EA went ahead and announced its "EA Access" subscription service for the Xbox One. It's exclusive to that console because Sony doesn't view it as a good deal for PlayStation 4 owners. We're going to look at whether or not this service is worth its weight in gold, can it be successful, and should Sony reconsider its decision to give it the cold shoulder.
When some folks look at EA Access, they see just another subscription service, and they are correct in their assessment because it is, but one with a positive and a negative. The price at this point to get started is $4.99 per month, or $29.99 per year, and it promises to give gamers access to EA's Vault of games. These games can all be played for as long as the player wants for no extra charge, unless they wish to play DLCs or other content.
So far, the vault is limited to only a few games, but EA has promised to add more. Interestingly enough, games apart of the vault are not exactly old, as they haven't been out for a year yet, so it goes to show that EA won't just add a bunch of two-year-old titles to the service. Nonetheless, gamers should expect EA to add the latest games right away, though we have no idea how long after a game is launched before EA considers it the right time to add it to the vault.
The whole thing right now is a bit confusing, but from what we know, the deal isn't so bad if games in the vault are less than a year old. Paying $60 for each video game is expensive, especially since some games we only play for up to six months. EA Access should allow players to have an ease of mind knowing that they can bypass a few games and play them in the coming months when they are added to the vault.
However, we should note that this plan would only work wonders for folks who purchase several EA made video games a year, and that's the positive. The negative is that if someone doesn't play much of EA titles, then this deal isn't even worth two bucks and a pack of cigs.
Is EA Access worth it then?
At the moment, it seems that way if you're an EA fan, but it all boils down to the games EA chooses to add to the vault, and their age. No one wants to pay to play a bunch of old games.
Now, how can EA make this subscription service turn out to be something special?
As mentioned several times before in this article, no adding of old games, that's lame. Furthermore, EA should allow yearly subscribers to have at least two games as their own after a subscription comes to an end. This would give players another good reason to renew their subscription again.
In addition, EA needs to allow subscribers to purchase digital titles for less than the proposed $60. So far, EA Access subscribers can purchase digital games for 10 percent off, but that's just $6 off, so not impressive at all.
Should Sony reconsider kicking EA Access to the curb?
No, we don't think it should. EA Access has potential, but so far PSN+ appears to be a better deal. EA Access is just filed with EA titles only, and not everyone is willing to shell out just to play games from a single company. However, if the service should takeoff on the Xbox One, Sony should swallow its pride and come crawling to EA for forgiveness.
