News

Cousins: $60 titles "exploitative"
Posted: 22.03.2011 13:17 by Simon Priest Comments: 8
EA's Ben Cousins, part of the Battlefield Play4Free team, says he "can’t think of anything more exploitative" than $60 games which 'gate all their content'.

It's a "really harsh business model" when thinking "objectively." Free-to-play however lets gamers decide if they like it or not, and they "don't lose anything."

"I can’t think of anything more exploitative than gating all of your content behind having to pay someone $60. That’s a really harsh business model if you think about it objectively. What we do is enable everyone to play the game, and figure out if they like it. If they don’t like it they can walk away and they don’t lose anything," said Ben Cousins.

Perhaps more big budget titles should be adopting full trial versions, locking away certain aspects until the gamer buys it outright? This is pretty much how free-to-play model games work with micro-transactions, such as EA's Battlefield Play4Free.

The future lies in "free games with deep multiplayer experiences," added Cousins.

Source: BeefJack

Comments

By djole381 (SI Elite) on Mar 22, 2011
djole381
The reason why this Play4Free model will never be adopted by other companies is that the most games priced 50$+ are just not worth that price and publishers know it. If gamers are given a chance for a free full trial they might decide not to buy the game altogether unlike having to pay the full price first and play the game later.
By Arrecoolast (SI Core) on Mar 22, 2011
Arrecoolast
Indeed, until the publishers stop being greedy (which they never will) big games won't be free2play. Cevat Yerli does believe though that the future of PC gaming does lie in F2P games. So we'll see.
By PowerJack (SI Elite) on Mar 22, 2011
PowerJack
No game that got out this year is worth 50€+, at least not in my eyes.
By RaviL (SI Core Member) on Mar 22, 2011
RaviL
Nice idea even if it's coming from EA.
By Geforcer (SI Veteran Member) on Mar 22, 2011
Geforcer
They aren't stupid. That's all bussiness.

Buy the game once - =60$
Try the game and buy stuff if you like - >60$

It's simple. They will earn more money if a gamers want to be competitive (better weapons, higher level equipment, etc).
By djole381 (SI Elite) on Mar 22, 2011
djole381
@Geforcer
Yes, but if gamers get the chance to try the game before paying for it they might decide the quality of the game isn't worth the price tag and not buy it at all. I think that's one of the reasons we get less demos nowadays. People are forced to rely on reviews (some of which are written by biased reviewers) and buy the game without trying it.
By PowerJack (SI Elite) on Mar 22, 2011
PowerJack
magazine reviews are all bought.
By Geforcer (SI Veteran Member) on Mar 23, 2011
Geforcer
@djole
What about fake quality? They are going to let you try one part of the game that is maybe the most interesting part, and when you buy the game, you see that the rest of the game is dull and boring. All can be faked.
They may not set the 60$ price tag, but it will cost even more with time.