EA Access: Subscription-Based Gaming on Xbox One

EA Access is a new Xbox One-only service from EA that will allow you to play some games for a subscription fee instead of buying the game. For £3.99 a month, subscribers will be able to play FIFA 14, Madden, NFL, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4 as part of a system they’re calling The Vault. More games will be added to The Vault in future.

You can also buy an annual membership that will cost $29.99 in the US. Even after converting that to pounds (no UK prices has been given yet), that’s incredibly good value. Of course, we don’t know how long it will take for games to be added to The Vault after their release. As long as you don’t mind waiting a while, this could be a really cheap way to get games you might not otherwise consider.

Titanfall, however, is excluded from EA Access. It’s right there at the bottom of the FAQ.

EA Access also provides a few other benefits.

Online Discounts: Subscribers to EA Access will also get a 10% discount on digital content from EA, provided they buy it through the Xbox One digital store. This will cover full games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and NHL 15 but also get you discounts on FIFA Ultimate Team point and other digital stuff.

Early Trial Access: New trials of EA games will be made available to EA Access subcribers up to 5 days before release date. It looks good for sports fans, as this will include Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15 and NBA LIVE 15. Dragon Age Inquistion will also be part of the early trials along with other, future games. Your saves will carry through to the full games, should you decide to buy any.

EA Access is in beta now and launching “soon”. At launch, EA Access will be available in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States with additional territories to follow.