EA Access Comes to PS4 Five Years Later, But Is There Any Value?

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(Opinions offered here are solely that of the author’s and does not represent the entirety of MP1st).

Five years ago, EA Access launched for the Xbox and PC platforms, giving players a large library of “free” games as long as they stayed subscribed, with additional perks such as game trials and discounts. However, one major platform, the PlayStation 4 was missing from the list of supported devices, which was later explained in a statement by Sony saying that the service didn’t represent itself as a “good value” for PlayStation owners. And now here we are with the service launching in a couple of months, the question still begs to be answered: Does EA access offer a good value for the PlayStation consumer?

The information researched and listed below is by no means to state whether the service is indeed a good value or not. It is information strictly for your own judgment and to decide whether or not it’s worth it for yourself. We’d like to try to be as thoroughly as possible here by showing you what is given, and tying a price value to it.

The data below is comparing known information of the service on the Xbox to what the PS4 version may be. While from a price standpoint both may seem to be offering the same value, this is in reality is not true due to the fact that Xbox One offers backward capabilities of older titles.

This table is reflection to the current content that is available. Do mind that categories with a “*” are more so estimated as the integers vary from title to title and in our model was limited (hours) to a designated value (Ea Trial Amount).

Looking at the info in this chart, we can determine that the Xbox One version of EA access does indeed offer more “bang for you buck” mostly due to the inclusion of backward compatibility.  Otherwise when comparing the services by the same amount of content, in which case this console generation-only titles, the Xbox One only has one additional title it being EA’s Titanfall 1 since it’s the only console-exclusive game from EA. You would essentially be paying the exact amount for the same amount of content if we excluded Titanfall 1 from the equation altogether.

You can get a full breakdown of the information found in the chart below.

Xbox Model:

Yearly Cost/Monthly Cost: $30 a year at roughly $2.50 a month or $5 for the monthly subscription at $60 for a full 12 months if you stick to a month to month subscription.

Month to Month allows you to cancel anytime although the pricing of it would equate to a full year after paying for the equivalent of six months(6×5=30). The only major benefit is that it allows you to sign-up whenever you want and cancel whenever you want.

Amount Of Games: As of writing this today (May 2019), there are 71 titles available on EA access for the Xbox One console as listed below. Twenty-nine (29) of those titles are available via backwards compatible and one being console exclusive (Titanfall). You can find a list of them below, along with their current Metacritic and estimated time to beat (Not 100%) noted in the parenthesis. The data for each title were grabbed from Metacritics and HowLongToBeat. While the information from these two sites are subjective, it does give us a baseline number that many can almost agree on. The reason users reviews weren’t used here as they tend to take any kind of review into account, skewing numbers due to potential review bombing for said title.

Additional Note: Sports games and online-only titles all vary and all have been well reported over 20 hours to even upwards in the thousands. For the sake keeping the numbers somewhat consistent, we will keep sports titles at a minimum of 10 hours due to EA trial timer for new titles (most are well in the hundreds by the reported numbers).

Total: 71 Games

The Average Rating For Title Is 77 out of 100

Average Amount of Hours Per Title: 10 1/2 Hours

  1. Army of two (Backwards Compatible) (72) (6.5 Hours)
  2. Battlefield 3 (Backwards Compatible) (84) (6 Hours)
  3. Battlefield 4 (81) (6 hours)
  4. Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Backwards Compatible) (88) (7 hours)
  5. Battlefield Bad Company (Backwards Compatible) (83) (7.5 hours)
  6. Battlefield Hardline (71) (7.5 hours)
  7. Battlefront (75) (varies as its online only, 40 hours)
  8. Battlefront 2 (66) (6 hours)
  9. Bejeweled 2 (Backwards Compatible) (69) (1.5 hours)
  10. Bejeweled 3 (Backwards Compatible) (78) (4.5 hours)
  11. Black (Backwards Compatible) (77) (6 hours)
  12. Burnout Paradise Remastered (79) (11.5 hours)
  13. Dante’s Inferno (Backwards Compatible) (73) (8 hours)
  14. Dead Space (Backwards Compatible) (89) (11 hours)
  15. Dead Space 2 (Backwards Compatible) (90) (12 hours)
  16. Dead Space 3 (Backwards Compatible) (78) (13 hours)
  17. Dead Space ignition (Backwards Compatible) (35) (1 hours)
  18. Dragon Age 2 (Backwards Compatible) (79) (26.5 hours)
  19. Dragon Age Inquisition (85) (46 hours)
  20. Dragon Age Origin (Backwards Compatible) (86) (40.5 hours)
  21. Fe (70) (5.5 hours)
  22. Feeding frenzy (Backward Compatible) (65) (2 hours)
  23. Feeding frenzy 2 (Backward Compatible) (65) (2.5 hours)
  24. Fifa 15 (82) (10 hours)
  25. Fifa 16 (84) (10 hours)
  26. Fifa 17 (84) (10 hours)
  27. Fifa 18 (83) (10 hours)
  28. Fight Night Champion (Backwards Compatible) (86) (4.5 hours)
  29. Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank (Backwards Compatible) (77) (2 hours)
  30. Madden 15 (80) (10 hours)
  31. Madden 16 (84) (10 hours)
  32. Madden 17 (83) (10 hours)
  33. Madden 18 (82) (10 hours)
  34. Madden 19 (81) (10 hours)
  35. Madden 25 (73) (10 hours)
  36. Mass Effect 2 (Backwards Compatible) (96) (24.5 hours)
  37. Mass Effect 3 (Backwards Compatible) (93) (24 hours)
  38. Mass Effect (Backwards Compatible) (91) (17 hours)
  39. Mass Effect Andromeda (76) (19 hours)
  40. Medal of Honor Airborne (Backwards Compatible) (73) (6 hours)
  41. Mirror Edge (Backwards Compatible) (79) (6 hours)
  42. Mirror Edge Catalyst (72) (8.5 hours)
  43. NBA live 15  (53) ( No Data Default 10 Hours)
  44. NBA live 16 (60) (No Data Default 10 Hours)
  45. NBA live 18 (72) ( No Data Default 10 Hours
  46. NBA live 19 (75) (No Data Default 10 Hours)
  47. Need for Speed (65) (15 Hours)
  48. Need for Speed Payback (61) (19 Hours)
  49. Need for Speed Rivals (75) (13.5 Hours)
  50. NHL 16 (80) (10 Hours)
  51. NHL 17 (77) (10 Hours)
  52. NHL 18 (77) (10 Hours)
  53. NHL 19 (82) (10 Hours)
  54. Peggle 2 (77) (6.5 Hours)
  55. Peggle (Backwards Compatible) (89) (4 Hours)
  56. Plant vs Zombies (Backwards Compatible) (89) (8 Hours)
  57. Plant vs Zombies Garden Warfare (76) (6 Hours)
  58. Plant vs Zombies GW2 (80) (6.5 Hours)
  59. Rory McIlroy PGA tour (60) (10 Hours)
  60. The Sims 4 (66) (13 Hours)
  61. Skate (Backwards Compatible) (86) (11.5 Hours)
  62. Ssx (Backwards Compatible) (82) (8 Hours)
  63. Titanfall (Console Exclusive) (83) (10 Hours)
  64. Titanfall 2 (87) (6 hours)
  65. UFC (77) (11 hours)
  66. UFC 2 (76) (5.5 Hours)
  67. UFC 3 (75) (8.5 Hours)
  68. Unravel (75) (6 Hours)
  69. Unravel 2 (81) (5 Hours)
  70. Zuma (Backwards Compatible) (77) (5 Hours)
  71. Zuma Revenge (Backwards Compatible) (76) (5.5 Hours)

Cost Per Game By Subscription

Simple math equation to determine this is taking the cost of the service, dividing it by the total amount of titles available (subject to change as new titles are added over time).

$30/71 = roughly .42 cents per title under the yearly plan.

Average Hours Per Game

Estimate: Because every game is different, especially sports game and online games potentially racking up in the hundreds of hours, we took what was reported for single-player games and made every sport title at a max of 10 hours (per EA trial service). Taking this into account, this was our result.

(Total Hours)/(Total Amount of Titles)= (Average Hour Per Title)

753/71= Roughly 10 1/2 Hours Spent Per Game.

Now, of course this isn’t true for every title, as some can be beaten in less than a few hours, but it gives us a ball park estimate in what you are getting for your money’s worth in playable hours. And depending on how big of a sport fanatic you may be that number could be drastically different due to the potential hundreds, even thousands of hours you may get from a sport title.

Cost per hour

Equation: Cost/Total Hours

$30/753 Hours = Roughly .04 Cents per Hour for the yearly cost

What Kind of Quality Are You Paying For?

If you want to judge the service as a whole in terms of quality a game generally is, then in this case we take the average score (Metacritic’s) of every game to a whole sum and then divide it by our total amount of titles.

5486 / 71 = 77 (rounded to the nearest whole number)

This number tells us that on average, we can predict that a majority of EA Access titles will fall around that in terms of reviews based on Metacritic numbers. However, this does not account for some of the non-listed scores out there. So all data here is subjected to change like the rest, but once again it gives us a good look based on some general numbers.

PlayStation Model:

Yearly Cost/Monthly Cost: $30 a year, at roughly $2.50 a month or $5 for the monthly subscription. Essentially the same cost as it’s XBOX counterpart.

The Big PlayStation Issue

While the cost above definitely appears to be well worth the value, there is one major thing we need to take into consideration for EA Access on the PS4. As it stands, the console lacks PS3 emulation besides from using another paid service such as PS NOW. This takes out a whole lot of titles that are currently on EA Access and playable on Xbox due to backwards capability. There’s no word on how this will be handled, whether that means Sony potentially solving some sort of emulation nativity on the PS4 to play PS3 games or offering free (or discounted) PS Now streaming for EA titles. For now, this does indeed undercut the value of the subscription as we have broken down below.

(The data below will be updated if an alternative is announced to accommodate for the lack of titles)

Amount Of Games: Estimate Based On Today’s Available List – 41

From the list of games available on the Xbox One version of EA Access, we can determine which games will be potentially debuting on the PS4 side of the service. Removing all the backward compatible games (29), and exclusive (Titanfall 1) the previous list of 71 available games, drop down to a total of 41, or to put it into another perspective that’s 42% less titles being received for the same price.

  1. Battlefield 4 (85) (6 hours)
  2. Battlefield Hardline (73) (7.5 hours)
  3. Battlefront (73) (varies as its online only, 40 hours)
  4. Battlefront 2 (68) (6 hours)
  5. Burnout Paradise Remastered (82) (11.5 hours)
  6. Dragon Age Inquisition (89) (46 hours)
  7. Fe (70) (5.5 hours)
  8. Fifa 15 (82) (10 hours)
  9. Fifa 16 (82) (10 hours)
  10. Fifa 17 (85) (10 hours)
  11. Fifa 18 (84) (10 hours)
  12. Madden 15 (81) (10 hours)
  13. Madden 16 (83) (10 hours)
  14. Madden 17 (82) (10 hours)
  15. Madden 18 (82) (10 hours)
  16. Madden 19 (80) (10 hours)
  17. Madden 25 (74) (10 hours)
  18. Mass Effect Andromeda (71) (19 hours)
  19. Mirror Edge Catalyst (69) (8.5 hours)
  20. NBA live 15  (59) ( No Data Default 10 Hours)
  21. NBA live 16 (59) (No Data Default 10 Hours)
  22. NBA live 18 (72) ( No Data Default 10 Hours
  23. NBA live 19 (73) (No Data Default 10 Hours)
  24. Need for Speed (61) (15 Hours)
  25. Need for Speed Payback (61) (19 Hours)
  26. Need for Speed Rivals (80) (13.5 Hours)
  27. NHL 16 (78) (10 Hours)
  28. NHL 17 (78) (10 Hours)
  29. NHL 18 (75) (10 Hours)
  30. NHL 19 (80) (10 Hours)
  31. Peggle 2 (72) (6.5 Hours)
  32. Plant vs Zombies Garden Warfare (75) (6 Hours)
  33. Plant vs Zombies GW2 (81) (6.5 Hours)
  34. Rory McIlroy PGA tour (61) (10 Hours)
  35. The Sims 4 (66) (13 Hours)
  36. Titanfall 2 (89) (6 hours)
  37. UFC (70) (11 hours)
  38. UFC 2 (79) (5.5 Hours)
  39. UFC 3 (75) (8.5 Hours)
  40. Unravel (78) (6 Hours)
  41. Unravel 2 (77) (5 Hours)

We should to point out that come July’s launch date more titles will be added to the service. We Know A Way Out, FIFA 19 Battlefield V are launching on the service as suggested by one of our earlier findings. These will most likely be added to the Xbox One service as well.

Cost Per Game By Subscription

$30/41= $0.73 Per Title

Average Hours Per Game

Because of the lack of many other titles, the average hour is increased due to the decrease in titles.

461.5/41= 11.25 hours

Cost per hour

$30/461.5= 0.06

What Kind of Quality Are You Paying For?

Because the PS4 lineup would naturally have fewer titles, its overall average scores will differ. Although this isn’t by much, and should be more so be an indicator of the quality behind EA’s title in general.

3206.5/41 = 78 For Average Rating

How Frequently Are Games Added?

When the service originally launched back in August 2014, the list of titles available in its vault were just at a paltry amount of four. At the time, the service didn’t have a whole lot going on for it in terms of getting players to jump in, but since then, that number has grown. Unfortunately titles don’t get dropped on a regular basis like services similar to it like PS+ or Game Pass. The only titles that are frequently dropped more often are the annual sport titles such as Madden and FIFA, and even then that’s usually after several months from their release. Even more so surprisingly is that Origin Access (essentially the PC version) gets far more frequent title updates, a monthly basis in fact. The one major deal with EA Access though is that titles don’t rotate out for one another like PS+ and Game Pass do. So if you are ever afraid of potentially missing out on a title, every game available on it will forever be available on it.

Regardless, with 71 titles available on the Xbox One version we can go off the basis that at least one game is added for every month in the last 5 years (60 months), with 11 of those months receiving two titles rather than one. This likely isn’t going to change anytime soon as the service isn’t meant to provide titles as they hit the market. And again, this “one game a month” statement isn’t meant to be taken literal just more so what the numbers mean when taking its life to date data.

One example of backing this would be FIFA 19, A Way Out, and Battlefield V launching several months after their initial release with many months in-between not receiving a single new title for the service.

Other Perks

10 Hour Early Trial Period With 10% Purchasing Discount

In addition to the games found in the fault, subscribers are also given early access to new games such as Anthem, Battlefield and more, and up to 10 hours of accumulated gameplay before being locked out. And if you didn’t happen to already pre-order or plan on buying you get a 10% off the purchase of said title.

While many do view it more or less as a paid demo, keep in mind that demo’s don’t typically offer that amount of time in gameplay. However a vast amount of that time will most likely be put towards a title’s multiplayer, as the service has been known to restrict single-player to a certain point, well before you reach 10 hours. Battlefield V being a good example where early players could only play up till the end of Chapter 2 for the campaign, and the rest being out towards the multiplayer. It wouldn’t make sense from a business side to give the game away practically for free if you can beat it in less than 10 hours. Although looking at the data we calculated you can understand why EA didnt go the route of allowing you to play a title from start to finish when the time on average are about 10 ours a piece for campaign.

Is There Value In The Subscription Knowing This Information?

The answer to this question is entirely up to you. Looking at the numbers, its’ clear that the Xbox One version of EA Access has a lot more value going for it in terms of available content. I own the service on Xbox, and it is pretty nice being able to go back to play some of these older titles. I’m not a heavy sport guy though and that makes up a good chunk of the service alone. And even if I was a huge sport guy I don’t see much of a reason to go back to play any iteration of X sport franchise when the latest or newer one is available.

For me personally, you sacrifice being able to play the games when they’re new and having them sit in a backlog filled with plenty of other games. I would say getting a game at launch would have its perks since that’s when servers are typically filled, but EA titles never really struggle with this issue besides maybe Anthem. Although the additional 10% off and 10-hour trial before you buy perks are really nice, especially when games lack demos nowadays it helps you decide whether you should wait or not.

Alternatively you could buy all these games used after months of release but looking at a used copy of Battlefield V at Gamestop will set you back a large chunk of change, $50 or if your a smart shopper you could have picked it up from one of the several EA sales over the past months for far cheaper. If say you were to buy it today (May 2019), under the best circumstances you may be able to find it somehow at $20. That isn’t a bad deal at all for something you may buy physically and in the end, own. But at a dollar value, EA Access isn’t looking as a bad offer for either subscription options ($5, $30) regardless of which platform you buy. Just choose wisely because its a separate subscription for each platform meaning if you have it on Xbox One or PS4 then you’ll have to buy it on the other platform if you wanted it there also.

Many don’t like EA  due to some of their questionable practices over the last decade. In which case, you may have already made up you’re mind solely based on their history.

Knowing this information, do you feel there isn’t value in the service? Let us know in the comments below or take our poll.