EA just announced that EA Access is now available in Australia.
Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, and Peggle™ 2 are amongst the first games available on the subscription service, which costs $6.99 per month or $39.99 for the whole year.
It’s an interesting service which provides additional benefits to subscribers. Certain games are free of course, but EA Access also provides a 10% discount on Xbox LIVE and — perhaps more significantly — will allow players access to new games before they are released. Madden NFL 15, FIFA 15, NHL 15 and Dragon Age: Inquisition will be among the first games to allow players limited early access before release.
All of which signals the fact that EA is taking this service very seriously indeed. You can find out more about the service here.
Comments
37 responses to “EA Access Is Now Available In Australia On Xbox One”
I’ve got to admit, $39.99 for a year is actually pretty good value even if you only play one of those games.
Well not if it was Peggle 2, seeing as buying that outright is cheaper… :p
Buys entire year service to play one game…….
Obviously there’s more in the pipeline. I got FIFA for free, own BF4 and Peggle2 so no rush this month, will definitely be keen to see what they put out next.
Heh. Fair point. I would have expected Peggle 2 to be a Games with Gold game sooner or later anyway. That said even if you have to pay for the $2 DLC packs it’s $43.99 for 1450 points of gamerscore off just one of the games in the system. I imagine the achievement hunting community is going berserk for this right now. =P
Bought and done. Already have BF4 on PC but have plenty of friends on X1 that have it and not on the PC. Plus i can see with DA:I coming out and saving 10% of all it’s DLC will lower the price of this a bit as well (even if it would only be like $5).
Thats also not including any additions they make to the vault – i highly doubt they will monthly but i expect at least once-twice a year with 2-3 games)
Region switch to US, reboot, buy for $29.95 with credit card, region switch back to AU, play. Repeat for use of your 10% off to take that off the already 30% cheaper US prices. Make sure you use a post code from a state without sales tax like Oregon for maximum benefit.
Why even bother switching back region from US? What advantage does Australian region now have?
Play on AU servers i guess
I haven’t been AU for a couple of months now but I play on their servers and you can now Select Australia under voice commands while being under US for region.
Xbox Music, Xbox Video. I’m an Xbox Music subscriber, love it, never buy music anymore.
Ah right, do they not work if not under Australia?
Region switching switches store, so also switches xbox music/video region. Except they’re geo blocked, unlike the main store. Also as a subscriber, I can use AU Xbox Music on my phone, computer, etc as well. If I used some kind of unblocker for my Xbox, I wouldn’t have it on my phone anymore.
get banned from xbox live and/or ea access for violating some terms and conditions…
no it might not happen, but i care too much about my account to risk it to be honest… with the current exchange rate $39.99 isn’t all that horrible… depending on your bank or payment method you’d probably end up spending $34-35 at a guess… maybe (probably) less… not worth the effort in my opinion
It’s definately worth it, I haven’t paid more than $72NZD for a new release game since Titanfall, I got Wolfenstein for $45NZD using US region. I remember reading an article about voice commands not being in New Zealand and the Xbox guy says “you can just change your region to get voice commands to work” I’ve also read comments on here of MS helpdesk helping people set up their account to be able to use the US region change glitch/feature/loophole.
You’ve been able to change your voice region for expats for a couple of months now. Have mine set to UK for full function, understands me better than US.
yea I know it was an old article but it points out they encouraged region change, I actually got use to US so talk with bit of a twang now.
i don’t buy games digitally on consoles unless they’re digital only or stupidly cheap (like sub $10-15)… so while i get your point… it doesn’t fit me i guess
It’s the 30% cheaper US prices of games that is the most appealing part. And really you’re breaking the sames TOS by region switching and downloading Netflix or BBC iPlayer, so meh.
Microsoft seem capable of geoblocking other services, they haven’t bothered with geoblocking in Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 or Xbox One. Even Xbox 360 had geofenced accounts, the new Microsoft doesn’t even use geofencing. Your region comes down to a single setting in your devices and can be changed at any time. It also means if you move countries you don’t lose everything just because you needed to change your regional settings.
I think with the 360’s huge push into online functionality they quickly learned it was more hassle than it was worth when it comes to geoblocking their own services. I mean they must have spent a fortune paying support staff to deal with something that ultimately they don’t care about. They get their money either and there’s no legal obligation to geoblock. Even retail stores complaining about the competition can be brushed aside with a ‘well, these people are the ones who are going to go out of their way to import anyway so it’s not worth fighting’.
It was also pretty bad PR since it frequently landed them on gaming news sites for screwing over US soldiers stationed overseas.
It would be illegal for them to ban you for doing that.
Australian law protects parallel importing, EULAs can’t supersede that.
Wow that’s awesome. Any chance of a reference?
Having trouble finding precise references, original comment was based off handfuls of classes and articles on copyright and Australian law. The wikipedia article mentions the legislation protecting parallel importing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_import#Australia
The other part is referenced as “Unfair Contract Law” in legislation and is generally used so that those form contracts and EULAs can’t contradict consumer laws or rights but can affect basically void any term considered unfair:
http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/Unfair-contract-terms-law?openDocument
Now considering there is legislation to protect Australian rights to Parallel import, any term in a standardised consumer contract that attempts to circumvent that right would in all likelihood be considered unfair and thus void.
Still might require a legal challenge to uphold, I doubt any of the big tech companies would like it going to court since it would set a precedent. Which is likely why they tend to ignore it.
If I wasn’t clear or you have any other questions I’ll do my best to clarify myself, but I feel I should add the IANAL disclaimer.
I remember trying this early on when it launched but my credit card wouldn’t be accepted since it’s australian. Is there another way around this now?
I think it depends on your bank. Works with Commbank, but beyond that you might need a US pre paid VISA.
I might try it again with my card. I’m with Westpac. But the prepaid visa will work too.
well damnit… there goes any hope of getting peggle on games for gold. fuck you EA.
At first I thought this was an awesome idea, then after reading the FAQ on the site I’m not too sure. Sure, current games like BF4 etc are playable during your subscription, however for new games (atleast initially) this just sounds like another way of playing a demo but paying for it, before the official launch. From the FAQ:
“When you play a trial through EA Access, you are playing the real game for a limited time, five days before the release date.”
So yeah you get to give it a go for 5 days before the launch, but then you’ll need to buy the game to continue.
Oh, so the early access games aren’t automatically going through to EA Access? That’s a bit of a letdown. I’m against selling demos but I can still see some value in that if they’re giving you five days unrestricted access to the full versions of the games as long as it’s on top of a good deal. That’s a demo but it’s probably about as good a demo as you can ask for, especially for a hugely replayable game like Madden or Battlefield.
I wonder if they’ll do these trial periods outside of pre-release. Like when Steam or Origin do a free weekend to drum up sales.
Lol do you really expect to play new titles for $7 a month? I am expecting the games to be at least 1-2 years before going into the vault. The vault selection now is quite new as they are trying to push the service.
Actually I think the way it’s being advertised on that site that if Dragon Age: Inquisition isn’t included that it would be false advertising in Australia…
Note that I don’t think it is included, but this is some dodgy advertising.
Followed by:
Pretty sure it is not included in the vault. Just giving you early 5 days early access to the game before public and you have to purchase to continue.
Advertising law covers dominant impression when it comes to truth in advertising.
The first splash image shows the game and the text “Play the best of EA for $6.99 a month” creating an implication that those games are what you’re paying for.
There was a major health insurer who got hit when they ran an ad, trying to recall who they were. But the ad was a whole load of shots of families and people living and a protect against the unexpected, of course the policy has it’s exceptions including anything to do with pregnancy.
However in one of the shots they showed a pregnant woman, despite having on screen text saying pregnancy wasn’t covered it was found to constitute false advertising.
Hiding small print in a vague FAQ is literally illegal by our advertising practices.
Nah, but that is how it’s being presented. Right now it’s got a bit of a make less per sale but increase sale volume feel to it. Countering used game sales by offering a deal that’s actually on par with it. I’m hoping that’s the direction they take, possibly with the goal of Origin integration to bring in PC users.
Also given Madden, FIFI and Battlefield are in that package I’m guessing it won’t be limited to just dead and buried games. It makes the system a little pointless if it doesn’t give you FIFA 15 in 2015. That reduces it to nothign more than a members discount club with some sweet demos.
They were never going to give full release game straight into the vault. The benefit here is that it is a 5 day trial BEFORE the game comes out. Some would argue well duh – thats what demos are for but considering the scarcity of demo’s these days from the major publishers and the fact that SOME of the games that are trialled are the FULL game, it seems to be a good way to determine whether or not to buy it.
what are you talking about? Your post isn’t even logical. EA Access gives you 10% any EA purchase and access to games a week before its release. Of course you’d have to buy the full game after the trial runs out, it is a trial after all. The purpose of EA access isn’t for access to the full game trial, its for EA fans to get discounts and early access. Not to mention access to games in the vault. If you are into EA games then this is a good service.
My opinion. You pay $7 per month to “rent” only games EA chooses, with a 5 day limit and if you decide to purchase, you get 10% off RRP?! Yep, it’s a great service. 😉
Not a shot at you dmuzz, but really the only benefit here is to EA’s bottom line. No EA demos because now they can charge for it. 10% off RRP, in circumstance where anyone can arguably get much better pricing than 10% of RRP on launch titles. And paying money for access 5 days early to games….. wow just wow. A fool and his money……
It sounded at first that you get access to full EA games for a low fee each month.
I mean, that is generally what a “subscription” service involves. With spotify I don’t get to listen to a new album 5 days before it’s official release date, only to be then told I need to buy it in order to continue listening.
Of course EA Access is a different service with a different form of media (and after reading that FAQ that became obvious), and that’s fine. I just thought it was a little misleading.
Had it for about a week or so (had beta access) and I think it’s great value! I don’t own any of the games so pretty happy with them all for less than what damn Destiny will cost me (in both money and hours of my life, I can see it now)
Seems like great value, I almost bought Madden 25 on the PSN sale last week but now I can get it on x1 for less and pick up BF and Fifa (which I have on ps4 already) for nothing.
I just can’t believe Sony turned this down, yeah it’s competition for playstation plus but if there are other people like me with an x1 and ps4 this service will mean almost all EA games are purchased on the x1 instead of ps4. Hope they backflip soon!