Our Jake Baldino discusses the merits of EA Access, and whether this will be the game changer for Xbox One in their competition with the Playstation 4.
So, to recap briefly, EA Access is a subscription service for their games, exclusive only on Xbox One. The main selling point of the service is priority on EA’s multiplayer servers, and Early Access to new games for one week. Alongside this, there’s a $ 192 value to free games you get for the cost of a $ 30 yearly subscription, 10 % discounts to other EA games. There will even be a ‘Try Before You Buy’ service. Ea intends to add even more perks and benefits, presumably as they come up with them.
Sony did come out and say they do not feel that EA Access provides good value to their consumers, so it was rejected for Playstation 4.
Jake argues that it won’t give Xbox One an edge, but it will even things out. The deal with EA Access is, to get the benefit of EA multiplayer server priority, Xbox One owners still have to subscribe to Xbox Live. They will be getting a lot of value out of the two together (50 games under Games For Gold), but you will be paying a lot. For many consumers, such as those who have both PS Plus and Xbox Live, and perhaps also subscribe to an MMO or two, they have to be discriminating on what subscriptions they sign up to.
Xbox One definitely still has a lot to prove, considering the PS4 outsold it three to one last quarter, in spite of having that price cut. If you do add up the math, between Xbox Live and EA Access, you will be getting the equivalent of $ 900 in games for only $ 70 a year.
To sum, Jake is curious to see if Xbox One will make a difference. Ultimately, it will be up to consumers to decide if it is.
