EA Access Is Now Available for Everyone Exclusively On Xbox One

Written by Brandon Hofer on August 11, 2014

News: EA has revealed that EA Access is now out of beta and is available to all Xbox One gamers for $4.99 a month or $29.99 for a year.

A couple of weeks ago EA revealed their new Netflix-esque service on Xbox One with EA Access. At that time the service was in beta but it now appears that EA Access is available to everyone. According to EA, EA Access is now out of beta and is available for all Xbox One gamers. EA Access is the service where you can pay $4.99 a month or $30 ($2.50 a month) a year to access this service. What is this service exactly though? Well, if you decide to become a member, this is what you will receive:

The Vault

The vault is where all of the games that you will have access to is stored. Right now the games in the vault include Madden NFL 25, Battlefield 4, FIFA 14 and Peggle 2. It works just like Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus in that you will have unlimited access to these games as long as you remain a member. If you decided to let your subscription lapse then you will longer be able to play these games, however, if you decide to return six months down the line you will regain access to everything, including your save files. Over time there will be more titles added to the vault. According to EA, once a game enters the vault it is going to stay there. That means that there will eventually be six games in the vault, eight games in the vault, ten games in the vault and, well, you get the idea. It also needs to be mentioned that you download these games to your Xbox One hard drive. You don’t stream anything which means you get the full experience as if you just bought the game from the Xbox One store or from Gamestop. Once you have downloaded these games from the Vault you will no longer need your game disc. So if you have Madden NFL 15 installed on your Xbox One and own the physical copy then you no longer need that disc. You can now play Madden as if you bought the digital version and can either get rid of the disc or keep it in case you don’t remain a member of EA Access.

5 Day Early Access To Games

As a member of EA Access, you will be able to download a trial of upcoming EA games so you can “try before you buy.” With this new program you could download Dragon Age: Inquisition, for example, five days before it is released in stores to see whether you like the game or not. Now you won’t have access to the entire game but you should be able to play enough of it to see whether you like it or not. EA has stated that in some games you might get access to a specific mode while in other games you might have access to the full game but have a time limit. It will vary by title but should help you make informed decisions on whether you want to buy the game or save your money. If you decide you like the game and then purchase it, your save file will transfer over so that you can pick up where you left off and so you didn’t “waste” your time playing the trial.

Cheaper Digital Games and DLC

Another feature EA Access members will receive is cheaper games and DLC. EA Access members will receive a 10% discount on all games and DLC. Continuing on with Dragon Age: Inquisition example from above, if you decide you want to buy the game after playing it, you can do so on your console and get it for 10% off the normal price. It should be mentioned that this discount only applies to digital versions of the games. You won’t be able to walk into Gamestop, for example, and get 10% off the game. This also carries over to DLC as well, so if you want to purchase the season pass for Dragon Age then you will also get 10% off of that as well.

EA is slowly rolling out this new service throughout the day so if you don’t have access to the service yet then try again later. The countries that are being supported at launch include Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Xbox Live Gold is not required for EA Access so anyone can join and enjoy the savings. Obviously though if you want to play online multiplayer in Battlefield 4 with your friends you will still need Xbox Live Gold. The only way to pay for EA Access at the moment is through credit card and Pay Pal. You will be able to walk in to a Gamestop and buy a card similar to how you can do with Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus but those cards aren’t available just yet. Be sure to call your local store to see when they will be in stock.

What do you think of EA Access? Will you be giving the service a try? Tell us what you think below.