Happenstance Posted July 29, 2014 Posted July 29, 2014 EA Reveals New Subscription Service on Xbox One EA Access includes a back catalog of EA games, discounts, and the ability to play games early. Electronic Arts has a new idea for a gaming subscription service, and it's called EA Access. Currently exclusive to Xbox One, EA Access grants entry to a back catalog of EA games inside The Vault, a 10% discount on purchasing games and DLC digitally, and access to retail games five days before release. Starting today, it's rolling out to Xbox One users, and signups occur through the EA Access Hub app. Users can choose between a monthly ($4.99) or annual ($29.99) subscription fee, and the first wave of games loaded into the The Vault include Peggle 2, Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, and FIFA 14. Those games have been handpicked for the beta, however, and it's unclear if games in The Vault will stay for limited periods, rotate, or eventually have time limits associated with them. For now, it's unlimited, while EA sees how people respond to the program. I have to imagine paying a few dollars to start playing Dragon Age: Inquisition nearly a week before release is going to be awfully tempting, especially since your progress will be saved. Any takers? If successful, it's likely EA Access becomes available elsewhere, but no details on that just yet. More specifics on EA Access are available through a FAQ on the company's website. http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/ea-reveals-new-subscription-service-on-xbox-one/1100-4972/
Dcubed Posted July 29, 2014 Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) Now this IS interesting... This is pretty much the route that I was expecting Microsoft to take with the Xbone from day 1; to try and turn gaming into cable television, where players would subscribe to each publisher's catalogue and receive the right to play the games that they release while they subscribe - instead of having to buy each game separately. Surprising that it took this long for MS to make it a reality. Not surprising that EA is the first to jump into this scheme with MS though. This could change the landscape of gaming forever; truly defining the notion of Games-As-A-Service. It could even become the sole future of delivering future content in the distant (and perhaps dystopian) future... I'm sure that that is what EA and MS would love to happen... The idea of their games delivering a constant endless revenue stream? That's the holy grail for them! It all depends on the execution though. The price seems right to make it happen, but it depends on how quickly and often they add games to the vault and what kind of rotations/restrictions are involved... Edited July 29, 2014 by Dcubed
Happenstance Posted July 30, 2014 Author Posted July 30, 2014 I think it could possibly turn out like PS+ or Games for Gold and they'll have a rotating collection of games that you can play for free. Need more information really but I think I'll give it at least a month myself just to see what its all about.
Sheikah Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I think it could possibly turn out like PS+ or Games for Gold and they'll have a rotating collection of games that you can play for free. Need more information really but I think I'll give it at least a month myself just to see what its all about. Chances are it'll be overall cheaper to do this than if you bought the games all at release, yet they might make more money due to fewer people buying preowned. They'll still sell their games the normal way though because they know the public opinion, so really this changes nothing.
Happenstance Posted July 30, 2014 Author Posted July 30, 2014 Interesting... Sony says EA Access program isn't "good value" The newly-announced EA Access pass won't be available on PlayStation 4 because the scheme isn't "good value", Sony has stated. EA's offer grants access to a vault of blockbuster games for £3.99 a month. Currently this includes Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14 and Peggle 2, with others to be added in the future. Subscribers also get 10 per cent off the vast majority of EA games and DLC, plus five days early access to upcoming games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition, FIFA 15, NHL 15, NFL 15 and NBA Live 15. "We evaluated the EA Access subscription offering and decided that it does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect," a Sony spokesperson told Game Informer. "PlayStation Plus memberships are up more than 200 per cent since the launch of PlayStation 4, which shows that gamers are looking for memberships that offer a multitude of services, across various devices, for one low price. "We don't think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer." PlayStation Plus grants access to two games a month for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita which you can keep as long as your subscription lasts. The current offering is Towerfall Ascension and Strider for PS4, Dead Space 3 and Vessel for PS3, plus Lego Batman 2 and Doki-Doki Universe for Vita. It's now a fairly similar offering to Microsoft's own Games with Gold program, which offers two games a month for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Xbox One titles require you stay subscribed, although Xbox 360 titles can be kept forever. The EA Access pass may offer fewer games over the course of a year, then, but allowing for users to subscribe and pay £3.99 for a month's worth of EA gaming will likely still attract some - it's certainly cheaper than renting said titles separately. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-30-sony-says-ea-access-program-isnt-good-value
flameboy Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Edited and altered my post from the Xbox One thread and put it here: Not really sure what to make of this..Just to play game a weeks early isn't a selling point...especially when the 10% discount still doesn't ensure the game is cheaper than retail. Out of the games initially on offer as well you're looking at older titles...also on Xbox One your limited to the following games for the foreseeable future: Battlefield 4 FIFA 14 Madden 25 NBA Live 14 Need for Speed Rivals Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare Titanfall I can't see them adding any of next years sports titles unless they are convinced that people would spend enough in the likes of Ultimate Team if they had got the game for free. Out of what's coming up can't see Dragon Age Inquistion being added, Battlefield Hardline is way too important and the Star Wars games are a way off, the less said about the chances of Criterion's "next game" making it to the service anytime soon the better. Wonder if we will see beta access exclusively through this....still can't see it catching on. A killer feature could be if some kind of backwards compatibility or making these games available on a case by case situation and adding them to the rotating game selection.
nekunando Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I've always hated the thought of subscribing for games and only being able to access the content providing you keep paying. When I pay for a game, I want it to be my game, something I can play any time I want..
Sheikah Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Interesting... http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-30-sony-says-ea-access-program-isnt-good-value I think that's a good thing. PS4 is leading the way, so in not supporting this there's more chance it'll drop. If we can get EA games included in Plus packages because they're not asking for an extra £5 then that's ultimately better for the consumer.
Daft Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 It's a tricky one. I don't think the offering is great from EA, I think it's a really weak attempt at a cash grab. But should Sony at least give the consumer the chance to decide for themselves? Part of me thinks yes. Part of me think Sony have looked at this thing and really deemed it not worthy (whereas Microsoft are desperate from a marketing perspective to grab 'exclusives'). Part of me thinks maybe there is a bit of value in it but it's too big a deviation from the messaging of Plus, which is incredibly strong. In a way, it's no different from Apple not allowing third-party stores in their apps. For a personal standpoint, EA don't often make games that interest me so I don't really care one way or another.
Debug Mode Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 To me personally, the service sounds pretty crappy but I can recognise the potential value to other gamers. I really dislike Sony's response though, surely the customer gets to decide what represents value to them? Doesn't sound too much like the company that was FORTHEGAMERS would do. The PS Plus talk is pretty bull as well. Sure, it was only natural that the sales would have gone up as players from Xbox made the jump to the Sony platform, but it's somewhat ridiculous to be arguing about the value it gives considering they moved the online gaming component behind it. If they were that confident in the value, why not give the customer the choice?
darksnowman Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I've thought for a while that the Virtual Console should be like this. Sort of akin to the Kindle lending library. (pretty sure they discussed this on Retronauts once upon a time too.)
Happenstance Posted July 30, 2014 Author Posted July 30, 2014 I've thought for a while that the Virtual Console should be like this. Sort of akin to the Kindle lending library. (pretty sure they discussed this on Retronauts once upon a time too.) Yep thats exactly how I would like to see the VC go as well. They have such a great back catalogue that you would think it would be a good earner for them. I would certainly pay a subscription fee for access to the games.
gaggle64 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I think this sort of service is years overdue. My only concern is how smaller game producers and companies can compete on their own terms if this sort of thing finally starts taking off. But yes, I would absolutely consider signing up to a service of this type provided I could access enough content to justify it.
Cubechris Posted August 1, 2014 Posted August 1, 2014 Whilst I don't think EA's offering is particularly compelling, especially considering how the yearly cycle of their games makes the old titles cheaper to pick up outright, the idea does have merit. I want Nintendo to do something similar.
Dcubed Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 Looks like Activision are eyeing the performance of EA's service... http://www.gamezone.com/news/2014/08/06/activision-could-pursue-ea-access-like-subscription-plan-once-model-is-proven I reckon that the other publishers will be on this like flies on shit very soon. It didn't take them long to jump on EA's Online Pass bandwagon and I bet they'll be on this even faster... Will Sony give into pressure? Or will they continue to deny the 3rd party publishers the right to offer the service on their platform while Microsoft jump right into the future they always wanted?
Hero-of-Time Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 Looks like Activision are eyeing the performance of EA's service... http://www.gamezone.com/news/2014/08/06/activision-could-pursue-ea-access-like-subscription-plan-once-model-is-proven I reckon that the other publishers will be on this like flies on shit very soon. It didn't take them long to jump on EA's Online Pass bandwagon and I bet they'll be on this even faster... Will Sony give into pressure? Or will they continue to deny the 3rd party publishers the right to offer the service on their platform while Microsoft jump right into the future they always wanted? It really depends on how well the service does. I mean there's all ready an uproar over the Madden demo being exclusive to the service. Not a great start.
Dcubed Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 It really depends on how well the service does. I mean there's all ready an uproar over the Madden demo being exclusive to the service. Not a great start. It didn't take long for the service to become vilified on GAF! On minute it's everyone's darling, then next it's the spawn of Satan It is pretty interesting to watch how it plays out though. I do reckon that it'll probably take off though and that other 3rd party publishers will follow in their wake pretty quickly though... Should create some interesting dynamics between Sony and the 3rd party pubs too. Suddenly the userbase size alone may not be enough to make them the favourites ahead of MS... Fun times!
Hero-of-Time Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 It didn't take long for the service to become vilified on GAF! On minute it's everyone's darling, then next it's the spawn of Satan It is pretty interesting to watch how it plays out though. I do reckon that it'll probably take off though and that other 3rd party publishers will follow in their wake pretty quickly though... Should create some interesting dynamics between Sony and the 3rd party pubs too. Suddenly the userbase size alone may not be enough to make them the favourites ahead of MS... Fun times! If this does take off, what about Nintendo? Going forward do you think they will allow such a service on their consoles?
Dcubed Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 If this does take off, what about Nintendo? Going forward do you think they will allow such a service on their consoles? I doubt it. They are generally against offering subscriptions of this kind - Like with online play, Iwata has always said that they want to keep it free from subscription costs in order to make their games as approachable as possible. Subscriptions are only used where it's unavoidable (like Pokemon Bank's cloud storage, or Flipnote Hatena's services that are run by... Hatena!) Adding a subscription service seems counter to their goal of making their games as accessible as possible and runs the risk of de-valuing their library (don't forget that most of their games are evergreen sellers, unlike all the major 3rd party pubs whose games sell the majority of units within their first month of sale - so there aren't many sales to lose by sticking them in a "vault")
Happenstance Posted August 12, 2014 Author Posted August 12, 2014 The problem for me is that if this does take off, I think it is possible it will collapse just as quick. With Sony and PS+ you just have one service that will offer games from multiple developers but if we have to start paying an EA subscription, an Activision subscription and so on then people just arent going to want that.
Daft Posted August 12, 2014 Posted August 12, 2014 For the first time in ten years, Madden won't be getting a free demo - Early access reserved for subscribers to EA's new Xbox One exclusive service. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-12-for-the-first-time-in-ten-years-madden-wont-be-getting-a-free-demo Suddenly feel much better about Sony saying what they said. Let's hope they have the numbers to make a difference. Honestly have no idea what Microsoft is thinking.
Dcubed Posted August 20, 2014 Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) Ubisoft chimes in... http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/08/18/ubisoft-ceo-yves-guillemot-nintendo-customers-don-t-buy-assassin-s-creed.aspx That’s not to say that Ubisoft isn’t willing to explore different business models. The company is keeping a watchful eye on EA’s new Access program on Xbox One, and Guillemot sees benefits beyond the revenue. “I think it makes the publisher more important in the player’s mind,” he says. “Often, people are only interested in one brand from a publisher, so they don’t look for other brands. When you buy into something like Access, you can try other things for free and discover other things you like. It’s a way to make sure gamers can get more info on what we do and the diversity of our portfolio.” Guillemot likens the idea of publisher “Access” subscriptions to television channels. “When you look on your console, you have many channels and you want that diversity,” he says. “Instead of saying everything’s in one place, we can say ‘Okay, try these channels: EA, Ubi, Activision.’ He sees programs like this as a way to increase diversity and attract new users to the consoles. Interestingly, Ubisoft hasn’t yet signed on with the only platform-level program yet. The company is not included in the PlayStation Now library. “We are still in the process of studying what it can do,” he explains. “We are open to any way that can give players access to our games. It has to work well and be a smooth experience.” Yup. Surprising absolutely noone here Yves Edited August 20, 2014 by Dcubed
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