EA Access is free for Xbox Live Gold members next week

By Gabe Gurwin June 9, 2016

Play First, Play More, Pay Less. All with EA Access.

E3 is just days away, and while you might be tempted to sit back and just take in the trailers and coverage of recently revealed games, Microsoft and EA are doing their best to make sure you’re still on your Xbox One. EA Access, the subscription service giving members unlimited access to a “Vault” of the publisher’s biggest titles, will be free to all Xbox Live Gold members next week.

Starting June 12 and running until June 22, anyone with an Xbox Live Gold membership can download the EA Access Hub app on Xbox One and start playing the full version of games like Titanfall, Battlefield Hardline, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and the voluminous back catalog of EA Sports titles. EA Access also includes the backward-compatible Xbox 360 title Dead Space as well as the original Plants vs. Zombies.

Progress from the “Free Play Days” will carry over if you decide to pay for a subscription after the trial is done. “You’ll also get to keep your Gamerscore and achievements earned while playing,” adds Xbox’s Will Tuttle.

While the wording might suggest that you only keep your Gamerscore if you decide to purchase a subscription, Xbox Support’s FAQ on the matter suggests otherwise, indicating that the achievements you earn during Free Play Days should stick with your account whether you pay up or not.

Given the growing number of games included in the Vault through EA Access, it’s baffling that Sony has not allowed the service on PlayStation 4 at this point. Subscribers will get early access to new titles like Battlefield 1 and Mass Effect: Andromeda, and they’ll be able to take their save with them into the full version of the game come release day.

EA is one of several companies that have decided to abandon E3 this year, instead opting for a standalone event. Stay tuned for the publisher’s biggest announcements and (hopefully) a look at Mass Effect: Andromeda, during the press conference this Sunday.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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