[Discussion] Xbox Game Pass gains EA Play Games on November 10th on Console and later on PC

[Uncrowned Guard]

Microsoft has officially announced that Xbox Game Pass will be gaining EA Play as an additional perk to the subscription service for no additional cost.  The service which costs only $4.99 monthly (per platform) provides significant value due to its extensive library of games and inclusion of expensive yearly releases such as the Madden and FIFA series of games.  The partnership will allow Game Pass users to obtain free EA Play on Xbox Consoles starting November 10th and will also allow access to EA Play on PC sometime in December.  Yes, if you have Game Pass Ultimate, then that is $9.98 worth of EA Play included into your $14.99 monthly subscription.

And it does not just end there, as Microsoft as confirmed that “some” EA games included in EA Play will be part of the xCloud gaming service once it is released.  This will allow players the ability to play these games on their mobile and low spec devices via internet streaming (although all the current app store battles make it a guessing game on what platforms it will launch with).  Once you factor in the original value of Game Pass games, the Xbox Live membership, the xCloud membership, and EA Play, the $14.99 a month price tag is quite an amazing deal for Xbox and PC users.

For those unfamiliar with EA Play, it is the “basic” version of their subscriptions and allows users access to nearly the full EA game library once the games have been on the market for a few mouths.  If you want full access to their new releases, the day they are released, then you will need EA Play Pro for $14.99.  We currently do not know if Game Pass users will get a discount for Pro or if it will be factored in at all.

This is all great news for Xbox fans and will certainly help the sales on the new Xbox, but we do wish Game Pass itself would be dropping more launch day exclusives and as EA has no plans on pushing out a new Battlefield or other major title this holiday season (beyond the sport game releases), it is curious to how much this will swing the tide of the console wars.

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