Announced as an Xbox One exclusive, the EA Access program will offer games to subscribers for a monthly or yearly fee. The program will operate more like Gamefly than Sony’s PlayStation Now service as games will be fully downloaded not streamed.
A limited beta with only Madden NFL 25, FIFA14, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4 available will be followed by a full launch at a later date. The complete line-up of games has not been announced but EA says that it will include access to ‘The Vault’ of games. ‘The Vault’ being described as “an evolving selection of EA’s Xbox One games that EA Access members can download and play while an active member.”
Much like the Games with Gold on Xbox One and PS Plus on PS4, game progress will be saved but access to the game will be lost if the subscription is ended. Unlike those programs however, subscribers will have up to five days of early access to games and receive discounts on purchases. The early access will be for a limited amount of in-game play and purchase discounts will be up to 10%.
At a cost of $5 per month or $30 per year could be a very cost-effective solution for gaming depending upon the catalog of games.
Somehow, I just get the feeling that EA will find a way to screw people over with this. I hope they prove me wrong.
Paul Novak is a self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing in the west side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet. Found here at What’s Your Tag? and on the Twitter @dudewantshisrug. Game on with Team XBRO!
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