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EA Access will arrive on Steam shortly

by Mark Tyson on 11 August 2020, 10:11

Tags: Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), Valve

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Back at the beginning of June, HEXUS reported on the warming of EA / Valve relations with "the best of EA" being welcomed to the Steam platform. This entente cordiale marked a significant turnaround from 2011, when EA established its own PC storefront/launcher called Origin. Also two months ago we were given the heads up that EA's subscription service on PC, EA Access, would be purchasable via Steam in the not-too-distant future.

The EA Access subscription page on Steam is now live, with a list of member benefits, a plethora of highlighted games in various genres, and a FAQ about the service. At the time of writing you still can't actually subscribe to EA Access via Steam but are assured (in the FAQ) that this option will go live "very soon".

Uncomfortably, EA currently calls its PC subscription service, which you can currently subscribe to outside of Steam, 'Origin Access'. I guess this is because you have to use the service via EA's Origin client for PCs. The new EA Access via Steam is said to offer the same range of games and service level (and pricing) as the 'Origin Access Basic' plan. This means you get the following for your fees:

  • Exclusive rewards and member-only content
  • Early access to upcoming EA games (10 hr trials for free)
  • Evolving collection of unlimited access games to play from EA's fan favourites and top titles
  • 10 per cent off EA digital purchases from full games to DLC

Current PC 'Origin Access' plans in the UK

EA Access (same as Origin Access Basic) costs US$4.99 / £3.99 / AU$6.99 a month, or US$29.99 / £19.99 / AU$39.99 per annum.

Currently EA/Origin offer a premium tier subscription for PCs dubbed 'Origin Access Premier' (£14.99pcm, or £89.99pa in the UK) but there seems to be no equivalent on Steam.

HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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Posted by Saracen999 - Tue 11 Aug 2020 12:31
I imagine a lot of people will like this, but it embodies three of my least favourite (gaming) words in one sentence - Steam, EA and subscription.

Thanks, but no thanks.
Posted by Ttaskmaster - Tue 11 Aug 2020 15:14
Not a fan of subscriptions either.

Some of my gamer friends got the EA Vault subs thingy they do and tried to sell me on it, before realising they rarely used it and really weren't getting their money's worth.
Posted by Saracen999 - Tue 11 Aug 2020 16:03
Ttaskmaster
Not a fan of subscriptions either.

….
I suppose they have their uses.

For instance, right now, I'm subscribing to both Amazon Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited …. and, obviously, Prime.

During lockdown, and for other reasons, I'm spending a LOT more time than would normally be the car at home, so I'm certainly reading loads more than normal. A lot of it is stuff I doubt I'll ever read again, unlike my library of printed books much of which has been read and reread over the years. Similar logic applies to music, so right now a subscription suits me. When it doesn't, I'll turn it off.

But though, at the moment, they suit me, some items in both music and books I still buy in order to get permanent access.

That, I guess, is why gaming subscriptions aren't for me. When I discover a game I really like, I'm likely to go back and replay it time and again, over a long period. But I don't have vast amounts of time for gaming these days, so I'm not looking to keep trying loads of new stuff all the time. Buying stuff I'll repeatedly reuse just makes better sense for me.
Posted by cheesemp - Tue 11 Aug 2020 16:20
Saracen999
I suppose they have their uses.

For instance, right now, I'm subscribing to both Amazon Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited …. and, obviously, Prime.

During lockdown, and for other reasons, I'm spending a LOT more time than would normally be the car at home, so I'm certainly reading loads more than normal. A lot of it is stuff I doubt I'll ever read again, unlike my library of printed books much of which has been read and reread over the years. Similar logic applies to music, so right now a subscription suits me. When it doesn't, I'll turn it off.

But though, at the moment, they suit me, some items in both music and books I still buy in order to get permanent access.

That, I guess, is why gaming subscriptions aren't for me. When I discover a game I really like, I'm likely to go back and replay it time and again, over a long period. But I don't have vast amounts of time for gaming these days, so I'm not looking to keep trying loads of new stuff all the time. Buying stuff I'll repeatedly reuse just makes better sense for me.

You see in the inverse I'm almost the opposite. I also have little time for games but rarely replay/complete something. I usually pick up a game then either play it for 10 minutes, hour, 5 hours or until completion then never touch it again. Most games end up in the 10 minute to one hour category as a lot of games just don't catch with me. I ended up spending a fortune (even though it was all cheap stuff) on games I never really played. I found gamepass has solved the problem for me. EA access on the other hand has been less useful (I had it on the xbox) - outside of a go at the battlefield single players and Mass effect I barely touched it but hey I'd have spent the £18 it cost me to join for a year on say 3 of those games when I got to try about 10 instead. With game pass I've spent maybe £50 playing about 20+ games, 2 of which were new out to completion. Both of those would have been £30+ on release so it works for me. If I had more time it would be even more value.
Posted by Ttaskmaster - Tue 11 Aug 2020 16:46
Saracen999
For instance, right now, I'm subscribing to both Amazon Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited …. and, obviously, Prime.
I can see how they work with other things… but gaming subs specifically do not work for me.
I'm more likely to find I'm not playing games (not in the mood, life too busy, work too imposing, etc) and cancel the unjustified and hefty expenditure.

It's only months or even years later that I'll actually want to play the game, but because I had to end the sub I no longer have access to it.
That's the biggest issue…..
Also, with the likes of Uplay and Humble subs, there actually is nothing in their catalogue I want to play! Absolutely zilch, even for ‘free’. EA is slightly different, but still only has a handful of titles that catch my eye, and I've already got most of them… probably in a Steam sale, for less than one month of subs, too!

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