14 DAY TRIAL // Everyone knows that EA doesn't like Valve and its digital distribution store – Steam, which makes this month's announcement kind of surprising. In an unexpected move, EA has decided to release more than 25 games to Steam earlier this month.
The reason behind EA's decision to open up its catalog of titles to Steam customers is that the company is trying to gain more subscribers to its Access gaming service. An EA Access membership on PC costs $5 / €5 per month, but you have access to almost all EA's games, except the newest ones like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Buying a subscription for the entire year for $30 / €30 seems like the better deal though.
If you've been reluctant to use EA's Origin platform to buy its games, now would be a good time to check out Steam since the publisher has just unleashed the first wave of titles, including Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Need for Speed (2016), Need for Speed: Rivals, and Need for Speed Heat.
But it's not just EA's games that are now available on Steam, but also some that belong to the company's indie development partners like Unravel, Unravel II, Fe and Sea of Solitude.
EA Access is not yet available via Steam yet, but the publisher promised to offer more details during EA Play Live, which was initially scheduled for June 11. However, the event was delayed for June 18, so that's more than a week from now.
What we do know for certain is that all the games that have been released on Steam this week will be available as part of the EA Access subscription on Steam that will launch to players later this summer. It remains to be seen how much EA will ask for the subscription, although we shouldn't have any unpleasant surprises here.