Mirror's Edge Catalyst will be playable five days early on Origin Access

Mirror's Edge Catalyst will be scampering across rooftops on June 7, a slight, and slightly last-minute, delay over the original May 26 launch date that we learned about in April. But Origin Access members will be able to leap into it a full five days earlier than that, without paying up front—with one or two restrictions.

Catalyst will be playable on June 2 as one of the “Play First Trials” on Origin Access, and if you dig the experience and spring for the full game, your progress will carry over. But playtime will be limited to six hours, with ten missions and two districts to explore. That's kind of an unusual number, and a good bit less than the ten hours of free play offered by the other Access trials, Need for Speed and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. The safe assumption is that much more than that would be enough to finish the single-player campaign, and that's probably a little too much of a freebie for EA's liking. 

Not that it's actually free, of course. Origin Access is a subscription-based service that will set you back $5 per month. On the other hand, subscribers get ten percent off the $60 purchase price, which is actually more than a single month's fee—and as the terms of service say, you can cancel your subscription at any time. Do with that information as you see fit.  
 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.