Electronic Arts are simplifying their EA Access and Origin Access services into a single service under the name EA Play while Origin Access Premier becomes EA Play Pro. The rebranded EA Play will continue to provide gamers with access to a library of top titles, early game trials, and 10% game discounts that the previous services offered just under a fresh new look.

This move comes as EA continues to expand the program with the offering set to arrive on Steam, August 18th to coincide with the rebrand. The new EA Play service will also be rebranded on existing platforms including the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Origin client. EA's annual live event previously EA Play will become EA Play Live and continue to be the place for the latest EA news and game updates.

The Origin Launcher provided by EA isn't very popular and has only received intermittent updates over the past few years. EA is hoping to change that with their new Origin Launcher Beta which will be launching soon for Origin Access Premier members. The new Origin Launcher Beta will be a major overhaul designed to improve speed, stability, and reliability. Information regarding specific changes is unavailable but from the new sign-up page we can see that launcher should be receiving a redesigned user interface and a new dark theme. Origin Access Premier members can join the beta here.

OriginWe've heard your feedback on Origin - you want a fast, stable, and reliable app that connects you to the games you love and the players you want to play with. This feedback has inspired us to enhance the Origin experience to power a faster, smarter, more connected desktop app and we'll be rolling out improvements over the next few months through the beta.

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Command & Conquer, Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection is now available worldwide on PC via Origin and Steam, and as part of an Origin Access Premier subscription. Developed as a labor of love between EA and some of the original Westwood Studios team members at Petroglyph, the Remastered Collection is comprised of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer: Red Alert and their three expansion packs - Covert Ops, Counterstrike and The Aftermath. Veteran fans and those new to the franchise can now experience one of the most beloved real-time strategy games in history with native 4K support, rebuilt multiplayer, enhanced UI, a seven hour remastered soundtrack by Frank Klepacki, modding support and much more.

Built with the community in mind from day-one, an active Community Council has been involved since early pre-production with 24/7 access to the teams at EA and Petroglyph to provide feedback during development. This feedback has helped shape features such as a revamped UI, updated controls, a Map Editor, and a modernized online multiplayer experience, featuring custom games, 1v1 quick match, Elo-based matchmaking, leaderboards, replays and much more.

During Microsoft's Q3 2020FY Earnings call, it was confirmed that Xbox Live was seeing record levels of engagement with over 90 million monthly users. On top of this, Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass had surpassed 10 million subscribers for the video game subscription service. Xbox Game Pass is available for Xbox One and PC giving users access to a library with hundreds of games including many large recent games such as Gears Tactics, Halo Master Chief Collection, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This makes Xbox Game Pass the largest game subscription service far outnumbering EA Access and Origin Access. Microsoft also noted that interest in Project xCloud the experimental game streaming service was high with "hundreds of thousands" of active users.

Intel is taking a leaf out of AMDs book with their latest marketing campaign, the "Accelerate Your Game" bundle promotion was discovered on Overclockers UK and offer a selection of free games and software with the purchase of a qualifying Intel CPU. The promotion will offer free copies of Halo Wars 2, Dungeons 3, Hitman 2, Gears Tactics, VideoStudio Pro 2019, Corel Painters Essentials 7, DLC for The Cycle and World of Tanks along with one month of Origin Access to anyone who purchases a qualifying Intel Core i5 or above processor. The promotion is set to be officially announced by Intel shortly and will run until September 30th.

Battlefield V is now live if you have paid for Electronic Arts' subscription service, giving gamers access to the title a day earlier than expected. At a cost of $14.99 a month or $99.99 for a year, you can take to the battlefield right now. We can only speculate that this was likely done in a bid to please subscribers while also trying to boost subscription sales. After all, it is blatantly obvious that EA's goal is to try and tap into a steady income stream that only a subscription service can provide. Sadly this has resulted in those that pre-ordered getting shafted to some degree. Resulting in a problem that wouldn't exist with a single set launch date.

This highlights the trouble that comes with a staggered release, someone is going to be the odd man out. Consumers that paid for the Digital Deluxe edition still have to wait till November 15th, while buying the base version means your left sitting on the bench until November 20th. That is roughly 1-2 weeks of waiting and will likely create some anger towards EA for how the release has been handled.

Microsoft launched Xbox Game Pass in June 2017. This video game subscription service allows users to install and play Xbox games (not just Xbox One ones, there are titles from the Xbox 360 and even the original Xbox) , with over 230 games currently available, a number that is constantly growing. Often called 'The Netflix of video games', the service has been improving its offering, but now the project will go beyond it's initial focus. Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, announced during an investor meeting that Xbox Game Pass will come to PCs soon.

Nadella gave no further details, so we still don't know what games will be included on that service or the subscription price (currently $9.99/month), but the announcement is promising and another sign that the company is moving forward to expand their reach and, of course, their earnings. On the latest earnings release (FY19 Q1) Microsoft pointed out how gaming revenue "increased 44% with Xbox software and services revenue growth of 36% mainly from third-party title strength". This move could make that growth go even higher, and it joins other recent announcements that could improve Microsoft's role in this market.