It’s fitting that Dragon Age: Inquisition should be heading up the new drops, considering a scuffle over Dragon Age 2’s DLC situation is largely why EA gave Steam the cold shoulder in the first place. But it’s joined by 11 other titles (and their respective DLC packs), including Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Burnout Paradise: Remastered, Plants Vs Zombies: Battle For Neighborville and some of the newer Need For Speed entries. The entire catalogue hasn’t quite made it over, mind. EA aren’t quite ready to let you abandon ship on Origin entirely, and have kept many of their biggest multiplayer flagbearers - Apex Legends, Battlefield V, and their extensive sports catalogue - tied to the launcher for the time being. If last year’s announcement holds true, those’ll be coming later this year. There are, however, still a few notable omissions - The Sims 4, Titanfall 2, Anthem, Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda show no signs of a Steam re-release anytime soon.
More interesting, however, is that small “EA Access” jpeg that’s been slapped onto many of these releases. We’ve known for a while that a version of Origin Access - EA’s Game Pass-style subscription service - is coming to Steam, and now we know it’s coming “soon”. On Origin, EA Access comes in two flavours - a cheaper Basic subscription that gives you a decent smattering of games for £3.99/month, and the more expensive Premium which opens the doors to newer, flashier release for £14.99/month. While it claims to offer the same benefits (free games, trials, exclusives and such), how Steam play into this ecosystem remains to be seen. As it doesn’t offer the full EA lineup, could it act as an extension for one of those two subscriptions? Or will EA Access on Steam be entirely detached? Those are things we’ll find out as we approach the service’s Steam debut. For now, EA are pushing their new Steam drop with a big ol’ sale - slicing up to 75% or more off a selection of their catalogue.
