EA’s Cost Increase, My Gaming Path Changed

Quick Links

• EA Play Prices Are Increasing Globally
• I Don’t Want to Pay Too Much for Just EA Titles
• EA Isn’t Adding New Perks and Features
• Other Gaming Subscriptions Offer Better Value for Money
• I Can Get EA Play With Xbox Game Pass

Key Takeaways

• EA Play prices globally are increasing, making the service less cost-effective.
• EA isn’t adding new features or perks despite increasing subscription costs.
• Compared to other gaming subscriptions, EA Play offers less value for your money.

EA Play subscribers received an email from the company in April 2024 announcing a price increase for its subscription services. While I’ve been using the service since 2019, when it was still called EA Origin, this price increase is finally causing me to end my subscription.

EA Play Prices Are Increasing Globally

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EA Play started at $4.99 monthly or $29.99 yearly for the standard subscription, while the premium EA Play Pro cost $14.99 a month or $99.99 yearly. However, the company’s recent announcement drives the prices by $1 a month or $10 annually for the standard EA Play. If you’re subscribed to Pro, the price goes up by $2 monthly or $20 yearly. This means the new prices are now $5.99 monthly or $39.99 annually for the base EA Play and $16.99 a month or $119.99 a year for EA Play Pro.

An extra dollar or two per month seems small, and even the $10 or $20 annual increase might seem reasonable. However, these increases are large if you look at them relative to the original price.

For example, the extra $1 you pay every month for the base EA Play increases its price by 20%. But if you’re subscribed to it annually, the $39.99 price tag means it’s now 33% more expensive than last year. The EA Play Pro price increases are slightly more modest, as its monthly price only went up by 13%. Nevertheless, the annual EA Play Pro subscription also jumped by 20% to $119.99.

Note that these price increases are only for the US. Other regions are getting more egregious price hikes, like in the UK, where EA Play goes from £3.99 to £5.99 monthly (a 50% increase) or £19.99 to £35.99 annually (an 80% jump). EA Play Pro prices also went up to £16.99 (from £14.99, a 13% jump) monthly or £109.99 (from £89.99, a 22% hike) per year.

South African gamers are in for a bigger surprise, as the base EA Play went up to R89.95 from R48.50, raising the monthly price by 85%. On the other hand, the annual subscription price went from R299 to R649.95—a 117% increase for subscribers who pay yearly. EA Play Pro subscribers also get price jumps: from R200 a month to R304.99 (52% more expensive) or from R1,199 annually to R1,699.95 (almost 42% more).

Even though EA Play is still the most affordable option out of the best PC game subscriptions , this price increase across the board (and across the globe) reduces its value. Furthermore, the people who subscribed to EA’s offering because it’s the cheapest gaming subscription will be most affected, as they now have to pay more just to get the same service.

Even though EA Play is still an affordable service, I’m finally quitting it after five years. So, these are the reasons why I’m canceling my EA Play subscription.

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1. I Don’t Want to Pay Too Much for Just EA Titles

The biggest reason I’m no longer signing up for EA Play is its limited library. The standard EA Play library only features 90 titles at the time of writing. While EA Play Pro gives you 60 more games, they’re mostly niche titles that I don’t really care for.

Although I’m a fan of a few of these franchises, like Need for Speed, Battlefield, and Sim City, the extra dollars I have to spend to keep playing them for a few hours per month isn’t worth it. I’m also not interested in EA Sports titles found on EA Play Pro, which makes the $16.99 monthly / $119.99 annual fee exorbitant for me.

While EA Play gives me early access to some of their new releases up to ten days before they launch, I don’t see any new EA titles coming up. I also rarely use the 10% discount EA Play offers to subscribers like me, as I find the idea of paying for DLC while spending on a monthly subscription just too much.

2. EA Isn’t Adding New Perks and Features

I understand EA’s need to increase prices; after all, it’s the company’s first time hiking up EA Play’s subscription costs. This is especially true as overall operational expenses have steadily increased globally due to inflation.

Statista records the average global inflation from 2019 to 2023 at 5.41%. If we compound that rate over the years, the expected inflation should be around 30%—so anything worth $1 in 2019 now costs $1.30 today.

Given this, the price increases in the US seem reasonable. However, we should also remember that technological advancements mean tech prices should drop over time (compare the cost of an SSD in 2010 to now). So, even if EA increased its monthly subscriptions, it should’ve added more features or even more titles from other publishers to justify that. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

Furthermore, EA’s price hikes across the pond and in other parts of the world are way over the compounded rate. A 117% increase in one year is simply too much, even if the company had added features like VR gaming or free DLCs.

3. Other Gaming Subscriptions Offer Better Value for Money

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As I said earlier, EA Play is still the most affordable gaming subscription in 2024. However, it doesn’t mean it offers excellent value for your money. That’s because while other gaming subscriptions are more expensive, they also have a more extensive library.

For example, if you have a PlayStation 5, you can get a PlayStation Plus subscription and enjoy hundreds of games, including several PlayStation exclusives.

You can also pick Humble Bundle’s Humble Choice subscription. Although it’s more expensive at $11.99 a month, you get a mix of titles every month that you get to keep forever; you don’t have to rely on a library where your favorite games might come and go at a moment’s notice.

4. I Can Get EA Play With Xbox Game Pass

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However, the biggest reason to cancel my EA Play subscription is that EA Play already comes with Xbox Game Pass for PC and Ultimate . If you’re a PC or Xbox gamer, getting this subscription makes the most sense, as you get 456 titles in your library as of April 2024 (and that’s just for PC games). Although Game Pass for PC costs $9.99 monthly ($4 or 66% more expensive than the standard EA Play subscription), it offers much more value.

If you pick Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you must pay $16.99 a month—the same price as EA Play Pro. However, aside from the more extensive game library, you also get additional perks like Xbox cloud gaming and access to both Xbox and PC game titles.

Because of these reasons, I’m canceling my EA Play subscription and moving to Xbox Game Pass for PC. And unless you’re a hardcore EA fan, I suggest you do, too.