Is EA drunk or just insane ? "EA's 'Project $10'

[Crni Vuk]

Seriously. WTF? Paying the publisher again for a second hand product? That they consider this is already a bad sign in my eyes.



EA's 'Project $10' to Squeeze Used Game Buyers

Buying it used? EA still wants you to pay up to the publisher.

Along with piracy, another huge concern of game publishers these days is that they are missing out on the profits to be had from that sale of used games. While shifting more content to straight digital download sales is one option, EA devised a plan called "Project Ten Dollar" that hopes to squeeze 10 bucks from a gamer picking up an EA title second-hand.

Heh, I hope that idea will never see the light.

 

[Zeal]

So they basically raise the price 10$ on all new games (from the point they are technology supported)?

And how would that work? In all levels i mean, not only technologically but in terms of market, since some used games are just 10-15$ cheaper than originals...

 

[Brother None]

So they basically raise the price 10$ on all new games (from the point they are technology supported)?

No.

DA:O and Mass Effect 2 comes with DLC that is free-to-download, but only if you bought the game. This to further discourage pirates, but mostly for this: second-hand users don't get said DLC for free, they have to pay for it.

I don't see any direct way in which this is applied beyond that. But it does suck a bit, the DA:O Golem DLC is a good chunk of the game, honestly.

And you guys are talking as if it's not already in place. Newsflash: it is. EA is already doing this.

As for why? If only it was pure greed. It's more a consequence of the wasteful, horrible badly way the gaming industry is run. The core of the gaming industry is bankrupt, and it needs schemes like DLC or this 10-bucks-from-2nd-hand to keep it propped up. If game companies weren't ripping off gamers like that, the industry would collapse. Which I still really hope happens, it needs to collapse to get rid of this current, untenable industrial model.

 

[CloudlessDruid]

I didnt knew the gaming industry was the way it is because they are trying to sustain themselfs. I thought actually they were going pretty well, with all these billionaire sales, and all these 'user too friendly" games.

 

[Puokki]

Urgh.

I've never thought EA as nothing more than a goddamn multi-national "I-cheat-U"-company, but seriously, WTF? It's not gonna affect my buyings, I always buy second- hand when possible.

 

[Brother None]

I didnt knew the gaming industry was the way it is because they are trying to sustain themselfs. I thought actually they were going pretty well, with all these billionaire sales, and all these 'user too friendly" games.

If only. The gaming industry is booming in growth numbers, and arrogant in its "recession proof!" nonsense. But all this does is hide the fact that piracy blocked PC as a growth platform (and DD is currently still too marginal for most companies), while the production cost and manufacturer take skews the sales margin for consoles so badly that a game needs to sell at least a million to be profitable.

Don't get me wrong, some companies are thriving, like Rockstar, or Bethesda, or Blizzard. But if you followed gaming news closely the last year or two, you'll see game cancellation upon game cancellation, mass layoffs and studios closing. I'm impressed they managed to dodge total collapse and this is mostly due to expanding digital sales, especially DLCs, which with much lower production costs have much higher profit margins. They might have dodged the bullet and be able to ride out the crisis, which would suck for us as consumers because their skewed profit margin means they'd have to continue ripping us off.

 

[CloudlessDruid]

Don't get me wrong, some companies are thriving, like Rockstar, or Bethesda, or Blizzard.

In case the game industry colapses, so its pretty probable these thriving companies turn into monopolies?
As a matter of fact, I already see these companies monopolizing the market, since they have much more money than anyone, and with money, they hire whoever they want, they buy whatever brand they want ( ) and make any kind of game the market wants, leaving no space for indie companies.

 

[Brother None]

It's funny how little awareness the constant stream of bad news seems to get. Just glancing at the last few weeks we have CodeMasters downsizing and SouthPeak in serious trouble. There's a storyline like this every week, really, for the past year if not past couple of years. Are we honestly supposed to pretend everything's fine?

Reminds me of the story in La Haine; Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!

In case the game industry colapses, so its pretty probable these thriving companies turn into monopolies?

That's what usually happens, but it depends on the capabilties. Thing is, if a really big company like EA or Take Two collapses fast, there's no way anyone can fill the void, and the entire industry goes, no one profits there, including said doing-well companies. I don't think the big 'uns are close to collapse.

make any kind of game the market wants, leaving no space for indie companies.

The indie industry has never been as big as it is now. It's thriving.

 

[CloudlessDruid]

It's funny how little awareness the constant stream of bad news seems to get.

yeah, I think its not exactly interesting to lots of people to show the reality of the market. Actually seems they are trying to hide these bad news, if really the game industry is falling apart for the past 3 or 4 years.

There's a storyline like this every week, really, for the past year if not past couple of years. Are we honestly supposed to pretend everything's fine?

well, I don't know about the past couple of years, but maybe in the last year, all these news probably got 'low profile' since it was a recession year, and maybe all the other sectors of the world economy crashing made the games industries seems like "just another share of the market naturally falling with all the others, but ready to restart growing again next year". Maybe thats why these kind of news dont get much awareness.

The indie industry has never been as big as it is now. It's thriving.

where exactly can I find news about the indie scene? I really just know where to find mainstream games news (gamespot, ign, etc)

 

[Arr0nax]

The indie industry has never been as big as it is now. It's thriving.

I think I see a link between the two parts of this story...

 

[Brother None]

where exactly can I find news about the indie scene? I really just know where to find mainstream games news (gamespot, ign, etc)

The blog I used to use died, sadly. And I only really follow indie RPGs, so that sticks me with GameBanshee (I'm doing a preview of two indie titles once I round up my BioShock 2 review), RPGWatch, RPGCodex and - top of the game - Tales of the Rampant Coyote.

One excellent place for PC indies - though not for the console Live/handheld indie scene - is Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

If nothing else, it has a newsbit on upcoming official-free-to-play-MMO-of-NMA-after-FOnline World of Tanks.

 

[Alphadrop]

So they basically raise the price 10$ on all new games (from the point they are technology supported)?

No.

DA:O and Mass Effect 2 comes with DLC that is free-to-download, but only if you bought the game. This to further discourage pirates, but mostly for this: second-hand users don't get said DLC for free, they have to pay for it.

I don't see any direct way in which this is applied beyond that. But it does suck a bit, the DA:O Golem DLC is a good chunk of the game, honestly.

Well DLC is really easy to pirate so it just means people who payed for the game are not elligable for certain bits of it (for example Mass Effect 2's store specific items) unless you turn to piracy.

 

[Crni Vuk]

I think there was more awareness about the gameing market in the past with the Amiga, Comodore and other gaming stations. I think the market around games for those platforms colapsed a few times in the past. But to say that it wasnt the same situation like today I think where we have a lot of standards today and almost everyone a PC at home that is not only meant for gaming while the Amiga and Comodore really have been more or less different in the way they worked thus could not share games between each other.

I just found something in google called Atari Debacle or North American video game crash of 1983

Well ... anyway I cant say I was happy about the DLCs and what they made out of the products even though I like the idea behind it ... but its way to easy to abuse by the publishers/devs if they want it (horse armor for 1.99? of course ...). Now with the idea to also charge money from people that buy second hand games ... the gaming market really reached a new low in my eyes.

And you guys are talking as if it's not already in place. Newsflash: it is. EA is already doing this.

Its the first time while reading that article that I heard from this concept. It seems like its somewhat unnoticed here in Germany.

 

[Sorrow]

Buying it used? EA still wants you to pay up to the publisher.

Along with piracy, another huge concern of game publishers these days is that they are missing out on the profits to be had from that sale of used games. While shifting more content to straight digital download sales is one option, EA devised a plan called "Project Ten Dollar" that hopes to squeeze 10 bucks from a gamer picking up an EA title second-hand.

These guys are batshit insane.

 

[Old Fatass]

I used to go on this gamespy forum for Battle for Middle Earth. When they made the shitty expansion pack for the second game we rebelled against EA and started spamming the forums.

IGN banned 80% of the users including the Adminstrator and the Moderators.

This just keeps fuelling the rage. I hope they go defunct soon

 

[Professor Danger!]

Since when is buying something used equivalent to not paying for it?

 

[Old Fatass]

Along with piracy, another huge concern of game publishers these days is that they are missing out on the profits to be had from that sale of used games. While shifting more content to straight digital download sales is one option, EA devised a plan called "Project Ten Dollar" that hopes to squeeze 10 bucks from a gamer picking up an EA title second-hand.

Their logic makes no sense, they'll encourage piracy if people have to pay 10 extra dollars for a used game

 

[Leon]

I don't see how this should fly. If companies showed up to a garage sale or second-hand shop demanding (or otherwise trying to obtain) a cut of the profit for selling their used products the universal response would be "Fuck off." Unabashed greed to support a dying business model. Reminds me of the music industry.

 

[Crni Vuk]

just that its already in charge, which is not a good thing. And I have the feeling that it might prove to be a good concept when people still buy it like lemings.

 

[Sander]

It seems half the people in this thread are assuming EA will demand $10 for every used copy. That's not how it works, they're doing this through release-day DLCs tied to an account.