It’s been pretty well established by now that Mass Effect: Andromeda did not live up to the legacy of the original trilogy, nor did it sell especially well. Even so, this feels like the line drawn under the whole sorry story—the final insult, if you will. Less than seven months after it was released, Electronic Arts is putting it on Origin Access.
Origin Access is a subscription-based service that, for $5/£4/€4 per month, provides unlimited access to a wide range of EA games. Generally, they tend to be either older games (relatively, anyway) or limited “Play First” trials, but Andromeda is neither—it’s the full game, which is still listed on Origin for $40, the cost of eight months of Access.
It’s fair to point out that both Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 were less than a year old when they were added to Origin Access, but with all due respect to both series, I don’t think that either of them had quite the marquee stature of Mass Effect. Think of it this way: If I had told you at this time last year that Andromeda would be Origin fodder before the leaves finished falling off the trees this year, would you have believed me?
Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t the only new addition headed for Origin Access. The Star Wars Battlefront 2 Play First Trial is also coming, as is a trial version of Need for Speed: Payback. Specific dates weren’t announced but EA said they’ll be rolled out between now and December—the end of it, I’m guessing—and that the Battlefront 2 trial will be available before its release on November 17.