Electronic Arts Has Plans For a New Subscription Service

The publishers at Electronic Arts had a lot to say during its financial conference call for the [...]

Electronic Arts

The publishers at Electronic Arts had a lot to say during its financial conference call for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018 earlier this week. Along with confirming that BioWare's Anthem would arrive in March 2019, the company also reaffirmed that loot boxes are still a viable strategy, despite arguments saying otherwise.

But now it's talked about something different -- subscription based programs. It currently has Origin Access on place for PC as well as EA Access for Xbox One, giving gamers many titles to choose from along with early access to new games. But it believes the future of video games could rely quite heavily on these.

Chief executive officer Andrew Wilson and chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen had many notes on the matter, explaining that it intends to "introduce a new offering" to its subscription plans -- one that will deliver "unprecedented access and value." They didn't quite say if it would be cloud-based like PlayStation Now or even a more advanced game service like Xbox Game Pass, but more details could come as soon as its EA Play event that's set to take place next month.

As for the future of said services, Wilson noted that cloud gaming will "meaningfully" contribute to gamers' behavior, giving players access to titles with very few limitations. It also noted that it could "partner with people as well as work on its own technology" when it came to establishing its new platform, as well as strengthening its current programs.

The company has already taken a look at a "real move towards subscription," which it feels is the "best and frictionless way to access content." But that doesn't mean EA Access or Origin Access will come to an end, just that this new program will be a "far more meaningful" method in terms of how it operates.

"Frontline content" (new games, basically) could play a huge part in this, and EA also promises to "work collaboratively with other content creators and developers and publishers" to get the job done, so that the new service will offer "a truly robust subscription offering."

Jorgensen also chimed in, noting that the subscription plan would "evolve quickly" somewhere over the next couple of years, along with new ideas coming to its current programs.

All of this sounds rather cryptic. But again, it could be leading to a big reveal in just a few weeks' time, which is something fans can certainly get excited over. We'll let you know whatever EA might have in mind at that point.

0comments