EA’s Origin service has received a surprising new feature as the publisher has introduced Origin Access, a USD 5 subscription service that grants you access to full-games that are in the “EA Vault”.
While the name may be similar, this is not exactly the same as the EA Access that the publisher is offering on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For one, Origin Access offers an across-the-board 10 percent discount on every Origin store purchase.
So what does five dollars a month get you? As mentioned earlier, subscribers can download full games from the “EA Vault” that includes recent EA games such as Battlefront : Hardline and “legacy” games like Battlfield 3 and 4, Dragon Age : Inquisition and SimCity 2013. DLCs are not included in the Vault, so you will still have to pay for those. There are a total of 15 games currently in the Vault and EA has promised to add more Vault games on a monthly basis, including third-party offerings.
According to the FAQ, EA claims that some of the games in the Vault will work offline, so long as players “periodically reconnect to Origin”. No mention has been made about whether or not former subscribers will be able to keep their EA Vault games once their subscription expires so we’re going to assume that they won’t be able to. According to Ars Technica, EA has confirmed that the Vault games can be removed after being initially offered, but they have claimed that they “currently have no plans to remove any game from the Vault”.
If this subscription service seems like something you’re interested in, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer as the service isn’t available in Malaysia just yet. In the meantime, you can wait for feedback from others who’ve subscribed to Origin Access to decide whether or not the service is worth your time.
