EA Access: A Whole Lot of Nope
So, there is a YouTube channel that I watch quite a few videos for and he is always “whining” about the Playstation 4 not having EA Access and how it is a “good value” for customers (it isn’t — it’s a good value for EA, but no one else). The reason that I’m writing about it is that the channel’s narrator/host can’t wait for EA Access to come to PS4 later this year after being available for Microsoft X-box and PC for a while now. While, I’m all for personal choice, I think that this is a wrong-headed — at least, to be pushing it on his channel as hard as he is as if there are no downsides to EA Access.
EA is a Corporation, Nothing More
EA Access (at the time of this writing) costs 4.99 a month. Let’s round that to $5.00 (US) and multiply that by 12 (# of months in a year) and it will cost you $60 dollars a year (or $30.00 if you sign up for the year–$29.99 at the time of writing). This is not an arbitrary number because it is “coincidentally” the amount that “new” games cost. So, the “nameless” YouTuber gets to claim that the cost of the subscription is more than equaled by the cost of 1 game (going month to month), so if you were going to buy one EA game “new” in that year, you would have offset yourself cost of the subscription fees. Play any other games on the service, he argues, and you come out ahead in the investment.
Except . . . that’s not how that works. EA is a corporation which (like all corporations) exists to make a profit. How can they sustain themselves if they are giving away their product? And that’s the catch that the YouTuber isn’t seeing–they’re not giving away anything–but getting two (2) things instead.
Thing One and Thing Two
The first thing they’re getting is a predictable revenue stream. EA’s output these past two – three years has been spotty at best (in terms of original games — their Sports titles continue on just fine). This past year, I bought nothing (“new”) from EA. More on that in just a moment. I’m still not planning on buying anything “new” this year either. However, if I was signed up for EA Access, EA would have received $120 dollars from me instead of $0. They are betting on me not cancelling every month in which I do not play one of their games, but rather on the fact that it is easier to just keep paying the fee, even on months when I don’t use their service. Also, if you don’t buy your EA games “new” (i.e., used or at a discount) then it takes you much longer to just your yearly fee. What if you only bought 3 EA games at 9.99 each in a year (just shy of $30), then you actually lose money by going with EA Access ($30 – $40 = -$10) for you and ($40 – $30 = +$10) for EA. And unless you cancel (and most won’t) that’s (+$10 * everyone who falls into that category yearly), so its not just a one time thing with one person. Believe me, that money adds up fast (& EA is fully aware of this).
The second, more insidious thing that EA Access is promoting is the idea that you are “accessing” their selection. Now, this point is going to be contentious as 1) EA does allow you to download the games and 2) unless you are mind-reader (and I am not), it is impossible to know this point for certain. Yet, looking at the moves that EA has made in the past (its alliance with X-Box One’s original “check-in” requirements — no, we haven’t forgotten that, or at least I haven’t– the original Titanfall came to PS4, right? Oh no, that’s right, it didn’t–they read the “tea leaves” wrong and left sales on the table which is why Titanfall 2 was released on the same day and date PS4/X-Box One). There is no guarantee that, should Access become a defacto standard, that they wouldn’t eliminate the download option altogether (actually, it is fairly likely since that’s the route YouTube took and put downloading videos behind their premium service). In fact, Stadia is essentially Access without the download option and Stadia is where Access could be headed in the future (yes, conjecture I know), but again, the YouTuber presents Access with no downsides, while EA doesn’t exactly fill me with “good vibes” & “warm fuzzies” when it comes to the whole customer vs shareholder divide.
Anyway, apologizes if this post seemed long/rambly, but I wanted to get out my thoughts on why EA Access isn’t necessarily the “good deal” that many, one YouTuber especially, seems to think it is and why I’m not excited that it is finally making its way on to the PlayStation platform.
Sidney
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