Comments on: Electronic Arts invites the pirates to tea

By: Kian

Kian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:14:58 +0000

Oh I should probably point out that major subscription games such as WoW or Eve Online still bring out expansion packs.

By: Kian

Kian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:13:50 +0000

Am I the only one who think they have yet again missed the point? I would agree that they are taking a step in the right direction however its like stepping out from tar into much. Sure its easier to walk around but its still nothing in comparison to that plane Stardock seem to be flying.

Sorry now I should probably explain myself ^_^. For the Sims and games such as MMORPGers it is generally a good idea. You provide continuous updated content to keep the world interesting and alive and you end up with a steady stream of revenue. However this system can not really work for games such as first person shooters and strategy games such as possible new units and guns (which will most likely unbalance the game and add only an extra 1/2 hour of lifespan). Who wants to buy small additions when competitor game companies are offering whole extra arenas with fully fleshed plot on a well tested system.

I will be interested to see how they implement this new system, however I do fear that what EA may do is in games where it is possible such as The Sims. They will provide a bare bones game and then charge for each extra which a couple years ago would of been contained within the original release.

On the bright side I’ve recently picked up a game by Activision which appears to be (at least obviously) DRM free, so perhaps more companies then you would initially consider are heading in the right direction.

By: Paul Raven

Paul Raven — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:07:24 +0000

I think you’re comparing apples and oranges there, zero, but feel free to explain your reasoning: why is the subscriber model for gaming so untenable, given the fact that it seems to be doing remarkably well for a number of well know titles already?

By: zero

zero — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:54:33 +0000

‘I expect that within a few years it’ll be virtually unheard of to “buy a game”; instead, we’ll subscribe to them, or spend time in them socially much the way we do with Facebook now.’

While flying around in jetpacks and eating our food pills, no doubt.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:59:38 +0000

That’s pretty awesome. I used to work for EA, back in the day. It’s cool to hear that they’re changing models to keep up with the times.

Of course, StarDock got that particular point years ago…