What a fine Trojan Horse you have!
Ahh, this one is good.
EA Canada senior producer Jason DeLong believes that pretty soon publishers will have to start thinking of new ways to deliver and charge for their content.
In a Game Informer article, Jason has this to say,
I think that we’re going to start to see – maybe not in the next year, but in the near future – games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material. I think that’s a direction we’re probably heading in.
Fair enough, Valve have shown how well episodic gaming can be done and several other companies are adopting this method of distribution already. Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Half Life 2 are just a small selection of games that have taken the episodic route with varying success.
What interests me is the following quote,
Games are getting more expensive, and times are tough, and it’s getting harder to purchase every game you want. So, how can we keep people playing and offer them more but not have to make them break the bank to do it? It’s going to be an interesting creative problem for us to solve
Now, call me cynical, but if this was coming from anyone but an EA employee, I’d be more willing to accept it at face value… But this is EA after all, and old habits die hard in my opinion. There is every chance I’m wrong, but if I were a betting man, I’d lay down some serious cash on the possibility of EA moving towards releasing stripped down versions of games with the option to add the bulk of normal content via DLC.
About 3 years ago there was a rumour that Sony planned to ship Gran Turismo without cars or tracks, but make them available via the PSN Store as paid DLC packs. Now imagine that but with a Madden release, or Tiger Woods. You can buy the game, but it only comes with one golfer and one PGA course on the disk. If you want more, the Live Marketplace is over there…
This is all speculation of course but I would not be at all surprised to see a tiered content/pricing structure appear from EA within the next 5 years. This could actually work pretty well if the prices are reasonable and gamers pay no more for a complete game via DLC packs than it would cost to buy the equivalent amount of content on a DVD. The sceptic in me however, is pretty sure that this will not be the case.
In conclusion, to paraphrase a classic quote, “beware of EA bearing gifts”
