Home EA Play prices hiked – increases land on all tiers from next month

EA Play prices hiked – increases land on all tiers from next month

Electronic Arts subscription service EA Play is to raise its prices from the middle of May with a notification box on the EA Play client notifying users that the increase will take place in the first billing cycle “on or after May 10th”

EA Play has two tiers, a basic one and a Pro offering which contains the latest EA games on launch but gets slightly more confusing as this is not available on consoles. This means that the latest EA Sports games such as Madden and EAFC are not included for console owners but are on the PC. Still with us?

Also, to throw into the mix the basic EA Play tier comes as part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription, so you don’t need that if you already have Game Pass. However, the cheaper tier only offers older games, although about six months after release the newer games will make their way to the basic EA Play, meaning if you can wait for a game, it is pretty good value.

However, regardless of all this, prices for both tiers are heading north and that includes both monthly and annual versions with the price hikes listed below.

EA Play price increase notification

EA Play

Monthly
$4.99 / £3.99 per month increasing to $5.99 / £5.99,
Annual
$29.99 / £19.99 increasing to $39.99 / £35.99

EA Play Pro

Monthly
$14.99 / £14.99 increasing to $16.99 / £16.99
Annual
$99.99 / £89.99 increasing to $119.99 / £109.99

These price rises clearly show the UK price being hit harder than the US dollar version with the annual version of the standard tier rising some 80% and the EA Play Pro annual seeing a rise of over 20%. These prices EA believes, according to gamesindustry.biz are being made to reflect currency value changes and to bring them in line with market value.

The total cost for a user paying monthly for a Game Pass/PSN account, an EA Play Pro, and a Ubisoft+ subscription is getting to around $60 per month, and that is before you start throwing in the likes of Netflix and Disney +, all of which have also increased their prices in recent months.

It seems that the other unpalatable option of having to stump up $130 dollars for a game like Star Wars Outlaws subscription services may be what the industry is pushing players towards in the hope that most do not simply subscribe, leave, and resubscribe when the big games come out. They likely know though that the majority of people simply will not do that.

Hopefully, this new improved income stream will help the big publishers not have to make so many layoffs in the coming months… ah the sweet sound of uncomfortable silence.

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Paul McNally
Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine,…

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