The Xbox One has been seeing a huge promotional push as of late, with Microsoft touting that it was home to “the best games.” It’s also been putting some effort into its deal with the National Football League, providing a second-to-none experience for viewing and interacting with fans of the sport. Now, it’s teamed up with Electronic Arts on a new Access program that could be a real value for gamers.

With EA Access, players will be able to access numerous titles plucked straight from the company’s game library, for the low price of $4.99 per month, or $29.99 annually. These titles will include a number of popular favorites from the company’s library, via The Vault, including FIFA 14, Madden NFL 14, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4.

Perhaps the biggest draw of this program is the introduction of a new Play First initiative. Subscribers will be able to access trials of forthcoming Electronic Arts releases five days before they release for both retail and digital purchase, including such upcoming games as Dragon Age: Inquisition, Madden NFL 15, FIFA 15, NHL 15 and NBA Live 15. Those who partake in these sessions will be able to save their progress for use in the full releases once they’re available.

The program will also provide a ten percent discount on EA digital content, including full digital downloadable titles and secondary downloadable content, such as Battlefield 4‘s Premium program.

The membership can be purchased online through the Xbox One service, as well as GameStop locations once the service is available. Interestingly, GameStop shares dropped over 5 percent today after this news was announced, as investors got nervous at the thought of even more game sales heading to digital and perhaps out of GameStop’s reach.

Currently, EA Access is in beta with limited users, with four titles to choose from. However, EA plans to launch the service soon, within a matter of weeks. The initial title selection is only the four games listed, but EA plans to introduce more titles. How many, and how quickly, will probably be a major factor in how well this program does.

It’ll be interesting to see if this “on demand” service works in EA’s favor. Will you take part in EA Access

Source: Electronic Arts