A popular internet fan theory about Electronic Arts Inc. [stock_market_widget type="inline" template="generic" color="default" assets="EA" markup="(NASDAQ: {symbol} {currency_symbol}{price} ({change_pct}))" api="yf"] has been proven true today. The games publisher recently hinted at major news with a cryptic tweet simply showing an EA branded mug full of a steaming hot beverage.
Gamer sleuths predicted this meant a return of EA games to Valve’s Steam service — the world’s largest PC gaming platform — and it turns out their guess was correct.
EA’s return will begin with the launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on Nov. 15. The deal will also see The Sims 4 hit Steam, where it has been notably absent and only previously available through the Origin launcher.
The company’s subscription service EA Access will also hit the PC gaming platform next spring, allowing gamers to play a collection of EA games directly through Steam for a monthly price.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson commented on the announcement today:
With the continued demise of physical media, subscription services are becoming more prevalent across consoles, mobile devices, and Windows machines.
PC giant Microsoft [stock_market_widget type="inline" template="generic" color="default" assets="MSFT" markup="(NASDAQ: {symbol} {currency_symbol}{price} ({change_pct}))" api="yf"] for instance currently runs the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – which offers access to more than a hundred games for both Xbox One and PC via the Windows Store.
Rival service Utomik provides monthly access to more than a thousand titles, while Apple Arcade is also coming later this year to offer 100+ mobile titles on the iOS platform for $4.99 a month.
In other EA news, the company hit a milestone of 10 million players on FIFA 20 earlier this month not long after the yearly franchise’s latest launch. Aside from wrestling entry WWE2K20, the FIFA 20 release marked one of the final yearly sports games to arrive in 2019.
EA also just announced details on the FIFA 20 Global Series, with the eClub World Cup taking place in February, the eNations Cup arriving in May, followed by the eWorld Cup finals in July.
