Back at the beginning of June, HEXUS reported on the warming of EA / Valve relations with "the best of EA" being welcomed to the Steam platform. This entente cordiale marked a significant turnaround from 2011, when EA established its own PC storefront/launcher called Origin. Also two months ago we were given the heads up that EA's subscription service on PC, EA Access, would be purchasable via Steam in the not-too-distant future.
The EA Access subscription page on Steam is now live, with a list of member benefits, a plethora of highlighted games in various genres, and a FAQ about the service. At the time of writing you still can't actually subscribe to EA Access via Steam but are assured (in the FAQ) that this option will go live "very soon".
Uncomfortably, EA currently calls its PC subscription service, which you can currently subscribe to outside of Steam, 'Origin Access'. I guess this is because you have to use the service via EA's Origin client for PCs. The new EA Access via Steam is said to offer the same range of games and service level (and pricing) as the 'Origin Access Basic' plan. This means you get the following for your fees:
- Exclusive rewards and member-only content
- Early access to upcoming EA games (10 hr trials for free)
- Evolving collection of unlimited access games to play from EA's fan favourites and top titles
- 10 per cent off EA digital purchases from full games to DLC
Current PC 'Origin Access' plans in the UK
EA Access (same as Origin Access Basic) costs US$4.99 / £3.99 / AU$6.99 a month, or US$29.99 / £19.99 / AU$39.99 per annum.
Currently EA/Origin offer a premium tier subscription for PCs dubbed 'Origin Access Premier' (£14.99pcm, or £89.99pa in the UK) but there seems to be no equivalent on Steam.