You can now play the Mass Effect: Andromeda trial on Xbox One and PC

By Matt Brown
last updated

For those subscribed to Electronic Arts' EA Access and Origin Access services, a ten-hour free trial of the upcoming 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' is now available to download. Providing limited access to the full game, players will be able to get a feel for the title ahead of its official release on Tuesday, March 21.

For those wanting to gain access to the trial on Xbox One, simply launch the EA Access application with an active subscription and navigate over to the 'Game Trials' tab. On PC, you'll need to navigate to the 'Origin Access' tab of the Origin desktop client. The Xbox One and PC versions of the game come in at 43.9 GB and 43.7 GB respectively.

During your trial, you'll be allocated 10 hours with the full game, aside from some slight limitations to the single player story mode. While players are granted unlimited access to multiplayer, progression through single player content is blocked after a certain point. While you'll be getting access to a small taste of the narrative, you'll have to purchase the full game to continue your play-through. As with all Electronic Arts titles, you'll gain a 10 percent discount off the final game as an EA Access or Origin Access subscriber.

See at the Xbox Store (opens in new tab)

Matt Brown
Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.

24 Comments
  • It's go time!
  • I wonder why there is 2%more to download compared to pc
  • Character movement reminds me so much of DeadSpace, not a bad thing. Hope I get time to play this before my membership times out. Got Evolve to download tomorrow, got hopes for that game. If I like M E, then I may consider another month of Access, so I can play 1 & 2.
  • Cannot  download, "something happen on our side"   
  • Same here. I'm in europe. 
  • Greetings from Mexico. I think the link is only for USA or for XBox. Maybe I'm wrong.
  • Why it wins to go xbone
  • Awesome! Downloading now!!
  • If I start the download now overnight, does the ten hours start from now (at midnight) or will it start when I wake up to play it tomorrow?
  • It counts in-game play time. You can have it on your Xbox for years if you want
  • Ffxv rly disappointed me. Hope this game lives up to It's predecessors
  • Nothing up in canada est. The game disappeared from the trial tab too...
  • About 2 hours in and I'm already loving it.
  • Guys. I've read 3 first impressions of the first 6 hours. PC Gamer have just put there's up. And its not good reading. Story telling, skill trees, planet searching, mining are all apparantly really bad. I fear they have gone and messed this one up badly. Apparently the character dialogue is poor and the characters are not likeable like the first series. http://www.pcgamer.com/we-have-mixed-feelings-about-the-first-few-hours-...
  • I think you are going to just have to weigh this game on its own merits and not compare it at all with the original trilogy. I know it will be hard, but it's necessary. True fans of a series are going to almost automatically hate ANY spin offs that occur. That's probably the reason why I had such an immediate reaction when I booted up the second one for the first time after loving every moment of my 6 play throughs of the first.
  • It's not about the spin off. Reviewers are saying the Storytelling is terrible. Mining is boring and planet scaping is just meh. It sounds as if all the things that made the series amazing like its story and storytelling are the issues. That is a concern. Considering the series is known for its amazing storytelling among other things. Everyone loved the ME2. From start to finish. Completely different than people who have played 6 hours of Andromeda saying they can't even be bothered to carry on. That's a massive shift in quality.
  • By everyone do you mean reviewers? Because it took me two play throughs before I stopped hating it for turning into a cover shooter with choices. Hopefully it just starts off badly if indeed it isn't a case of fandom hate. I will stick through it no matter how bad it is.
  • The 2nd game was a more streamlined ME1 in skill trees. But had EXACTLY the same gameplay but refined way way more. The story got better. The characters for better. Side missions were meaningful and the combat mechanics much more fluid. It was pretty much better in every way while still remaining an RPG. The first was a cover shooter. Just much more clunkier. And yeah reviewers and everyone i know instantly preferred the 2nd game. And I'm an RPG veteran.
  • Alright. My point was simply that everyone is entitled to their own opinions of something and just because something is more refined, doesn't mean it is automatically more enjoyable. I realize I am in the minority on my opinion, I said what did because one shouldn't make a blanket statement like "everyone" to say how something is or is perceived. Regardless of how one felt about the 2nd compared to the 1st, this game still needs to be judged on its own merit no matter bad or good it is. Looking back, I didn't do this myself when I played the second of the series, and that was not only unfair to the devs, but myself as well because I didn't appreciate it for what it was and only felt what I was missing the whole time.
  • These people can not be made happy. When something does as good as the first 3 did, anything that is even a slight change of course will always be slammed by the hardcore because their subconscious has already decided that nothing can be better. Their own internal hype can also ruin everything because nothing can possibly live up to what they were expecting. A good number of these reviews come from jaded gamers that are only able to be satisfied with something truly new rather than a continuation of an existing IP. I'll admit there a few issues but nothing major. A very mild decrease in story fluidity I'll agree but certainly nothing earth shattering. The jaded few that can't bother to carry on probably just need a break, breathe some fresh for once and then they can see andromeda for what it is. A new story trying to find it's footing, it's a little rough but I stress a little still a very interesting and enjoyable experience so far. 
  • This is why I don't pay attention to reviews. I like to find out for myself.  I have been playing it and loving it. 
  • Same here. I used to look at them when trying to decide on what to play, but got burned too many times on fun games that critics were just too harsh on for whatever reasons.
  • downloading now in Ireland, 42.2 GB
  • sony should get on this