EA: "Steam sales cheapen intellectual property."

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http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...ays-Steam-Sales-Cheapen-Intellectual-Property

EA Vice President David DeMartini says gamers shouldn't hold their breath waiting for deep-discount sales to come to Origin.


Like it or not, there's no arguing that Steam sales don't offer tremendously good deals. If you've got ten bucks and a Steam sale, you're all set; no matter what you're into, you're bound to find something that turns your crank, at a price you can afford. There's also no arguing that Steam isn't far and away the big dog of the PC gaming digital distribution pack, and so it stands to reason that anyone - like, say, Origin - who wants to contend for that top spot would have to offer similar, or perhaps even better, deals to its customers. Right?
Well, no, at least not according to David DeMartini, EA's senior vice president for global e-commerce. "We won't be doing that," he said in an interview with GamesIndustry. "I just think it cheapens your intellectual property. I know both sides of it, I understand it. If you want to sell a whole bunch of units, that is certainly a way to do that, to sell a whole bunch of stuff at a low price. The gamemakers work incredibly hard to make this intellectual property, and we're not trying to be Target... we're trying to give you a fair price point, and occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount, just don't look for 75 percent off going-out-of-business sales."
Click to expand...



Sounds like EA is butthurt by Steam beating the crap out of Origin, thoughts?
 
The argument is not without merit. I'm sure there's many people now who might have bought PC games for $40 or $50 but now wait for it to go 66% off on Steam. That said you have to put that against how many people will buy the game for that price that otherwise wouldn't have gotten it otherwise.

Of course, considering this is an EA exec one can't help but think what he's realling saying is "Oh no people don't want to pay what we're telling them to."
 
I agree but I don't think it's a problem.
 
ríomhaire said:
The argument is not without merit. I'm sure there's many people now who might have bought PC games for $40 or $50 but now wait for it to go 66% off on Steam.
Click to expand...

Personally I'm not willing to pay more than $30 for a game no matter how "triple A"/big budget/etc. it is. Paying something like 50 euros or more for a new game is ridiculous.
 
Well lets say Crysis and Crysis 2 go on some crazy sale for like $30 for both or something (may have already happened). Now lets say I never played either one. I buy them at this great deal and guess what? Now I'm stoked for Crysis 3 and want to buy it.

That's how this shit works. They don't put a BRAND NEW JUST RELEASED game on for 75% off, just slightly older games that aren't really relevant anymore.

****ing retard EA vice dick-hole.
 
Dog-- said:
Well lets say Crysis and Crysis 2 go on some crazy sale for like $30 for both or something (may have already happened). Now lets say I never played either one. I buy them at this great deal and guess what? Now I'm stoked for Crysis 3 and want to buy it.

That's how this shit works. They don't put a BRAND NEW JUST RELEASED game on for 75% off, just slightly older games that aren't really relevant anymore.

****ing retard EA vice dick-hole.
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Exactly. These execs don't actually understand what makes franchises popular (i.e. what makes a game "good"), nor do they understand how to create markets for future games. They only understand immediate sales and quarterly forecasts, and their constant piggybacking on the successes and preexisting franchises of others is the only thing countering their endless foot-shooting.
 
The funniest part is that steam sales, even 75% off ones, increase profits for most developers. Maybe not for high profile games with multi million dollar marketing efforts behind them that have garnered maximum name recognition and hype, but for the rest of them sales like this will boost recognition and will result in higher quantity of sales which, from what I have read, more than account for the lower profit per purchase number. Why do you think the Humble Indie Bundles have been going so strong and going off so often? Because it makes money bro.
 
So removing the shipping and distributing charges keeps their original price as 'fair'?
 
If developers or publishers didn't want their games selling for 66% etc I'm pretty sure they'd be able to opt out of a mega-sale system beforehand. This argument has little weight at all, the sales help to bring new people to franchises. In my own personal case, I've actually repurchased games on Steam that I already owned. Take Bioshock for example, I bought it for £30 when it was reasonably new on the 360, but re-bought it 3 years ago when it was £4 on Steam, meaning actually they are better off because of it.
 
EA can "protect" their intellectual property all they want. But alternative methods, from major discounts down to piracy, will eat their lunch in the end if they don't adapt. It's as if they built an online sales portal only as a means of distribution and not as a value for their customers.
 
His concerns are also framed by the industry's "Every game must be fifty/sixty dollars" mentality. If their pricing was more flexible (like every other medium) and they could price their games at a value they're actually worth instead of slapping a $59.99 tag on everything, maybe they wouldn't see every discount as a loss.
 
And hasn't Steam proven (albeit, digital distribution has less cost) that sales bring in the big bucks?
 
lol Isn't this same nonsensical rant that GOG.com said about Steam a few months ago? Cry some more?

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/02/left-4-dead-sees-3000-jump-in-sales-on-steam/

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/06/s...ales-increase-40-million-registered-accounts/


Anyway. The only thing that EA is capable of doing these days is inflating their prices and exploiting the morons that they call their target audience aka. the lowest common denominator by churning out cut content and more regurgitated shit. Just like Activision has been doing for the past couple of years. Battlefield 3 is a wonderful example of that type of business practice and uninspired game design. I just wish that i hadn't contributed to their profits by purchasing that piece of shit of a Battlefield sequel and pushing their agenda even further.
 
I saw it coming that's why I didn't bother.

And that Premium bullshit 'pay now for content you don't even have yet' is just shameless moneygrabbing. Like the GoW season pass.
 
TwwIX said:
lol Isn't this same nonsensical rant that GOG.com said about Steam a few months ago? Cry some more?

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/02/left-4-dead-sees-3000-jump-in-sales-on-steam/

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/06/s...ales-increase-40-million-registered-accounts/


Anyway. The only thing that EA is capable of doing these days is inflating their prices and exploiting the morons that they call their target audience aka. the lowest common denominator by churning out cut content and more regurgitated shit. Just like Activision has been doing for the past couple of years. Battlefield 3 is a wonderful example of that type of business practice and uninspired game design. I just wish that i hadn't contributed to their profits by purchasing that piece of shit of a Battlefield sequel and pushing their agenda even further.
Click to expand...
Really the only reason I continue playing BF3 is that I payed for it.. It's fun, but could be a million times better. Voip support on PC for one ****ing point.
 
Remus said:
Personally I'm not willing to pay more than $30 for a game no matter how "triple A"/big budget/etc. it is. Paying something like 50 euros or more for a new game is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I go for sales and discounts only. 20 Euros is the highest price I'm willing to pay for a videogame.
 
Origin Boss: "Deep discount sales cheapen intellectual property"
Origin Employee: "Our research seems to indicate that profits are drastically increased with deep discount sales"
Origin Boss: "Oh, well then **** my moral convictions, lets make money bro!"

And thats the story about how EA stayed the same it always has been and always will be.
 
Fixed. I have no idea how that would be a quantum mechanics joke. I'll take your word for it, biologist.
 
Jbvi
 
And the prices are still a rip off.

This is just another example of EA's lack of integrity. Not that they ****ing had any to begin with.
 
Barring Madden, Battlefield and The Sims, sure. It's certainly a very valuable IP.

...and these ****ers own Tetris™.
 
BabyHeadCrab said:
Barring Madden, Battlefield and The Sims, sure. It's certainly a very valuable IP.
Click to expand...

FIFA [year] is also one of their very top IPs, it's sold about 10 million more copies than Madden and twice as many as Battlefield.
 
Oi that's right, title that sells primarily overseas and I generally don't consider Europeans people.
 
I was completely under the assumption that the Tetris didn't belong to anyone.
 
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