Electronic Arts & Xbox One To Offer Subscription Gaming

Aug. 2, 2014

Essentially, what these companies have done is create something akin to a Netflix model for game distribution. For anyone willing to wait 6 to 8 months into a game’s release, they can play it for what amounts to an extremely low fee. This bold move isn’t surprising, considering that even EA must realize how quickly the value of these annual games drop as the next one approaches. Yet, for casual players who do not drink the Kool-Aid every year, these titles represent incredible value-added content that neither Sony nor Microsoft’s premium membership can offer, especially when considering that sports titles have high value in the first year, but after two year become worthless since EA shuts down their servers.

EA has a massive number of IPs in its stable, including Bioware’s Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises, as well as Battlefield, which seems to have become a yearly release. EA has never been subtle about its strategy for getting games into the hands of players, then trying to hit them with microtransactions to increase the revenue base. Their reputation is the source of much scorn from gamers, and earned them awards for “Worst Company In America”.  As a gamer, the nickle and dime strategy annoys me to no end.  But here’s the rub:  from a business point of view, the microtransaction strategies are quite genius.

EA will only get away with what the market allows them to.  And what they do is target the competitive nature in people. Many of their games offer shortcut unlocks of online booster packs or gun kits. One can only imagine people rage quitting from NHL 14 or Battlefield 4, then making an impulse purchase of $50 worth of upgrades, convinced that the reason for their pwnage was being gimped by slow leveling. Getting the games into the hands of casual players after everyone else has maxed out their online profile will only increase the chances that someone will splurge on the “discounted” unlocks.

It is also interesting to note that Sony decided to double down on PS+ anddeclined to be part of this new program. EA offered it to both companies, rather than just Microsoft, but Sony seems reluctant to let EA horn in on the PS+ model. Whether this is the right decision remains to be seen, and Microsoft, which is known for playing the long game quite aggressively, now has something else to distinguish itself from its main competition.  A spokesperson from Sony was quoted as saying“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.”  Whether PS4 owners will appreciate not being give the option is another story.I suspect it has more to do with Sony not being a fan of EA because of their exclusive deals with Microsoft.

At the end of the day, we all have our favorite titles that we’ll buy at full price on day one. And some of us tend to play a small number of titles for long periods of time. But for those of us who like to try a variety of games when given the opportunity to play them at a discounted price, EA Access may be the solution we’re looking for. It may be buffet-gaming, but I’m up for anything that lets me sample some variety in the hopes that I might grab a gem.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is a longtime video game junkie from the wilds of Eastern Canada. While he is now a fully certified “old dude gamer”, in his youth during the early eighties he spent embarrassing sums of money on quarter-munchers in some of the skeezy local arcades. He even ventured into disco roller skating rinks from time to time, since they carried upscale titles, but always swore to his friends that he was only there for the games, since, y’know, disco sucks! When he picked up his first console, the classic Atari 2600, he used a VCR to record game clips and study patterns in order to clear tough levels.

A former mobile DJ, as well as writing teacher and tutor, Chris has spent nearly 25 years crafting literary short fiction for periodicals and university journals. He became interested in writing about games and the game industry after immersing himself in social game communities. He’s written reviews and gameplay guides for both Xbox and Playstation games. His interests run the gamut, from shooters to sports and racing genres, although he spends the bulk of his time with RPGs.

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