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EA announces Subscription Service for Xbox One ($5/month or $30/year, get game vault)
- Thread starter jbug617
- Start date
gamechanger87
Member
Wouldn't everyone here pay the $30 or $2.5/month rather than the month to month price of $5?
Castef
Banned
If you know you're going to buy one of the EA games day 1 digitally you can end up spending $59 instead of $60 and get all the other benefits of the service for a month. You save a bit more if you know you're buying the season pass too.
Dragonborn
Member
You SLIGHTLY missed the point.
Maybe, what was the point? Because I don't see how listing old games disproves the point that EA is mostly shooters and sports games nowadays.
tfur
Member
No. Personally not interested in another subscription.
On top of that, EA has lost a lot of good will with me because of the quality of some of their releases.
The Cowboy
Member
I wouldn't be surprised if it was going to be a yearly thing at $30 only, its actually quite a good bit of marketing to add in the monthly sub at $5 - it makes the $30 yearly price look even better. If it was just 1 sub at $30 a year it would look quite good, when you look at 2 subs one being $5 a month and the other being $30 a year - the yearly deal looks even better because it looks like you get it half price.
However it much more likely the $5 monthly sub is simply there as a cheap "I'll just give it a try" option, for $5 even if your sceptical its worth a shot to just try it out.
OuterLimits
Member
Good point. While I may not want to pay full price for an EA game, definitely $5 for a monthly rental is a pretty good deal. I would just need to remind myself to cancel so it doesn't auto renew.
Most EA games I wouldn't buy at release. So them arriving in the vault months later isn't a big deal to me.
First we now know why the FIFA demo was $5 a few weeks ago, they were inputing this data in then, and probably screwed up something lol.
Second this comes down to each consumer individually. I wanted FIFA 14 for a while now, (havent owned FIFA in 10+years fyi) however the $60 digital price tag held me back. I was buying Madden 15 anyway. I buy the $30 year pass, I save $6 on Madden, now I get FIFA 14 for $24. Being I don't buy FIFA annually I am okay with it being last years title.
I didnt buy Madden 25, so I'll have that to tide me over til Madden 15 as well.
Throw in the week early access to Madden, everything else that comes to the vault is gratis at this point for me. I'm using myself to show that this may not be for everyone, BUT it does work for me.
Second this comes down to each consumer individually. I wanted FIFA 14 for a while now, (havent owned FIFA in 10+years fyi) however the $60 digital price tag held me back. I was buying Madden 15 anyway. I buy the $30 year pass, I save $6 on Madden, now I get FIFA 14 for $24. Being I don't buy FIFA annually I am okay with it being last years title.
I didnt buy Madden 25, so I'll have that to tide me over til Madden 15 as well.
Throw in the week early access to Madden, everything else that comes to the vault is gratis at this point for me. I'm using myself to show that this may not be for everyone, BUT it does work for me.
It sounds like a good way for EA to get people interested in FIFA/Madden/BF who aren't willing to drop $60 on a game, and then sell them other stuff.
Fifa has ultimate team packs with a gambling mechanic that make them loads, BF has a bunch of addon stuff that players will want if the game clicks. I'm not sure how they monetize Peggle2 and Madden, but they probably do. And since they are year old games, they haven't lost any day one sales.
I think it makes a certain amount of business sense.
gamechanger87
Member
I agree with your sentiment. I'm just commenting on the number of people whom are complaining about the $5 price tag when the target audience will pay $30. Heck, we spend $15 on map packs and we are complaining about this service at $30.
The catch is that more people become accustomed to "games as a service" and eventually you'll have to pony up to play the game on their terms or not at all.
Karatechop250
Neo Member
Actually I think eventually this will go to all consoles. EA probably wanted a test and Microsoft was willing to foot the bill for early on in order to achieve it first. PS4 people shouldn't complain with that Destiny exclusive content coming.
Bam Bam Baklava
Member
Madden has ultimate team.
toddhunter
Member
Probably all those games are actually going F2P, so you are paying $5 a month to get a 10% discount on the 40000 DLC options available.
CecilRousso
Member
Sure, but does anyone here usually buy EA titles digitally on XBOX consoles?
Doctor Ninja
Sphincter Speaker
I'll wait and see how this turns out, it's EA after all.
gamechanger87
Member
This has nothing to do with developing games, so that makes no sense. This is about having the appropriate network infrastructure to handle licensing. MS likely kept certain features in place after the NODRM to ensure that third-parties could run programs like this. Wouldn't be surprised to see Ubi run something similar.
Karatechop250
Neo Member
Im pretty sure this is just a test to see if the idea works. I bet if the money rolls in we will see this on the PS4 this time next year.
Red Liquorice
Member
Bingo.
VaultBoy101
Member
This sounds like an absolute bargain and would save me a ton of money from what I spend now on consoles + games + DLC. I approve!
Captain Tuttle
Member
30 bucks? Hell, I'll give it a shot.
BabyFaceKillah
Member
Lol at the EA and Microsoft team up hate.
Kurt Angle
Member
if the content is there I wouldn't mind this
the price is good.....for now
the price is good.....for now
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Forreal! I am doing this
This entire idea is fascinating, particularly around the fact it's exclusive to the XBone. Given current sales figures and also what appears to be Microsoft's reticence to lay out hard cash to prop the brand up, it seems likely that this has been in development for some time. It adds a lot of credence to the rumours that Microsofts original DRM heavy vision for the Xbox was at the bequest of games publishers, and that Sony flipping around on it really threw a spanner in the works for this generations plans.
SwiftDeath
Member
What I'm more curious about right at this moment is the roll out, how will EA market this, to what extent and how will they communicate to the average consumer what this all entails? Will EA go big with it and advertise across the board or be conservative and use it as a testbed?
test_account
XP-39C²
The catch is also that its older games, and seeing that its exclusive to Xbox One, i wouldnt be surprised if Microsoft sponsors EA with some money too (meaning that its easier for EA to price it at $5 and $30 if they also get payed some money from Microsoft as well).
Megadragon15
Member
EA is going about this backwards. You start with the platform with the biggest user base and then trickle it down to the other platforms over time if it is successful.
loaf of bread
Member
Sony would have all the infrastructure to do this from PS+/PSNow considering it works the same way pretty much with discounts and free games.
Jurassic Munson
Banned
As long as Capcom does one with Nintendo then everyone can be happy.
von Stroheim
Member
I totally trust EA to do this right! Oh yes.
Uh huh.
Yup?
Uh huh.
Yup?
DarthWalden
Banned
This is exactly how I'm looking at it... I'm a die hard NFL fan and I love the yearly iterations of madden and I will be buying it every year. I also love soccer and hockey but I don't really follow any teams or players so I don't care about yearly roster updates and stuff, I usually pick up one or two of these a generation...
This program is amazing as it will give me everything I want and more for likely much less money then I would pay over the years
Odd selection in pricing. I can see the benefit for the super casual who runs this service for a month or two then bails but I cant see that helping EA too much.
As for the super EA fan who would certainly either already own these games and/or be interested in the next big thing you're looking at $300 in digital purchases a year to break even and start 'saving' and thats assuming you can live with all digital, xbone and that the discount on digital is better than any deal you can get at retail.
Nope.
As for the super EA fan who would certainly either already own these games and/or be interested in the next big thing you're looking at $300 in digital purchases a year to break even and start 'saving' and thats assuming you can live with all digital, xbone and that the discount on digital is better than any deal you can get at retail.
Nope.
They're delaying Battlefield Hardline to make it a better game, crazy I know. I'm cautiously optimistic that this service will evolve into something good for all parties.
Initially I thought this is pretty nice of EA but the more I think of it, the more I feel like they are punishing their "second tier" customers again (just like they are doing with Battlefield season pass early access vs. people who just buy map packs). I don't feel like it's people getting access to games 5 days early, I feel like it's EA delaying the game for 5 extra days to squeeze money out of the customer base. I know that's not really how it is but just release the damn game if it's ready.
I no longer buy the excuse that retailers wouldn't allow lower digital prices or earlier releases for digital games when EA is driving customers to digital by offering discounts and early access to customers who.. pay extra for those benefits. EA customers are quite literally paying for something publishers kept saying for years isn't possible because of retailers.
I don't know if any of the above makes any sense but ultimately for me, this just makes EA the bad guy once again. Premium customers getting premium treatment, Internet full of story spoilers over a week before Dragon Age even releases in second tier countries, for second tier customers. EA has successfully segregated their customer base with multiple paywalls.
I no longer buy the excuse that retailers wouldn't allow lower digital prices or earlier releases for digital games when EA is driving customers to digital by offering discounts and early access to customers who.. pay extra for those benefits. EA customers are quite literally paying for something publishers kept saying for years isn't possible because of retailers.
I don't know if any of the above makes any sense but ultimately for me, this just makes EA the bad guy once again. Premium customers getting premium treatment, Internet full of story spoilers over a week before Dragon Age even releases in second tier countries, for second tier customers. EA has successfully segregated their customer base with multiple paywalls.
tfur
Member
Yusuf at the helm of Xbox business strategy. Xbox as a service is the next Xbox.
gioGAF
Member
Seems like a decent deal IF you enjoy the EA catalog. I can't think of a single EA game, much less multiple games, that would make me entertain this service.
I don't really enjoy any of their sports games. For the people who do, doesn't this service just allow you to play last year's version of the game? I don't see EA offering the latest FIFA on the service, which means you get to play the old one. Does EA still shut down the servers for the previous year game?
I'm guessing EA will keep all DLC costs as high as possible at all times to maximize their take.
The only EA game I am remotely interested in is Dragon Age Inquisition. In order to play it, I have to wait until EA is done milking it with whatever ridiculous DLC scheme they have in mind (ie. I'm waiting for GOTY edition otherwise I will just skip it).
I don't really enjoy any of their sports games. For the people who do, doesn't this service just allow you to play last year's version of the game? I don't see EA offering the latest FIFA on the service, which means you get to play the old one. Does EA still shut down the servers for the previous year game?
I'm guessing EA will keep all DLC costs as high as possible at all times to maximize their take.
The only EA game I am remotely interested in is Dragon Age Inquisition. In order to play it, I have to wait until EA is done milking it with whatever ridiculous DLC scheme they have in mind (ie. I'm waiting for GOTY edition otherwise I will just skip it).
Yes, its simmilar. Except PS+ gives you guaranteed 2 games for each Sony system, with many games having crossplay feature enabled [Vita got 4 games last month].
We need to wait to see how often will they add new games to the Vault. I can see it receiving new addition once per every quarter...
EA introduces an optional service that gives you access to
- a library of "free" full retail games
- discounts on new games
- early test versions
for freaking $2,50 a month.
Then I made the mistake and clicked into this thread. Some of the reactions are just ... So damn awful. So much resentment, envy and missing respectfulness. Whatever those free PSN+, XBL GwG games and so on made with the gaming community ... It wasn't for the good only. Sadly. I know many people won't agree with this part, but maybe I am seeing the whole situation a little bit different here.
- a library of "free" full retail games
- discounts on new games
- early test versions
for freaking $2,50 a month.
Then I made the mistake and clicked into this thread. Some of the reactions are just ... So damn awful. So much resentment, envy and missing respectfulness. Whatever those free PSN+, XBL GwG games and so on made with the gaming community ... It wasn't for the good only. Sadly. I know many people won't agree with this part, but maybe I am seeing the whole situation a little bit different here.