14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest pieces of news of the month, in terms of long-term impact, is the decision from video games publisher Electronic Arts to launch a subscription-based gaming service, called EA Access, only on the Xbox One home console from Microsoft.
Sony has reacted to the reveal by explaining that it had at one point evaluated the concept for its own PlayStation 4 platform but decided that it would not implement it because it did not offer enough value for those who bought the device.
An official representative tells Game Informer that “We evaluated the EA Access subscription offering and decided that it does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect.”
Sony adds, “PlayStation Plus memberships are up more than 200% 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.”
The EA Access program asks gamers to pay 4.99 dollars or Euro per month or 29.99 dollars or Euro once per year in order to immediately get access to a Vault that includes a lot of titles from the company, including massive hits like FIFA 14 and Battlefield 4.
Those who pay will also be able to play game trials for big upcoming releases five days in advance, and they also get access to a 10 percent price cut for the Electronic Arts titles they are interested in.
At the moment, EA Access is only offered to a small number of gamers, who can access FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4 as soon as their membership is activated, with more than 100 other titles set to be added soon.
More details about the entire concept will be offered in the coming weeks.
It’s unclear when all those who own an Xbox One home console will be able to buy the EA service or if there are any plans to continue talking to Sony about bringing it to the PlayStation 4.
Recently, Electronic Arts announced that it was pushing back the launch date for Battlefield Hardline to 2014, before March 31, and another big title, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was moved from October 7 to November 18 to give BioWare more time to polish the experience.