EA Access Thoughts
This is interesting. I've long argued that the natural progression of digital (or digitize-able) media is to go from brick and mortar, to digital sales, to subscription services to SaaS. And games have finally hit that third step, on at least a small scale with this news. It only applies to some of EA's titles, and only on the Xbox One. But, if the model is a success, expect to see rival services popping up either in slightly modified forms or at least from other larger games publishers.
To me, this goes back to the Xbox One DRM fiasco. People over-reacted, but as I said then, consumers should actually be praising those sorts of moves. Prices are just going to keep on increasing if physical disc sales remain the norm. There are added costs ranging from packaging, promotions, manufacturing and transportation. Game manuals and cases need to be designed, sales strategies created and markets analyzed. Undoubtedly, numerous copies will sit on shelves where they will never be purchased, so there is also a waste factor. And lastly, there is resale of games. A process by which a new buyer gets to pay to experience the game without the publisher seeing a cent.
All of those practices make physical discs TERRIBLE for game publishers. Digital games with DRM provide a means of reducing the costs associated with physical discs while granting control over the used game situation. In other words, if the trend shifted to digital downloads, publishers would be able to compete with each other on price and the consumer should win. It should also, over time, create a Steam-like environment where the respective digital store owners can negotiate regular discounts and the occasional, massive sale.
But, digital downloads also pave the way for subscription services. This is really more of a hybrid subscription service since only a handful of games are included in the subscription price. Aside from the subscription gaming there is a discount on digital downloads and early access to games. The offering are kind of slim at the moment though. I hope they keep with it however. If you're interested in any of the premium titles in the "Vault" (the full version games you get to play with the subscription), then the $5/month or $30/year subscriptions are quite the bargain. That would mean roughly two years of gameplay for the price of one premium title. And lets face it, the average shelf-life of a game for a gamer is much less than that.
If none of the vault games are going to get any play from you, then you really need to be either about the early access or intent on spending over $300 a year to get the value from the subscription on the other hand. At 10% off, that is how much you'd have to spend to break even.
So, as you can see, getting value out of this service is largely dependent on you actually being interested in at least of the vault titles.
And that presents another conundrum with this hybrid approach. While 10% off a game is nice, if I'm paying a monthly or annual subscription, I don't want to buy a game (even at a measly 10% off) which might later be added to the vault. So, if the subscription service catches on, it may negatively impact new games sales for them.
Honestly, I think a more expensive, all access subscription service would make a lot more sense. Say $7-10/month but you get access to all EA games and all DLC. EA releases enough premium titles on a regular enough basis to justify a higher price I think. At the $7 a month you may even convince people to double dip. For instance, I might pay the $7 when a new game comes out to try it out, and then when the subscription lapses either sign on for another month or buy the game if it was good enough.
Another problem with the current model is not knowing what games will eventually added as vault games. The launch games include zero EA games I already own. On the one hand, that makes the vault games a better offering for me. But on the other hand... I didn't purchase those games because I wasn't interested in them in the first place. Is just coincidence, or is that these are the games with the lowest sales? Assassin's Creed was in the store since the Xbox One launch and isn't in the vault games. So, if all I can expect to end up in there is games I wasn't interested in to begin with, and I'm not going to buy $300 worth of games annually, the subscription is really a hard sell.
Though, I can see one incredibly minor means of exploiting this. At $5 a month and with the average premium game going for $60-70, when a game comes out that I want, it actually makes sense to sign up, get the %10, and then buy the game. You'll only save a couple dollars at most, but you will actually save money AND you can then play the vault games for a full month, effectively free of charge.
To me, this goes back to the Xbox One DRM fiasco. People over-reacted, but as I said then, consumers should actually be praising those sorts of moves. Prices are just going to keep on increasing if physical disc sales remain the norm. There are added costs ranging from packaging, promotions, manufacturing and transportation. Game manuals and cases need to be designed, sales strategies created and markets analyzed. Undoubtedly, numerous copies will sit on shelves where they will never be purchased, so there is also a waste factor. And lastly, there is resale of games. A process by which a new buyer gets to pay to experience the game without the publisher seeing a cent.
All of those practices make physical discs TERRIBLE for game publishers. Digital games with DRM provide a means of reducing the costs associated with physical discs while granting control over the used game situation. In other words, if the trend shifted to digital downloads, publishers would be able to compete with each other on price and the consumer should win. It should also, over time, create a Steam-like environment where the respective digital store owners can negotiate regular discounts and the occasional, massive sale.
But, digital downloads also pave the way for subscription services. This is really more of a hybrid subscription service since only a handful of games are included in the subscription price. Aside from the subscription gaming there is a discount on digital downloads and early access to games. The offering are kind of slim at the moment though. I hope they keep with it however. If you're interested in any of the premium titles in the "Vault" (the full version games you get to play with the subscription), then the $5/month or $30/year subscriptions are quite the bargain. That would mean roughly two years of gameplay for the price of one premium title. And lets face it, the average shelf-life of a game for a gamer is much less than that.
If none of the vault games are going to get any play from you, then you really need to be either about the early access or intent on spending over $300 a year to get the value from the subscription on the other hand. At 10% off, that is how much you'd have to spend to break even.
So, as you can see, getting value out of this service is largely dependent on you actually being interested in at least of the vault titles.
And that presents another conundrum with this hybrid approach. While 10% off a game is nice, if I'm paying a monthly or annual subscription, I don't want to buy a game (even at a measly 10% off) which might later be added to the vault. So, if the subscription service catches on, it may negatively impact new games sales for them.
Honestly, I think a more expensive, all access subscription service would make a lot more sense. Say $7-10/month but you get access to all EA games and all DLC. EA releases enough premium titles on a regular enough basis to justify a higher price I think. At the $7 a month you may even convince people to double dip. For instance, I might pay the $7 when a new game comes out to try it out, and then when the subscription lapses either sign on for another month or buy the game if it was good enough.
Another problem with the current model is not knowing what games will eventually added as vault games. The launch games include zero EA games I already own. On the one hand, that makes the vault games a better offering for me. But on the other hand... I didn't purchase those games because I wasn't interested in them in the first place. Is just coincidence, or is that these are the games with the lowest sales? Assassin's Creed was in the store since the Xbox One launch and isn't in the vault games. So, if all I can expect to end up in there is games I wasn't interested in to begin with, and I'm not going to buy $300 worth of games annually, the subscription is really a hard sell.
Though, I can see one incredibly minor means of exploiting this. At $5 a month and with the average premium game going for $60-70, when a game comes out that I want, it actually makes sense to sign up, get the %10, and then buy the game. You'll only save a couple dollars at most, but you will actually save money AND you can then play the vault games for a full month, effectively free of charge.
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