Xbox One Free Multiplayer And ‘Rocket League’ Weekend, EA Access Week Announced

Xbox One owners without Xbox LIVE Gold and those with an EA Access subscription will have the opportunity to try both for free. Microsoft announced Wednesday free trials for both services plus Rocket League in what appears to be a perfect opportunity to promote the console leading up to and during E3 2016.

A free multiplayer weekend for Xbox One and Xbox 360 is planned to run from Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 12, according to a YouTube video that has since been set to private on the official Xbox channel. This video is presumably meant to debut Thursday, but its description also reveals Rocket League will be available to download and play during the same period. Update: The video was posted Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, Xbox One owners interested in Battlefield, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Plants vs. Zombies, and other Electronic Arts titles should check out EA Access starting Sunday, June 12. The Netflix-like subscription service for games is free for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers through June 22.

Those interested in trying out EA Access can get started by downloading the EA Access Hub app from the Xbox Store. It is also prominently displayed on the Xbox One home dashboard in the top right corner, reserved for Xbox LIVE Gold member offers.

Downloading the hub app will grant access to all EA games in the Vault for free, at no additional cost. The list of games currently available includes: Battlefield Hardline, EA Sports UFC, Battlefield 4, FIFA 16, Madden NFL 16, Dragon Age: Inquisition, NHL 16, Titanfall, Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, Need for Speed Rivals, NBA LIVE 15, Peggle 2, and older sports titles. It also includes Xbox 360 backwards compatible titles like Dead Space and Plants vs. Zombies.

Xbox One owners interested in keeping it will have the option to buy a year’s subscription for $29.99, or they can purchase a monthly subscription for $4.99. Expect more games to be added to the Vault in the future. The current cadence is for an Xbox One game to be added approximately six months to a year after release.

Additional EA Access benefits include 10 percent off the purchase of Electronic Arts-published games and DLC, as well as a chance to try out soon-to-be-released games early for 10 hours. For example, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst currently has a 10-hour trial and subscribers should expect trials for upcoming releases like Madden NFL 17 and Battlefield 1. Any progress earned in those games during the trial period will carry over to the full release.

EA Access has turned into an incredibly popular and profitable service for Electronic Arts. During its Q2 2016 earnings call on October 29, 2015, CEO Andrew Wilson described EA Access as “accelerating,” with the subscriber base doubling in the two previous quarters. Digital revenue for the company during the quarter was $83 million. It’s unknown how much of that was from EA Access, but the company stated it is delivering “strong, sustained growth.”

Origin Access features the same benefits and price as EA Access. The one difference is the selection of games is slightly altered to include PC-centric titles such as The Sims 3 and Sim City, while also filling up the lack of Madden with the Dead Space and Dragon Age franchise.

For now, PlayStation 4 is the only major platform that receives Electronic Arts-published games without the option to get EA Access or Origin Access. A PlayStation representative previously explained that Sony turned the service down for its new console because it didn’t provide a good value, as the Inquisitr reported.

What do you think of EA Access and the free trials being offered for Xbox LIVE Gold, EA Access, and Rocket League? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via Rocket League]