Xbox Game Pass Adds EA Play Subscription This Holiday

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Series X price, along with when you can be ready to pre-order. But also included in the announcements was the word that Xbox Game Pass, the games subscription service, will get even more value with EA Play included starting this holiday season.

According to the Xbox blog post, EA Play access will be included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC. That conspicuously leaves out the standalone console version of the subscription, but EA Play does include console games so you can still get them with an Ultimate subscription. An EA Play subscription (previously called EA/Origin Access) includes more than 60 EA games, including relatively recent ones like Need For Speed Heat and Rocket Arena, and limited-time trials of select new releases. It ordinarily costs $5 per month or $30 per year.

Other highlights of the EA Play line-up include Plants vs Zombies: Battle For Neighborville, Battlefield V, Unravel Two, Burnout Paradise Remastered, Star Wars Battlefront II, the Crysis trilogy, the Dead Space trilogy, and Skate 3.

This would be on top of the existing Game Pass library, which offers roughly 100 games for a monthly rate. The PC and Xbox versions of the service are sold separately for $10 per month, but a combined Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription includes both, along with Xbox Live Gold, for $15 per month.

The addition of subscription services also helps raise the overall value of Microsoft's All Access purchase plans. The Xbox Series X will cost $500 if purchased all at once, or $35 per month over two years. That means you're paying $340 more, but if you factor in the subscription services, it's actually a slight savings.

EA Play is also available for PS4 as a separate subscription.