EA: Microtransactions Are The Future...Sorry, Hardcore Gamers
See Full ImageElectronic Arts COO Peter Moore says microtransactions in games will be a definite part of the industry's future. Interestingly enough, he acknowledges that hardcore gamers won't like this.
In speaking to Kotaku, Moore said that in 5-10 years, all games will have the option of "installing a client" for free, and then charging for add-ons. He likened this to a trip to The Gap:
"I think, ultimately, those microtransactions will be in every game, but the game itself or the access to the game will be free. I think there's an inevitability that happens five years from now, 10 years from now, that, let's call it the client, to use the term, [is free]. It is no different than…it's free to me to walk into The Gap in my local shopping mall. They don't charge me to walk in there. I can walk into The Gap, enjoy the music, look at the jeans and what have you, but if I want to buy something I have to pay for it."
That being said, Moore doesn't believe this will effectively kill off the big-budget $60 productions. They will survive, but the microtransactions can lead to industry growth by ushering in new fans. The interesting part is that he added: "Hardcore gamers won't like to hear this. They like to circle the wagons around what they believe is something they feel they have helped build - and rightly so."
Damn straight. But it looks like we're just going to have to get over it, as what Moore foresees isn't only possible, it's plausible. Plus, the idea of games shifting from products to services is a hot topic of conversation and one analysts and industry insiders take quite seriously. What have you to say about all this?
Tags: ea, electronic arts, microtransactions, video games, gaming industry
6/20/2012 8:40:50 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (47 posts)
LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 9:25:26 PM
Reply
8 up, 2 down
Temjin001
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 10:09:12 PM
1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 12:07:18 AM
0 up, 0 down
LimitedVertigo
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 1:08:01 AM
6 up, 1 down
Qubex
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 3:37:04 AM
Anyway... EA will lose a customer if they force micro transactions down my throat. I will pull a micro transaction on them and withdraw my money from them for good...
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
3 up, 0 down
xenris
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 1:50:08 PM
It was ahead of its time, but sadly the shotty hardware took to long to get right. I remember my first console blowing a fuse because the controller I plugged in was used and the cord had a nick in it. It blew the whole controller panel.
Besides that though I had soooo much fun with my DC, and I still do.
0 up, 0 down
Veitsknight
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 9:29:53 PM
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4 up, 0 down
Axe99
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 9:46:35 PM
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And if microtransactions do cheapen the experience, then there _will_ be an alternative. EA's going 'large' on mobile and portable at the moment (ironically, though, many of their apps _aren't_ free then microtransactions, but have a paywall at the start). If microtransactions were the 'future', then Shareware (microtransactions per level for a number of games, from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s) would never have gone away!
5 up, 0 down
ZettaiSeigi
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 9:54:20 PM
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5 up, 0 down
tes37
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 10:13:38 PM
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6 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 10:20:58 PM
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And I've already circled all of my Conestoga's ever since those infamous words, "Digital only", were first mouthed.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/20/2012 10:21:24 PM
4 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 10:35:22 PM
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8 up, 0 down
Underdog15
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 2:01:20 PM
1 up, 0 down
JackDillinger89
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 11:14:36 PM
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1 up, 1 down
Beamboom
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 1:04:56 AM
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It really is the obvious way forward for the business. Unfortunately.
0 up, 2 down
Axe99
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 4:34:51 AM
I don't think it'll get that far though - they'll hit trouble with falling demand once they start applying this model to genres where it doesn't work (as the cheapened gameplay experience will mean that the freemium model games will have a competitive disadvantage versus full-price games that don't need to compromise game design to meet their revenue needs). If we gamers continue to pay for full experiences, then people will continue to make 'em.
Of course, where freemium works well with gameplay design (say Magic, the Gathering, where you get a deck at the start for free, but pay for more as you play), I'd be very surprised if it doesn't take over - but I just can't see how a freemium Bioshock or Skyrim could work without seriously cheapening the experience. It'd be like letting people walk into a movie and watch the first ten minutes, then pausing the movie and asking them to pay up for the next twenty minutes, and so on, and be just about as much fun.
4 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 5:53:05 AM
I've also learnt that "where there is a will there is a way". If they really want to, they *will* find a way to make it work.
And one could rightfully ask if we don't have microtransactions in most games already, in the shape of DLCs where you buy new characters, outfits, guns or hairstyles. Isn't those DLCs basically just microtransactions too, just in a smaller scale?
Basically I see this "free client" model to be a sort of advanced form of demo. And as such it's not really such a bad deal. We most likely get a much better feel for the game than you get in a very limited demo. That's the positive spin on this.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/21/2012 5:55:55 AM
0 up, 1 down
Lawless SXE
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 6:23:38 AM
You're not wrong on the kinds of DLC that you mention being little more than microtransactions, but they are superfluous offerings rather than full, necessary aspects of the games. They aren't missions and levels and, even though those have been done before in the form of DLC, it is beyond what people can reasonably be expected to pay just to play the game.
As an example, Pigsy's Perfect 10 (the DLC episode of Enslaved) cost ten US dollars. It acted as another chapter to a game that already has (I think) about twelve. I think most gamers would be quick to realise that, if this were the norm, they would end up paying double what they normally would, receive a piecemeal offering and rebel against the practise. Especially if they had to pay even more to unlock extra moves/story elements/weapons/whatever.
I keep forgetting that you like the more open games. For those, yeah, it could work. I mean, as frustrating as it might be for something like Skyrim or Mass Effect and even GTA, it could certainly work. You have the sandbox world and a game skeleton, but populate it by spending cash. Some people would buy into the idea, but not me.
2 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 9:10:53 AM
But I totally agree that we *could* end up paying more than we do today for games. Indeed we might. It would be extremely typical if so.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/21/2012 9:12:16 AM
0 up, 0 down
Axe99
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 5:55:15 PM
That said, I do think free-to-play will dominate the casual market, where people are just looking to kill some time on their phones. In many ways, it already is. But the types of experiences people are looking for on console/PC/handheld are generally far more involved and structured far differently. And hitting a paywall regularly over the course of the actual game is very different from downloading extra levels or costumes (and I'm not sure a F2P game can sustain itself on costumes alone - while DOTA2 will give us some indication, it's hardly the same scale as a full AAA production, given it already had a lot of the design and codebase in existence prior to being built).
And after all my rambling, you could well be right - I'm just another punter on the internet. I just think that in this case there's room for both business models going forward, as there's a customer base for both. As for which customer base spends more money, only time will tell. But if I have to make my own games in retirement because gameplay has stagnated based on the F2P model, I will!
0 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, June 22, 2012 @ 10:23:41 AM
It's just... My gut feeling tells me that they *will* find a way to do that, we've just not seen it yet. Will there be some trial and error, some failing along the way? Sure it will. But that's just a brief period.
And I can promise you this: No-one, not one single person on this site will give up gaming because of this model, regardless of what they say today.
It won't happen cause we love gaming too much, but also because the industry will play their cards so that the loss is minimal. They will find a way to make it work.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/22/2012 10:27:07 AM
0 up, 0 down
Axe99
Saturday, June 23, 2012 @ 7:46:33 AM
Of course, if they can make F2P not break the fourth wall, and keep it fun, I'll be there. But I just can't see how it can happen - and it wouldn't be the first 'this is the future of X industry' that never came to pass. Still, I can't read the future. In 10 years time we'll know, one way or another :).
1 up, 0 down
AshT
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 1:43:44 AM
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4 up, 0 down
matt99
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 2:03:12 AM
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But seriously does this idiot think gamers want this system? Has he not read ANY online forums or done any research?
3 up, 0 down
Lawless SXE
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 2:08:07 AM
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Now would be the perfect time to quote Henry Ford, but f**k that! In this case, I do want a faster horse, not an expensive, gas-guzzling automobile. What they're seeing is the carrot being dangled in front of them by the current trend of F2P games, as well as social and mobile games. In short, games that specifically designed for this type of transaction. Applying the same methodology to a modern, linear straightforward AAA game just isn't going to work. I mean, how would Max Payne 3 work in this sort of environment?
The closest feasible method would be episodic gaming, something that I'm not entirely impartial to, if I'm being completely honest. I'm sorry Mr Moore, but you're wrong. A larger portion of games may adopt this format, but it will never become the norm. It simply can't because you can't build an engaging story-based experience around microtransactions, no matter how determined you may be to try.
And why am I so ticked off about this? LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY VALKYRIA CHRONICLES!!! **** the future, I'm happy in the now...
1 up, 0 down
___________
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 5:15:11 AM
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and they wonder why they were voted most hated company in america!
there starting to go back to their old ways.
they started this gen not giving a sh*t about the quality of their games or their fans, just the $$$$$.
than they finally started to change, gave much more attention to fans, started releasing awesome games, started releasing new IPs.
and now their going back to their old habits!
1 up, 0 down
homura
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 6:48:17 AM
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Last edited by homura on 6/21/2012 6:52:35 AM
3 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 9:01:53 AM
I refused to purchase the DLC but one of my friends bought it for me so we could actually speak to one another. That has to be the lamest thing I have seen in awhile. Voice Chat ONLY if you purchase that DLC. Lame. lame, lame.
P.S.
Congradulations EA for receiving the prestigous worst American company award recently.
3 up, 0 down
Clamedeus
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 3:08:30 PM
I've done it, and it works. I didn't give a cent when it released while playing.
Last edited by Clamedeus on 6/21/2012 3:09:58 PM
0 up, 0 down
Miggy
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 8:50:39 AM
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2 up, 0 down
Amnesiac
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 9:46:26 AM
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You can be sure EA's going to make it happen anyway they can
just as this guy says.
Last edited by Amnesiac on 6/21/2012 9:47:25 AM
0 up, 0 down
Amnesiac
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 10:03:02 AM
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For my entire gaming life I've felt that the entire industry has always catered to us and listened intently on what we had to say,
but now I feel that these companies are only worried about their shareholders and stockbrokers that we aren't important enough and our feedback has become unsolicited.
This is the feeling that comes to mind when an Electronic Arts COO states openly that "hardcore gamers won't like to hear this.."
Just who do think helped build this sorry company into the monster it is today?
The hardcore gamers who kept buying their shite games.
3 up, 0 down
wackazoa
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 10:45:39 AM
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3 up, 0 down
GuernicaReborn
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 12:36:46 PM
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1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 12:55:24 PM
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4 up, 0 down
xenris
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 1:52:13 PM
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Your placed in a warzone and you can walk around, listen to the bullets flying at you and experience what the game has to offer. But if you want to have a gun and fight back you have to pay money. Want ammo? More money.
Hardly any F2P games are done with balance in mind. Tribes ascend I play a lot of but its F2P system is terrible, and makes most matches really unbalanced.
I think more games will be cheaper in the future buuuut the model has to be tweaked because most gamers wont put up with it.
Last edited by xenris on 6/21/2012 1:53:11 PM
2 up, 0 down
Underdog15
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 2:02:58 PM
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Because this will finally destroy story-based gaming. And instead of console exclusivity, we'll have GAME exclusivity... where people commit to one game and one game only.
He's wrong. It will never fly as the exclusive gaming format. It just can't work for every genre or every gamer.
1 up, 0 down
Comic Shaman
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 5:29:07 PM
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MOORE: "It's kind of like space. I can walk around and look up at the sky all I want, but if I want to go there, then I have to buy a rocket. Or it's like a hospital. I can walk around and smell the antiseptic, but if I need treatment, I'd better be ready to pay for insurance. Or maybe it's like a donut. Or the color magenta. Or the Suez crisis. It's like that."
2 up, 0 down
Nickjcal
Thursday, June 21, 2012 @ 7:54:16 PM
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0 up, 0 down
Ather
Sunday, June 24, 2012 @ 4:18:27 PM
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0 up, 0 down
Caanimal
Sunday, June 24, 2012 @ 8:56:01 PM
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If this continues I'll have to take up model building again, I still have about 2 dozen WWII aircraft to put together...
0 up, 0 down
FredKang
Monday, June 25, 2012 @ 11:40:05 AM
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0 up, 0 down
CaptRon
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012 @ 9:16:34 PM