Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
This is Electronic Arts' User Agreement (EULA), last updated May 14, 2026, governing all EA games, services, platforms, and content. Users do not purchase games or content — they receive revocable licenses that can be terminated at EA's discretion. EA collects extensive data from devices (including offline), grants itself a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use any content users create, and requires binding arbitration with a class action waiver for many users. The agreement is heavily weighted in EA's favor, with broad unilateral rights to modify, terminate, or remove access to purchased content without refunds.
Flagged Clauses
You do not own any games, virtual currency, in-game items, or content you pay for. EA is granting a revocable license that can be taken away. If your account is terminated or a service shuts down, you lose everything with no compensation.
“The EA Services are licensed to you, not sold. EA grants you a personal, limited, non-transferable, revocable and non-exclusive license.”
Any real money spent on virtual currency or in-game items cannot be refunded or converted back to cash under most circumstances. If a game shuts down, that currency and all purchased items are simply lost.
“EA Virtual Currency has no monetary value and has no value outside of our products and services. EA Virtual Currency cannot be sold, traded, transferred, or exchanged for cash... EA Virtual Currency is non-refundable.”
If EA terminates your account — even for a single rules violation — you lose access to all games, all purchased content, and all virtual currency across all EA titles, with no refunds. Years of purchases can be wiped out instantly.
“If your EA Account is terminated, you will not have access to your EA Account or Entitlements and may be barred from accessing or using any EA Service again... you will not be entitled to a refund (subject to any statutory refund rights) and no Entitlements will be credited to you or converted to cash.”
For many users, disputes with EA must be resolved through private binding arbitration rather than in court. You also waive the right to join a class action lawsuit, which is often the only practical legal option when individual damages are small.
“FOR RESIDENTS OF CERTAIN COUNTRIES, YOU AGREE TO THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER DESCRIBED IN SECTION 15 TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTES WITH EA.”
Anything you create in EA games or post on EA platforms — artwork, videos, forum posts, voice chat — can be used by EA forever, worldwide, for any purpose, without paying you or even crediting you.
“When you contribute UGC, you grant to EA... a non-exclusive, perpetual, transferable, worldwide, sublicensable license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, publicly perform, publicly display or otherwise transmit and communicate the UGC... without notice, payment or attribution of any kind to you.”
EA collects detailed information about your computer hardware, installed software, and activity even when you're playing offline, then sends it to EA's servers when you reconnect to the internet. This goes beyond just gameplay data.
“EA may collect and store data from your computer or device, including information about your computer or device, hardware, installed software, and operating system (such as IP Address and device ID)... If you play an EA Service offline, this data will be stored on your device and transmitted to EA when your device connects to the Internet.”
EA's anti-cheat software runs at the deepest levels of your computer (kernel level), with access to your RAM, running processes, files, and screen. This is extensive system access that goes far beyond just monitoring the game.
“EA utilizes technologies to detect and prevent cheating... these technologies may activate using kernel, admin or user privileges, and monitor and collect from your gameplay and device's RAM or other memory, processes, visuals, communications, and file storage.”
EA can remove content or features you paid for without notice, at their sole discretion, for reasons including protecting their 'reputation.' There is no obligation to compensate you for removed content.
“EA may update or modify an EA Service, Content or Entitlements, and/or you may lose access to certain Content or Entitlements without notice if, at our discretion, we must remove such Content or Entitlements.”
EA can reset your in-game progress, characters, or items at any time for balancing purposes, even if you paid for them, with no compensation.
“EA may need to update, or reset certain parameters to balance game play... These updates or 'resets' may cause you setbacks within the relevant game world and may affect characters, games, groups or other Entitlements under your control.”
EA can shut down any game or service with only 30 days notice. After shutdown, the game may stop working entirely (especially online-dependent games), and any money spent on that game or its content is effectively lost.
“EA may terminate any EA Service at any time by giving at least thirty days' notice... After online service termination, no software updates will be applied to our games and we can't guarantee our games will continue to function.”
EA severely limits what it can be held financially responsible for, including financial losses you suffer as a result of their service failures. This applies unless you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, where stronger consumer protections apply.
“TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EA AND ITS EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSSES THAT WERE NOT CAUSED BY EA'S BREACH... OR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES.”
For users outside the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, EA makes no guarantees that games will work, be error-free, or be fit for purpose. You accept the service as-is with no warranty protection beyond what local law requires.
“IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE EEA, UNITED KINGDOM AND SWITZERLAND, EA SERVICES ARE LICENSED AND PROVIDED 'AS IS.' YOU USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK. EA GIVES NO EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES.”
PC games cannot be resold, transferred, or gifted. They are permanently tied to your account and device-limited. This eliminates any second-hand market value for your purchases.
“Authentication is limited to one EA Account per serial code, which means the EA PC Game is not transferable. You may only launch and access an EA PC Game on no more than five unique machines in any rolling 24-hour period.”
Data collected about your gameplay, device, and behavior is used for marketing purposes in addition to service operation. The document refers to a separate Privacy Policy for full details on data sharing with third parties.
“EA uses this information to operate its business, improve its products and services, provide services to and communicate with you (including for marketing purposes).”
Not only EA, but all other users of the platform also receive a broad license to use, modify, and distribute anything you create or upload, without any payment or credit to you.
“You also grant to all other users who can access and use your UGC on an EA Service the right to use, copy, modify, display, perform, create derivative works from, and otherwise communicate and distribute your UGC.”
Missing Protections
- No explicit provision guaranteeing refunds if a service is terminated or becomes inaccessible before the end of a subscription period
- No data deletion or portability rights explicitly stated in the main agreement (only referenced to a separate Privacy Policy)
- No cap on the number of times terms can be changed per year or minimum notice period for term changes stated in this excerpt
- No clear process for disputing individual enforcement actions before they take effect (appeal process only mentioned briefly)
- No explicit guarantee of offline functionality for single-player games that were purchased
- No defined retention period for user data after account termination
- No explicit prohibition on selling personal data to third parties in this document (deferred to Privacy Policy)
- No compensation or pro-rata refund mechanism when purchased content is forcibly removed
- No explicit COPPA/GDPR compliance details for minors — only parental responsibility language
Fair Terms
- EA commits to giving at least 30 days notice before shutting down an online service, which is better than no notice at all.
- Account cancellation is explicitly allowed at any time by contacting customer support.
- Users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland receive stronger protections including 'reasonable care and skill' service standard and enhanced liability rules.
- Anti-cheat software is explicitly stated to deactivate when you exit the game, limiting its active monitoring window.
- An appeals process exists for account actions, with a link provided.
- Instructions for uninstalling the EA app and associated software are provided.
Document information only — not legal advice.