EA has decided to tidy up the mess that it has made with its EA/Origin Access branding across consoles and PCs. On Friday it announced that EA Access and Origin Access subscription game services will be getting a fresh new name and look starting from tomorrow (Tuesday, 18th August 2020). In summary, EA Access and Origin Access Basic will become EA Play, and Origin Access Premier will change to EA Play Pro.
If you are an existing subscriber or interested in this service as it stands, don't worry, EA reassures that the existing benefits per subscription level will stay as they are. Actually, EA takes this chance to assert that there will be more benefits over coming months for all - in the shape of "exclusive in-game challenges and monthly reward drops for members on select titles".
EA kindly shares its reasoning behind the merging of its console / PC services under the same EA Play branding. Its unconvincing major reason is that the change is "an important step in streamlining our services to ensure that being an EA Play member is the best way to play." Despite the somewhat bogus reasoning, I welcome all tech and gaming companies that simplify the naming of their products and services in a logical manner.
Last Tuesday HEXUS reported that EA Access was coming to Steam shortly. It is still "coming soon," according to the landing page. But that was a bit of a confusing announcement as it was basically Origin Access coming to PCs via Steam whilst picking up the console-esque subscription naming. Hopefully, EA Access on Steam will be re-Christened EA Play on Steam ahead of its actual launch/availability.
If you think you are already familiar with the 'EA Play' word combo, that is because the recent E3 showcases by the games publisher have soemtimes been called EA Play events. To avoid confusion going forward the live streamed events will always be referred to as 'EA Play Live' events.
If you are an existing EA Access or Origin Access subscriber you shouldn't have to do anything to transition, your login should stay the same and all your digital bits and bobs should survive intact.
