We already know that there will be no public Madden demo for the first time in nearly a decade. In an attempt to provide value to its EA Access program, Electronic Arts has decided to only allow Access members time with the new title ahead of release. And since EA Access is only available on Xbox One, all future EA demos could potentially be locked behind two separate gates, thereby limiting their exposure.
Yesterday, EA provided a litte clarification regarding how Access demos will work — well, how the Madden 15 demo will work, at the very least:
@KansasFF EA Access memebers will have six gameplay hours with the full Madden NFL 15 game.
— EA Access (@EAAccess) August 18, 2014
In other words, you'll have access to the entire game for a limited time rather than a chunk of the game for an unlimited time. As Destructoid points out, the six-hour limit compares favorably to PlayStation Plus' limit of one hour for full-game trials.
The jury is still out on whether EA Access will be a boon for gamers in the long run, but for now it's still a balancing act of positives and negatives. EA Access memberships cost $4.99 a month or $29.99 for a year. As for Madden NFL 15, it arrives on Xbox One as well as PS4, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 26.
