EA is running a closed trial for its Project Atlas cloud gaming service this month

EA has expanded testing for its Project Atlas cloud-based game streaming service, namely by rolling it out to a handful of EA Origin account holders earlier this week.

The trial is set to last two weeks, and is letting testers at FIFA 19, Titanfall 2, Need for Speed Rivals, and Unravel with the goal of gathering additional data on how those titles perform in the less-than-ideal situations actual use of a cloud-based streaming service brings.

CTO Ken Moss also notes in a Medium post that EA opted for a handful of quite different titles during the test to see how different types of games function while being streamed in those imperfect, real-world conditions.

“Just as subscriptions can be an incredibly strong proposition for players to access great content with minimal friction, when combined with cloud streaming we can make it even more compelling to jump into new games and connect with new communities,” says Moss.

Another piece of notable news from this closed trial is that EA is working on setting up cross-platform support for some elements of Project Atlas. The word console is conspicuously missing from any mentions of cross-platform play or progression, but Moss notes that the trial will let players on the cloud-based Project Atlas platform “engage with the live PC environment on Origin” and progression made in the Atlas trial will be accessible on PC after things wrap up as well.

Tests like this are the next evolution of the cloud-powered Project Atlas project EA pitched to developers way back in 2018. Now, cloud-based streaming has become more of a crowded field, with major players like Google throwing their hats into the ring alongside video game companies like EA and Microsoft.

“The bottom line is this. Cloud gaming is coming. It’s no longer a question of if, but when,” writes Moss. “It’s still really early days but we’re excited to take this next step in our learning, and it’s great to be able to do it with some of you in our community. This is about enhancing the quality of our games and services for a cloud powered future."