Batman comes to Origin Access subscription service after deal between EA and Warner Bros

Electronic Arts has announced deals that will see many more games available as part of the publisher’s Origin Access subscription program, including games from Warner Bros., the first deal of its kind between EA and an external publisher.

Electronic Arts’ Origin Access program allows subscribers to play games in The Vault, downloading and playing them all for free as long as the player coughs up the monthly subscription fee. It also provides players with free trial access to titles not included in The Vault, and will give players a 10% discount on Origin purchases in addition to letting them carry their progress with them from trial to full game.

This is closest thing to a Netflix analogy currently available for video game streaming on the PC, although as an EA platform, it’s largely focused on titles from the publisher. However, this Warner Bros. deal brings three Batman titles: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Origins to The Vault, along with the three Lego Batman titles. EA have claimed that soon five more titles, The Witness, Out of the Park Baseball ’19, Lost Castle, Bulletstorm Lite and Wasteland 2 will arrive on the service.

This will no doubt make Origin Access a more attractive proposition, and it will be interesting to see which other big third party publishers, if any, will be getting involved next. 

Origin Access appears to be aiming towards the model that Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is using on their console, which gives fans access to over 100 games, including first-party exclusives that are released on the service at the same time as their global retail launch. Origin Access is a little way from the depth of that library, but this will no doubt make Origin Access a more attractive proposition, and it will be interesting to see which other big third party publishers, if any, will be getting involved next.