According to Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson, the number of EA Play subscribers doubled in just three months, reaching nearly 13 million users by the end of December 2020. The massive increase in subscriptions is partly due to EA’s agreement with Microsoft to offer EA Play with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for consoles as of November.
Last September, EA Play reported 6.5 million users, a number that took 18 months to reach. EA Play also became available on Steam in August, which has also contributed to an increase in subscriptions. In December, EA Play was expected to be available with the PC version of Xbox Game Pass, however, the service was postponed until 2021.
With Xbox Games Pass, players can have unlimited access to games on the service. Although some titles might become unavailable when others are added, players can buy titles outright at discounted prices. In addition, Microsoft adds releases of its own games as soon as they arrive in retail shops.
“The groundbreaking integration of our EA Play service with Microsoft Game Pass has accelerated our subscription business, with nearly 13 million players now active in our service across four platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, Steam and our EA client,” Wilson told investors.
“With more players valuing the subscription model and with our scale across platforms and content, we are building a strong growing business with recurrent revenue. We also have new streaming players joining our network through Xbox cloud gaming, with Game Pass Ultimate and other partners. And we are committed to advancing cloud as a meaningful part of the future of the gaming ecosystem,” he added.
EA Play, formerly known as EA Access on consoles and Origin Access on PC, offers access to select games from EA for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and PS5. The subscription service, which costs $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year, was first launched to Xbox One on August 11, 2014, and PS4 on July 24, 2019. According to Windows Central editor Jez Corden, Ubisoft+ may also be added to Game Pass in the near future.
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