EA Play Launches On Steam: How To Sign Up

As promised, Electronic Arts has brought EA Play to Steam. EA Play – which was known as Origin Access on PC and EA Access on consoles up until last week – is a subscription service that gives players a number of perks. On PC, this is the first time that it's been available outside of Origin, so this is a pretty big move for EA.

It's one that coincides with a larger EA push to put its games back on Steam, albeit with Origin still acting as DRM in a somewhat diminished role. On Steam, EA Play runs $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year and gives subscribers a number of different perks.

Those perks include certain in-game rewards and content that's only available through the subscription – for instance, subscribers get three Gold Team Fantasy Packs each month in Madden NFL 21, or skins and ship paint jobs in the upcoming Star Wars: Squadrons. EA Play also gives 10 hour demos of new EA games, with save progress that carries over if users decide to buy those games later on.

Perhaps the biggest draw of EA Play is that it gives access to the EA Vault, a collection of older EA games. While new titles are missing from the Vault, there are some famous EA games that are well worth playing in it, including the entire Mass Effect series, Battlefront 2, Titanfall 2, and Burnout Paradise Remastered. Finally, users also get a 10% discount on EA games and DLC.

It's worth pointing out that EA Play Pro, which gives you everything a standard EA Play subscription nets you plus full access to EA's new games, is not available through Steam and remains solely available through Origin. If you want to sign up for EA Play, all you need to do is head over to the EA Play page on Steam and click the "Join EA Play" button.