EA wants to parley with pirates

[Shakermaker]

Now this is interesting. EA has made clear that it wants to make DLC available to people who have pirated the original game. From Kotaku:

John Riccitiello, the gaming-savvy head of Electronic Arts, doesn't want anyone to pirate games. But those who do, he told Kotaku, present a new market that EA needs to make money from.

How?

By selling people who grab games digitally — without paying for them — post-release downloadable content.

"They can steal the disc, but they can't steal the DLC," he said.

Source

As the editor's note in the article makes clear, you can actually pirate DLC, but that is not really the point. It is more about the mindset of EA. They are clearly thinking outside of the box on this issue and it will be interesting to see how other big companies like Activison or Ubi will react to this.

 

[Blackthorn]

If they were willing to steal a disc, why would they not steal the DLC?

This man is making very little sense. In fact, I bet people are more inclined to pirate DLC than the full games, since it's usually overpriced whereas the games themselves are pretty cheap.

 

[Ren.182]

It could work. I bet some people pirate, enjoy the game then intend to buy the game but never get round to it, or dont bother seeing as they have the full game sitting on their hard drives. This way they'd probably buy the DLC 'cause they know it's gonna be fun.

Obviously it all depends on stuff, a full blown pirate will always pirate, is the DLC any good, price ok? etc etc.

 

[Combine Hybrid]

So, EA is planning to sell DLC to people who downloaded the game? Is that what the article is about?

 

[Vegeta897]

It may be a stupid idea that won't work but their attitude about pirates is kind of interesting to say the least. Change of pace.

 

[Shakermaker]

So, EA is planning to sell DLC to people who downloaded the game? Is that what the article is about?

Yupchar.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

I'm starting to like EA more with Riccitiello there.

 

[Kyorisu]

We don't like pirates but some of them buy our addons is a better attitude than OMG PIRATES STEALING MAH MONIES.

 

[Darkside55]

I bet some people pirate, enjoy the game then intend to buy the game but never get round to it, or dont bother seeing as they have the full game sitting on their hard drives. This way they'd probably buy the DLC 'cause they know it's gonna be fun.

In conversations I've had with pirates, the consensus seems to be that if a game is great, they'll consider buying it after they've tried it. I'm sure it's like you said: some might forget to purchase it or not see the reason to after the fact, but in "Why do you pirate games?" discussions most software buccaneers feel that if a game is shit, it's not worth their money. A good game that has equally good DLC might squeeze some money out of a few of them, provided the DLC's quality is up to par.

 

[Barnz]

they just need to put their DLC/or addon on a service does not suck - remember when bethcrap released five ****ing broken DLCs...and how it was only available to 26 countries (guess what, i don't live in one of them) because of awful Live system. i still don't like ea, but let's wait and see

 

[CyberPitz]

In conversations I've had with pirates, the consensus seems to be that if a game is great, they'll consider buying it after they've tried it. I'm sure it's like you said: some might forget to purchase it or not see the reason to after the fact, but in "Why do you pirate games?" discussions most software buccaneers feel that if a game is shit, it's not worth their money. A good game that has equally good DLC might squeeze some money out of a few of them, provided the DLC's quality is up to par.

Pretty much. I'm gonna get shunned, but I'm one of them. I've also purchased a whole crap ton of games because of it. GRID? That was the one game I didn't think I'd like, and here I am, holding the $60 copy for the PS3.

 

[Krynn72]

I'm all for this change of mindset, plus this may actually work to some degree. It will at least be more revenue than if they didn't. And if they're rewarded for this attitude by people actually doing this, or people actually buying their games when they wouldnt have before, this attitude could catch on.

 

[OmegaX]

"Thinking outside the box" = How can we make even more money and reach more users?

Also saying they can't steal DLC. He is misinformed.

 

[Raziaar]

 

[Vegeta897]

"Thinking outside the box" = How can we make even more money and reach more users?

Let's not be retarded.

Companies exist to make money. You do not tell a company they are greedy for wanting to make money in a perfectly reasonable manner. Especially in this case where they're basically helping people.

If they were doing something that was somehow ****ing people over just to make money, THEN you can get angry.

 

[Danimal]

Especially considering this is against(?!) piracy.

It's like if OmegaX hung out the front of Walmart/whatever, slumped posture with hands in his pockets, "Installing Security Cameras to stop people stealing = How can we make even more money by reducing loss of stock?!"

 

[Vegeta897]

Exactly, good analogy.

 

[OmegaX]

Let's not be retarded.

Companies exist to make money. You do not tell a company they are greedy for wanting to make money in a perfectly reasonable manner. Especially in this case where they're basically helping people.

If they were doing something that was somehow ****ing people over just to make money, THEN you can get angry.

I hope you're trolling. This is EA we're talking about, we know their sole purpose is to make money and could care less what the fans think. They aren't helping out pirates by doing this, they are looking to make more sales from DLC.

Of course a business is out to make a profit, that's the major goal. You also have to care about your customers and build some good will. You can't nickel and dime them every chance you get with pointless DLC and yearly games like Madden. Although most customers don't see this as a problem and just keep buying. So therefore EA is going to continue their ways.

 

[Vegeta897]

Regardless of their intentions, they still aren't doing any harm, nor screwing anyone over for the sake of profit, like some companies have done.

Sick of this attitude that started out with game companies doing shitty things to gamers, which caused a trend of hating game companies that do ANYTHING if it's for money, regardless of whether anyone is actually harmed by it.

 

[Danimal]

It used to be about the music, man.

EDIT:

Wow I hope someone gets my point in this post.

 

[Wanted Bob]

This is helluva lot better than putting the resources into godawful DRM software.

 

[Krynn72]

This isn't an unethical move by any means Omega. Stop being stupid.

 

[Dinnesch]

I hate EA's DLC, and I'm very afraid of BF: BC2 and Crysis 2's future
I don't feel like spending $5 on every gun

 

[Krynn72]

Yeah, even though I like this move, I still loathe DLC.

 

[Acepilotf14]

It all makes sense except of how they think you can't pirate DLC. That's very silly of them. Maybe they're talking about console though, which is a bit harder to do than on PC.

 

[Kisze]

...and could care less what the fans think.

They definitely could care less, EA aren't that bad. Also, stop using that expression.