Editorials
Is EA Access on PS4 & Xbox One Worth Buying?
With EA Access, gamers can download dozens of digital titles without paying full price, and you can play trials of new EA games before the release date. Gamers and parents are asking, ” is EA Access Worth it?” We’ll help you decide by looking at what you get, and how much it costs so you can decide if it is a good deal or not.
If you are stuck inside while sheltering in place, or if you are just staying home to be safe, this is a great way to access a ton of games without buying them. EA Access is $4.99 a month, and you can get a free trial to get started.
EA Access includes the full versions of over 50 games from the EA catalog including popular titles like The Sims 4, Need for Speed Payback, NHL 19, Madden 20, Battlefield V and FIFA 19. Subscribers also get a discount on purchases of digital games direct on their console that can cover the cost of paying for EA Access over time.
Is EA Access worth it? Here’s what you need to know.
EA Access isn’t the only game in town. On the Xbox, you can also get access to full games with the Xbox Game Pass, which may be a better buy for gamers that don’t want EA games, or it might be the perfect subscription in addition to EA Access.
Whether EA Access is a good deal for you depends on your gaming habits and just how much you love the titles that EA publishes.
What is EA Access?
EA Access costs $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year. You can download as many games from EA Access as you want, at any time. The games available change over time, but there is no limit to how many you can download or play at a time. You’ll find EA games for the Xbox One and PS4, backward compatible Xbox 360 games and even DLC as part of the EA Access Vault add-ons.
These are the full games with achievements and you can use Vault Add-ons or buy DLC. You can even share games with friends if you sign in on their console when you visit. Game saves also sync to Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus.
It’s just as if you bought the game digitally. The only catch is you have to keep subscribing to keep playing. If you cancel your subscription you can’t play the games anymore. If you pause your subscription for two months and then re-join the games and start working again. It’s just like Netflix or Hulu, but for games.
EA Access Trials
Play new EA games before the release date. No pre-order needed.
Though the digital video game downloads are its most important feature, EA Access is also an Electronic Arts fan club. Users get access to new video games five days before they arrive on store shelves for everyone else to play.
If you join now, you can grab the free trial of FIFA 20 and that will allow you to play 10 hours without buying the game. You can also play NFS Heat and NHL 20 with this subscription.
Later this year, expect to see Play First Trials for Madden 21, FIFA 21 and other games.
You get almost the full game, and you can play them for 10 hours so you know if you want to buy them. These are all available five days before the earliest release date. Progress carries over to the final game, so you get a head start if you do buy it.
EA Access Discounts
EA Access members also get 10% discounts on the digital video games and downloadable content that they purchase from the publisher through the Xbox Store or the PlayStation Store. The discounts stack on whatever the base price of a game is. For example, if a game only costs $30 because of a sale, you get a 10% discount on top of that.
EA Access Games
The EA Access Hub app for Xbox One and Xbox One S.
The Vault, the area that gamers go to download titles at no extra charge, has some must-play games. It’s heavy on sports games since those have yearly releases, but many of this generation’s most loved shooter games are available to subscribers. Right now, that digital download line-up consists of:
- A Way Out
- Anthem
- Battlefield 1
- Battlefield 3
- Battlefield 4
- Battlefield Bad Company 2
- Battlefield Hardline
- Burnout Paradise Remastered
- Catalyst
- Dead Space
- Dragon Age Inquisition
- EA Sports UFC
- Fe
- FIFA 14
- FIFA 15
- FIFA 16
- FIFA 17
- FIFA 18
- Madden 15
- Madden 16
- Madden 17
- Madden 18
- Madden 19
- Madden 20
- Madden 25
- Mass Effect
- Mass Effect 2
- Mass Effect 3
- Mass Effect Andromeda
- Metal of Honor Airborne
- Mirror’s Edge
- Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
- NBA Live 15
- NBA Live 16
- NBA Live 18
- NBA Live 19
- Need for Speed
- Need for Speed Rivals
- Need for Speed Payback
- NHL 15
- NHL 16
- NHL 17
- NHL 18
- NHL 19
- Peggle 2
- Plants vs Zombies
- Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare
- Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
- Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
- Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
- Sea of Solitude
- Skate 3
- SIMS 4
- SSX
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Star Wars Battlefront II
- Titanfall
- Titanfall 2
- UFC 2
- UFC 3
- Unravel 2
- And many more
The service’s catalog is hard to predict. Every game that EA publishes is not available for download through EA Access, and the time it takes for a game to appear in the services varies too. EA is getting into the habit of adding their sports games about 8-9 months after the initial release. Other games take a year or more to come to the service.
Is EA Access Worth Buying?
So, is EA Access a good deal? Should Xbox One and PS4 owners rush to their console to buy a subscription to play Electronic Arts games for $4.99 a month?
The service’s extras will appeal to loyalty program lovers. Getting 10% off new digital games from EA can add up. If you purchased three of the publisher’s games a year, you’d recoup the money you paid for EA Access. The trials are nice too, especially if you’re someone who must have the latest sports games as soon as possible.
As for the games in the Vault, the selection speaks for itself. There are plenty of games there, some of which are big hits. Certainly, the Vault is a sports gaming fan’s dream. Pick up a subscription and you’ve added almost every recent sports game to your digital Xbox One games collection for a ridiculously low price.
EA Access is worth buying. For $4.99, you can immediately expand your game collection and try new titles. The discounts and early access trials are great, but its easy access to Madden 19, Battlefield 1, Star Wars: Battlefront and other sports games are what make EA Access so great. This is one of the best deals in gaming.
Additional reporting by Travis Pope.
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