Xbox Game Pass was already one of the best deals in gaming, but it’s becoming even better with this latest announcement from Microsoft. Indeed, Microsoft has now teamed up with EA to offer the EA Play subscription service for free to Xbox Game Pass members starting this holiday.
If you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member, you’ll get free access to EA Play games on both Xbox consoles and Windows 10 PCs. Otherwise, Xbox Game Pass for Console subscribers will get EA Play for Xbox for free, while Xbox Game Pass for PC subscribers will get EA Play on Windows 10 at no additional cost. EA Play games are also coming to the Windows 10 Microsoft Store as part of this partnership.
For Xbox Game Pass members who already have an EA Play subscription, Xbox’s Major Nelson explained that their EA Play membership will be cancelled and the remaining time will be converted to extend ongoing Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.
Users who have both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play purchased through Xbox will have their EA Play membership canceled and any remaining time over 50 days will be rounded up and converted to the nearest month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at a ratio of 3:1 based on ERP
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) September 9, 2020
Just like Xbox Game Pass, EA Play provides access to a catalog of EA games that include Anthem, Battlefield V, FIFA 20, and more, as well as 10 hours “play first” trials for new games and exclusive discounts. Following the recent rebranding of EA Access to EA Play, EA also introduced new in-game challenges and rewards to keep gamers engaged.
“Not only will EA Play titles be available on console and PC, this holiday, some of the best EA Play games will also be available for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play on Android devices via the cloud at no additional charge.” This is great news for Project xCloud, which is launching on September 15 on Android devices.
In the past decade, EA has often been painted has a greedy company obsessed by lootboxes and microtransactions, but the company has been making some great consumer-friendly moves recently. Not only did the company bring most of its PC games on Steam, but the inclusion of EA Access in Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost was a very surprising move.
EA Play (previously known as EA Access) launched first on Xbox One consoles back in 2014, but EA brought it to the PlayStation 4 last year and Steam followed a couple of weeks ago. At $29.99 per year or $4.99/month, the service is still much cheaper than Xbox Game Pass, but the combination of both services is definitely a killer deal for gamers.
Update 3PM PT: We asked Microsoft if EA Play coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC and Console meant that EA games would be coming to the Windows 10 Microsoft Store, and it looks that it will be the case. “EA Play games will be accessible for download within the Xbox Game Pass section on your Xbox console, and the Xbox app for Windows 10, a Microsoft spokesperson told us. We’ve updated the post to reflect that.
