EA is yet again making some interesting moves in the video game market. The company has created a new gaming subscription service called EA Access that will be exclusive for the Xbox One, at least for the time being. The service is similar to Sony's PlayStation Now, with the main difference being the lack of cloud gaming component.
What EA is working on is basically the Netflix of games, and if it works, there's a high chance that publishers such as Ubisoft and others will follow up with a similar subscription service.
According to EA, the new service will give gamers unlimited access to a vault filled with EA games. For just $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year, gamers can play the titles within the vault for as long as they want.
At the moment, EA Access is in beta and only a selection of video games are available to gamers. Right now, gamers who subscribe to the service can take advantage of titles such as FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25 and Peggle 2. We're not certain if these games alone are capable of enticing gamers, not to mention that these titles are not exactly new.
Furthermore, we're not certain if EA will add the latest games to the vault, because if this is not the case, chances are gamers won't see the value in paying a monthly or yearly subscription for old games. What we do know is that the company plans to add new games, whether or not those games will be fresh is still up in the air.
In addition to having unlimited play of all titles in the EA Access Vault, gamers will also get a 10 percent discount on all digital titles on Xbox Live. To help sweeten the deal, subscribers will get the option to play trials of the latest games five days before release. Any progress gained will boil over to the full game, should the player decide to purchase it.
The ability to purchase an EA Access membership is exclusive to Xbox Live, for now. In the future, Amazon and GameStop will be selling subscriptions as well.
"Soon, fans of GameStop will be able to purchase their EA Access membership in local retail stores. GameStop and Amazon will also carry EA Access memberships for Xbox One gamers across Europe, as well as EB Games in Canada," according to EA Games.
Can this plan work for EA?
As we've noted above, EA would have to drop in the latest games into the mix. Xbox One gamers are already purchasing subscriptions to play with friends via Xbox Live, it would likely not make much sense to pay a subscription fee for another service especially when it doesn't allow them to play the latest titles.
In all honesty, we don't see this taking off, but despite that, we'll keep an eye on EA Access nevertheless.
