EE UK Launch New Bundles in Quest to Become Top Network for Gaming

Mobile operator and broadband ISP EE has today begun a new drive to become the “no.1 network for gaming in the UK” by launching a range of bundles for their 5G and full fibre (FTTP) customers, which match the latest PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch consoles to their various connectivity packages.

However, the announcement, which very generally mentions both their 5G and fibre broadband packages, only actually provides any details on their new mobile bundles. The bundles themselves are due to launch on Wednesday next week (26th October 2022) for EE’s Pay Monthly mobile customers.

Both of the new bundles will either include a Sony PlayStation 5 console or a Nintendo Switch. We should point out that EE have already been offering bundles with XBox consoles for a while, which include access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (i.e. for Full Fibre customers they offer a 12 months’ Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and unlimited mobile gaming data – worth up to £252 – at no extra cost).

EE’s New Gaming Bundles

➤ A PlayStation 5 console with PlayStation Plus, unlimited mobile gaming data and a Video Data Pass (so they can watch as many gaming streams and tutorials on YouTube as they like, without touching their data allowance) available on a £31 per month 24-month contract with £10 upfront.

➤ A Nintendo Switch OLED, with Nintendo Online, unlimited mobile gaming data and a Video Data Pass available for £17 per month on a 24-month contract with £10 upfront.

On top of that, EE has also added the Meta Quest 2 (VR helmet) as an option for their Pay Monthly Mobile customers via Add to Plan, which starts at £35 per month for 11 months with a £10 up-front cost (this comes with the popular ‘Beat Saber’ music game).

The operator said that they also have PC gamers covered too, with Lenovo’s Ideapad Gaming 3 laptop available on Add to Plan from £70 per month for 11 months with an £30 up-front cost (includes three months Xbox PC Game Pass).

EE is also rolling out new in-store gaming bays in over 175 of their high street stores, giving customers the option to learn more about gaming from EE, and includes for the first time the option to try out the latest next-gen consoles as well as buy them and accessories in store outright or via Add to Plan.

Marc Allera, CEO at EE, said:

“We already offer an unbeatable network, and with the nation gaming more than ever, we have pressed play on our ambition to become the UK’s no.1 for gamers.

Moving forward, we’ll look to evolve our network and build on our existing partnerships with the world’s best gaming companies – reviewing the latest exciting new hardware and services, so we can offer gamers new and old, unique and exclusive opportunities to make the most from their gaming experience.”

As part of today’s announcement, EE has claimed that independent testing conducted by mobile benchmark firm RootMetrics found them to be an “unbeatable mobile network for gaming in the UK“, which was achieved by offering “the best combination of fast download speeds, with the lowest jitter and packet-loss – perfect for gaming on the go.” But no solid details from the study were included with their announcement to substantiate this.

We should point out that RootMetric’s walk and drive-based testing teams are usually confined to the UK’s largest cities, and experiences will vary between different locations, thus we have our doubts about extrapolating such studies to mean they’re “unbeatable” for gaming across the whole of the UK.

Furthermore, most console gamers would much rather hook up their devices to a fixed line broadband connection than mobile, where latency is often faster (lower) and more stable – depending upon the broadband technology and network choice etc. But EE’s announcement didn’t include any new bundles for their fixed line services, which seems like a missed opportunity.

UPDATE 10:52am

The benchmark results are based on RootMetrics® UK Mobile Gaming Ratings H1 2022 study, and tested with one of the best commercially available smartphones on four national mobile networks across all available network types.