Will EA Drive Digital Content Through EA Access

Fact number One …………….. Software companies continue to drive towards Digital Downloads!

Fact number Two …………….. Microsoft Introduced the Xbox One as the console that would be the market leader in Digitally controlled content

Fact number Three ………….. EA were quick to destroy the long hated Online pass that plagued the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles towards the end of the last generation

Fact number Four ………….. EA Sports FIFA introduced micro-transactions, (FIFA Ultimate Team Coins), that have been adopted by many more titles since.

[cfc78]

With this being EA you can bet your ass there will be multiple ways of them getting money out of us thrown into Access i can't see them settling for 5-30 bux a year its not the EA way.

[Evilsnuggle]

fact number 1 EA, Activation and microsoft are Axis of evil They are greedy corpora pigs who want to destroy gamers rights and take ownership of games away from gamers . I don't trust any of these 3 companies i do not lor trust ike digital its bad for gamers rights !

[Axios2]

fact # 1 that you hide, Sony:

developed
applied for
received
and holds

a patent to block used games, also known as DRM

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

On topic, Digital games are great, no swapping disks, and they go where you go, without dragging piles of discs with you.

The EA Access is great, for less the a new copy of BF4 or FIFA 14, ppl get 4 games just to start, then discounts and early access.

@ Ashien, you would still have to download the game from the disc when you get to your destination.

[BlackTar187]

yes Axios they have had that since PS1.

GG

[ThatOneGuyThere]

ive never seen anyone dragging piles of games. your argument is invalid.

[Ashlen]

Axios, you have to download games, it's not as simple or convenient as you pretend.

Personally if I am going to a friends house to play a new game I'd MUCH prefer to just take the disk. And if I want to loan a game to them I would WAY rather lend them a disk than give them my password.

[Ashlen]

Wow Axios... download from the disk eh?

I assume you mean install. Which takes about 5-10 Mins on PS4 which can install while you play.

Try downloading a 20-30+ GB game in that time... good luck. And you'll still have to install that download.

[Software_Lover]

I would buy it as I buy my "every year" sports franchises one year off. I buy madden 13 when madden 14 comes out and so on. I would save money in the long run. 30.00 a year isn't bad as I usually spend 20.00 per game anyway. I still have all my old madden games from the beginning of this gen and haven't went back to play any once the new one came out.

sidenote:.......... I wish it included 2k basketball LOL

[Steptoe]

This is just EA'S way of slowly convincing us that free to play is good. It isn't!

[xboxpete]

free to play is being dealt with separately, however EA has a long term vision of releasing basic code similar to it and then asking the consumer to pay for the bits that you want

as a side note i am personally against this in the long term, however i wanted to open the debate up.

As for the Sony DRM this is also a fact, but was not on the topic i wrote about so i left this out.

[Mikeyy]

Hype hype hype. Can we just skip to the disappointment stage instead?

[Steptoe]

EA'S always been mad! Breathe! Breathe in the air, EA, they've never cared!

[TheOrion]

The big problem I have with EA Access is that it seems like another way to get people to swallow the digital content, anti used game, phone home periodicaly pill again.

People were in uproar when Microsoft tried this, yet changed it to a subscribed service and people are willing to take it?

Nobody would believe EA wanted to kill the online pass, they just knew what the original Xbox One vision was and wanted good publicity before the bomb dropped.

That being said, its the way things are heading and I don't doubt that eventually PS Now will be aiming to develop the same limiting functions.

I hope I'm wrong but it just seems stupid to believe that any business is doing something to offer any value, end of the day they want you to spend on their terms.

[cfc78]

Microsoft tried to force it on people with EA Access you have a choice to buy it or not that's a big difference and won't be perceived the same way because of that.

[Death]

EA is doing the same as Sony with Plus. It's a subscription service that allows customers to download and play games as long as they are members. They are also given discounts and special offers. EA is the worlds largest third party publisher and have a very large catalog of games. It's the next logical step for them to take unless they are interested in releasing their own platform.

For those that say its a money grab, the service costs almost half as much as PS+ and unlike Sony they aren't forcing gamers that don't see the value to subscribe anyway if they want to play online.

[TheOrion]

It costs half as much as plus because the user still has to get past the XBL subscription cost to play online, or did you conveniently forget that? Which as you put it would also be considered "forced".

Play it down all you want but the "money grab" is factual, they did their own thing because they get a bigger cut of the takings and its only a matter of time before other publishers follow suit.

[Death]

I agree, they did it to make money which is what every successful business does. Sony forced Plus on gamers that want to play online to make money just like Microsoft did with Live. With EA having their own subscription service that is one less publisher that will be releasing "free" content on Plus. Maybe this is why Sony made it mandatory instead of giving gamers a choice this gen. With less quality content there is less incentive to subscribe when given that choice. $2.50 a month for EA games or $4.17 a month hoping for something other than indie games? Even with Live factored in it's $7.50 vs $4.17 with a higher caliber of selections. Sony is offering PSNow for prices between $2.99 for 4 hours and $19.99 for 90 days for a single game.

[Xb1ps4]

I'm all digital this gen and loving it, except for the full retail price..

[Steptoe]

kids are daft now. They'll pay for anything.Don't get me wrong. I've paid into this crap myself.My kids ask me to buy stuff all the time for them. I know it stinks but i don't want to dissapoint them. But can't we see the road they're leading us down? We will be paying over and over. Free to play? No such term. Every publisher knows that.

[Zenith4k]

I don't think this is a step in any direction for an obvious sneaky attempt to bring for drum policies, but when Microsoft let this finnally go through would it stop micro transactions, personally I don't buy them them in fifa or battlefeild, but if your paying a monthly or yearly prescription would these pay to win items still be their. I much prefer having a game disc in my hand, I have a bunch of mates and every 3 months we buy a diffrent games and when we finish it we swap saving 100+ quid.

[xboxpete]

you make several gr8 points but the last one is something that Microsoft were publicly behind with digital content sharing amongst friends.

i agree we currently percieve that discs are better and i have one thing to ask you, please remember i am debating this with you but may get abused as a Xbox fanboy (i clearly prefer the Xbox format)

so here goes,,,,,,

i buy 3 games every year for my sins these are:

Call of Duty
FIFA
and Battlefield.

i have all of these games on disc and like a sheep i will continue to buy these and NEVER trade them.

i do however buy other games which when i finish them i trade, or share with my friends.

this year i will buy these 3 games digitally instead as my wife is fed up with tripping over these boxed editions.

i will then continue to buy boxed editions of the random others i want to play and use them to trade for the next one i fancy.

i personally feel i will enjoy the benefits of both boxed and digital.

However as soon as publishers realize that they need to let me trade digitally to keep their profits higher then i will only ever buy digital and take it from there. In addition i personally beleive Microsoft will bring back the friends sharing very soon ,,,,, watch this space

[titans9999]

Final fact.....this is why digital only will KILL gaming....I will not EVER buy digital only. Physical copies will only ever be the type of games my money will buy. Oh, and on top of it all, EA you suck for what the future will hold for gamers...making us pay a subscription fee. I don't know about anyone else, but I for one will NOT be ripped off of your stupid, pathetic, blood sucking money grabber victims! EVER! Not ONE dime from me you idiots! Free gaming for life, and don't support digital only games...END OF STORY! If no one else likes what I have to say I really don't give a damn!!! If ANYONE is willing to pay a subscription fee, then YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!!!

[Nate-Dog]

will questions end in question marks on N4G one day