grasping the concept of "early access", the demos will still be released you just get first crack at them with the subscription. It's like with there open betas, pre-order customers usually get a 2-3 day head start on the beta.

I understand early access quite well, but demos themselves are used as early access previews and are free. It isn't paying to have early access I have a problem with. I have a problem with EA withholding a demo and charging for "early access" to it. The demo is ready for everyone to use by the time they release it for "early access". If you can't see that then you aren't grasping the concept of a money grab.

 

[GeforcerFX]

I understand early access quite well, but demos themselves are used as early access previews and are free. It isn't paying to have early access I have a problem with. I have a problem with EA withholding a demo and charging for "early access" to it. The demo is ready for everyone to use by the time they release it for "early access". If you can't see that then you aren't grasping the concept of a money grab.

I would assume that the demo will still be before the game, usually EA's definition of early access is like 3-5 days, so if the demos keep being like 1-2 weeks before release and the subscription users are getting in 3 weeks early I don't see a huge prob with that.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Would you be willing to pay five bucks a month (or less with the annual membership) for unlimited access to select games?

GameFly already does this, but to answer the question no, I wouldn't pay $5 a month for a membership. I like owning my games.

I'm with you on this one but I have to correct you, you don't own the game, ever, the publisher owns it and you just own a copy but we get what you're saying.
As a matter of fact I refuse to pay EA a penny for anything, they're famous for fleecing you and never delivering. If I pirated my games (which I don't) I wouldn't pirate anything from EA, that's how strongly I feel about them, if they release a title which I think I may be interested in I still won't buy it, I'd rather go without.

 

[treetops]

Would you be willing to pay five bucks a month (or less with the annual membership) for unlimited access to select games?

GameFly already does this, but to answer the question no, I wouldn't pay $5 a month for a membership. I like owning my games.

I'm with you on this one but I have to correct you, you don't own the game, ever, the publisher owns it and you just own a copy but we get what you're saying.
As a matter of fact I refuse to pay EA a penny for anything, they're famous for fleecing you and never delivering. If I pirated my games (which I don't) I wouldn't pirate anything from EA, that's how strongly I feel about them, if they release a title which I think I may be interested in I still won't buy it, I'd rather go without.

People pirate xbox one games?

You know what you can't resell a subscription. Currently you can buy battlefield or madden 25 for 20$ on ebay. Id rather pay a one time fee for a game and sell it on ebay if I do not like it. Then use that money to try out a another game, rinse, repeat and not be restricted to EA titles.

 

[gingerbill]

I imagine at EA they have rooms full of hundreds of people who's only job is to come up with more way's to get money out your wallet and then one small room for people with any talent actually making games. If they spent as much time and effort making games as trying to make money they would be far better of , certainly in the long term.

 

[theBest11778]

$29.99/yr is a good deal if you play several of their annualized games (I.e. Madden, Battlefield/Medal of Honor, Fifa, NBA, etc...) Someone else said it above, but that saves those people a TON of money. Just 2 of those games will run you $120. That's $90 saved. Play 3 of them, that's $150 saved. I personally prefer games like Mass Effect/Dragon Age which aren't annualized (thankfully,) so it isn't for me, but I have friends that are big in to BF and Madden. This would be great for them.