Gamers need more options in a space dominated by Steam

Aug 16, 2014 16:19 GMT  ·  By

Electronic Arts seems to have struck gold with the recently announced EA Access initiative for the Xbox One home console, which will allow gamers to pay a 4.99-dollar or Euro monthly subscription in order to get access to a Vault that will include more than 100 titles from the publisher’s catalog, including recent hits like FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, and Peggle 2.

Players have been reacting well to the idea and those who have received an invitation to the service, which is at the moment only offered to a small group to test some core features, are reporting that it is easy to use and offers solid download speed, which are essential to such a digitally-focused concept.

Electronic Arts says that a full release will take place as soon as possible and the EA Access service also gives gamers access to five days of trial for upcoming big launches, like FIFA 15 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, and price cuts for their games.

Sony has announced that it has evaluated the idea and found that it did not offer as much value as PS Plus for those who own a PlayStation 4, but the bigger question is: why doesn't Electronic Arts announce that EA Access is also coming to the PC?

The current digital distribution solution from the company, Origin, has failed to offer a direct and powerful challenge to the main service on the market, the Valve-made Steam, and is also restricted in the games that it is offering.

EA Access would represent something new for the PC crowd and a lot of players, especially those who tend to focus on sports simulations and on blockbuster releases, will probably be very interested in taking advantage of the offer.

Origin does not need to disappear, but the two concepts and approaches can exist at the same time in order to give gamers more options than they currently have.

Electronic Arts might be worried about the potential piracy opportunities that EA Access might open up on the PC, but as Steam has shown, a good service will actually persuade gamers to drop illegally acquiring games in order to actually pay for them, as long as the conditions are right.

The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are seen as the bleeding edge of gaming at the moment, but the PC space allows for more experimentation and EA needs to take advantage of that opportunity and make the platform a testing ground for future EA Access evolution.