EA Play, Formerly Known As EA Access, Is Coming To Steam

Valve has always been accused of trying to monopolize the PC games distribution market, especially after Epic Games' colorful statements last year. Warranted or not, it may have helped push the company to change a few things and open its doors to more of its competitors. Considering it was a long time coming, it may have been presumed that EA will never make good on its promise to bring its subscription service to Steam. That is finally happening this month but there's a bit of a catch.

First things first, EA has had a major rebranding of those subscription services. EA Access, its $4.99 a month service, is now EA Play. Origin Access, which goes for $14.99 monthly, has also been renamed to EA Play Pro, signifying its premium and more expensive nature.

So when Valve proudly announces that EA Play is coming to Steam, it is really only referring to what was previously known as EA Access. Hardcore EA fans who need all the bells and whistles and perks of the membership will have to stay put with EA Play Pro on their preferred platform.

That said, EA Play/EA Access might already be enough for some gamers. That subscription already includes the ability to play new games for up to 10 hours even before they lunch to the public. They also get 10% discounts on EA games, DLCs, and other items when buying them from Steam. Given how EA finally dumped many of its titles into Steam last June, that's going to be quite a lot.

Unfortunately, there might be another catch. According to PCGamesN, you'll have to pay for a separate EA Play subscription for each platform you want to access the game on. It's still unofficial at this point but it would be a huge deal considering EA Play is being offered on PC, Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.