Rumor: EA Sports Planning Annual Subscription Service

[ASnogarD]

OK people , this is where you say NO!

Not in forums , nor in petitions... but in sales, dont buy a EA sports title that 'offers' you a annual sub.

Seriously people , time to let EA know you want to be milked or not.
Alternatively , you must also decide if EA is right to be able to expect additional income from your subscription as well a purchase.

MMO's ask for subs because they to offer free content updates to keep the game fresh, so why does a annual game think it deserves a subscription ? It already has annual releases, so is it running out of ideas and simple wants to charge for a roster update ?

No people, no ... put your foot down and let the suits know that we aint cows here, and running a business in the game industry isnt the same as a bean canning operation.

 

[LightspeedJack]

Right now I'm picturing the head of EA as the Kingpin from Marvel comics.

 

[Garrett Richey]

Sounds decent to me, especially if you play 2-3 EA Sports series.

Just one EA sports series? Skip it. But those discounts on DLC will add up.

I don't see how this could ever be worth it (unless it's well under $10 and I seriously doubt this would be the case). They're currently releasing many of these series yearly with little or no upgrades beyond the roster. So that's $60 per year (if online pass comes with new purchases) already. Now they want to charge a yearly subscription that does what? Allows you to use the things you purchased in last year's version in this year's? Tracks data that they're already tracking internally? Gives you discounts on DLC (I really don't see what sort of DLC could really even justify costing anything for these games)?

For a service like this to be worth it they need to make the DLC free and give roster updates away as well... and then only if the cost is relatively low. Who knows if it worked like this they might actually start putting work into improving the gameplay between versions to justify upgrades.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Who knows if it worked like this they might actually start putting work into improving the gameplay between versions to justify upgrades.

Only someone completely ignorant actually believes these games don't change much beyond the roster year-to-year. But look at any of the major sports series over a 4 year period and you'll see a drastic change. So minor shifts add up, and some series even undergo drastic shift at times, such as when Tiger Woods introduced analog swinging, and let's not forget the still significant amount of players without online connections to make the "roster patching" idea work. Hell, even the Smackdown Vs RAW series changed a lot in the past few years. No, you probably don't need yearly iterations for every franchise. Madden '12 isn't going to be like Madden '06. They evolve, just slower. ('06 was the first current-gen release)

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

I've got no problem with companies such as EA offering loyalty bonuses to their fans, but this subscription plan seems to prove how the overuse of DLC is a slippery slope. Subscribers could eventually be given exclusive access to content that certain fans would consider crucial. For example, what if we someday have to pay to bring our data from a games like Mass Effect 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-2-Xbox-360/dp/B001TORSII/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1303577009&sr=1-1]? EA has to be mighty careful about how it handles implementing a service like this, if it's not just a rumor. Keep in mind that EA may have just been reaching out to judge the public's reaction to such a plan.

Excellently stated and a worthwhile conjecture for everyone to consider. If subscription plans become the norm, Xbox Live complainers (myself included) will be put into a very awkward place when it comes to video games in general. It would not be too speculative to assume that competitors would follow suit, resulting in a very limited selection amongst games. Imagine having to pay individual subscriptions for your favorite franchises to maximize potential? Oh, and you have to pay for the actual game on top of that, plus that DLC.

Companies like EA can keep their game the extra seven days, hell, for this subscription business, they can just keep them. EA does not plan to update games (e.g. Madden 2011 --> UPDATE --> Now Madden 2012), they just want customers to keep buying them but pay additional fees to keep the money pool warm with as little effort as possible on their part (that is not to say that this is the be-all-end-all model with every individual sports title).

 

[Dectilon]

Honestly, a subscription would probably save sports game fans money rather than the other way around. Not really anything to be upset over, especially if you don't play sports games (I'm not exactly a sports freak, but even I would rather play sports myself than play a game about people playing sports).

I guess a worry is that it'll bleed into other types of games, but I'd say sports games are so much their own thing that it won't affect the equation.

 

[Icehearted]

They see Xbox Live, they see people will pay for what should and even was essentially free at one time., they want to do similar. It's not at all surprising, but really, you pay for "services" like Xbox Live, you invite more companies to follow suit.

Honestly, people are willing to fork actual cash for useless avatar crap, technically this is a better value as at least with this you're getting something that serves a purpose beyond dressing a paper doll.

It's all a rip, but if people are willing to pay, there ya go.

 

[Garrett Richey]

Who knows if it worked like this they might actually start putting work into improving the gameplay between versions to justify upgrades.

Only someone completely ignorant actually believes these games don't change much beyond the roster year-to-year. But look at any of the major sports series over a 4 year period and you'll see a drastic change. So minor shifts add up, and some series even undergo drastic shift at times, such as when Tiger Woods introduced analog swinging, and let's not forget the still significant amount of players without online connections to make the "roster patching" idea work. Hell, even the Smackdown Vs RAW series changed a lot in the past few years. No, you probably don't need yearly iterations for every franchise. Madden '12 isn't going to be like Madden '06. They evolve, just slower. ('06 was the first current-gen release)

I didn't mean to suggest these games don't change at all. But it's hard to argue that from one version to the next there's significant enough change to warrant a $60 purchase. Most of the time the changes are equivalent to those that would be in free patches in other genres. What I'd like to see is them not just assuming the yearly release cycle since they know people want current rosters. As long as they can continue to sell the same game with minimal changes they will because that's insanely profitable. Sometimes they do hit on something that vastly improves the game like the analog swing for Tiger Woods, but this is the exception rather than the rule. It'd be like a shooter getting a sequel without significant changes beyond the names of the character. Sports games don't get many opportunities to change setting so they have mechanics and graphical realism (which likely won't be a factor for terribly much longer).

 

[snfonseka]

I don't like this. I hope EA is not stupid enough to extend this to non-online games.

 

[Bobbity]

Fuck you EA. Stop the avalanche of DLC, for fuck's sake.

 

[Bags159]

Hahahahhaah. Oh wait, they're serious? Let me laugh harder.

So it's not enough that they pump out soulless sequels every year, now they want to charge their customers even more? Wow.

 

[Premonition]

EA: Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' MONEY
EA PR: Aren't you worried about screwing over customers?
EA: Custom-a-wha now?
EA PR: The people giving you money
EA: Why should we care about those putses?

 

[ionveau]

THEY NEED THE MONEY do you know how much the server up keep costs for them? without this they would go broke and would not providing content patches
^

Now do you understand why i think MMO players are dumb?

 

[GunstarHero]

wow this is horrible if it happens. They already make you buy the same game every year. Your system should already track the games. I dont see any benfit from the service.

Yeah! I hate when companies bust into my house at 3am, hold a gun to my head and make me buy games. What dickholes.

 

[EonEire]

Well I assume that this service now negates the need to produce more titles? Because there is nothing in the increments of the EA Sports series that couldn't be released in this annual update/ subscription.

 

[Numb1lp]

Times like these I really kinda wish we'd welcome more sports games fans into the main fold of gaming culture. This is the kind of thing that most gamers would riot in the streets over, but Madden fans? They might be ignorant enough to thing this is a good deal and actually invest in it.

Or rip on people who play Madden. What, you think just because someone isn't a "hardcore" gamer that they don't recognize a rip-off?

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Yeah, no. This is in SSX now? Well, guess I'm not going to buy that game.

Subscribers would get discounts on DLC, exclusive DLC, access to full downloadable versions of certain games before release, a "free opportunity" to extend the play experience to the PC and web, and the ability to transfer content from older titles to newer titles.

Since you're that one guy I know out of this whole thread, this is going to be a response to you.

You read that stuff, right? Yeah. The shit it offers is about as vital to the game as Playstation Plus to your Playstation.

DLC is not exactly the biggest thing is sports games. Chances are, it's just give you a bunch of free stuff.

The only possible thing anyone could be angry at here is the save transfer thing. Well, good news for you, then. SSX is not a yearly franchise. It doesn't need that feature.

Now can all of you, please, actually read beyond the "subscription service" thing?

 

[Smooth Operator]

EA just ride that dirty whore franchise till her pelvis bone snaps.

The really sad part is people will go for this crap, for chirsts sakes be merciful and just let these abortions of games die already, and you will save 60$ that you can spend on a good game.