This news article is not related to The Sims franchise, but the company who develops the game.
I wouldn’t mind this as much if they made the games cheaper, but I love my physical games…
EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau has said in a new interview that he believes the publisher will be a 100 per cent digital company in the ‘near future’.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Gibeau said that there will come a time soon when most, if not all, of EA’s products will be delivered via digital means.
“It’s in the near future. It’s coming. We have a clear line of sight on it and we’re excited about it” Gibeau explained. “Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that’s the best way for them to get it, that’s what we’re going to do. It has a lot of enhancements for our business. It allows us to keep more that we make. It allows us to do some really interesting things from a service level standpoint; we can be a lot more personalized with what we’re doing.
“We’re going to be a 100% digital company, period. It’s going to be there some day. It’s inevitable.”
It’ll be a sad day when you can no longer have a disc, box art and all the other benefits which come with it, but it seems to be the direction the world of gaming is moving in, much like it has done with other mediums, such as music.
It’s hard to imagine a world without discs, however the shift to PS4 and the NextBox will no doubt see digital day-on-day retail/digital releases, much as we see with the PS Vita now. When that time comes, EA’s vision will no doubt be one step closer to reality.
Source: ShopToNews
The day this happends is the day I stop buying their games. I’ll just pirate them.
Im a collector and its the only reason I get them. I dont even play that much.
I hate digital copies. I don’t trust that if I needed to reinstall that the game would still be there. What if there was some kind of major bug in their system and they messed up everyone’s purchases, essentially losing every customer’s purchase history? Knowing EA, going totally digital would only cause them a million problems and errors and frustration from customers.
I hope this doesn’t mean the sims 4 or or all the olther sims 3 games are that way because I like to collect the dvd art of the eps plus digital orders come with securom.
I wil not buy any only digital games .Im a collector and its the only reason I get them, is because i want disc and box art…
Sorry EA…
Bitch, please. I’m not going to order anything from Origin.
Boohoo, Electronic Arts! 😛
I will not go to digital solely. Sorry. No more Sims for me after Digital. Did they think of all the people they’re hurting by eliminating Retail, Physical Discs, Box Art and such, people make those things. And once EA goes digital, others will follow. It is the end of gaming as we know it ladies and gentlemen. I for one, want an actual, physical copy of data on a disc, not a possibly corrupt digital file. This right here is why I don’t like E-readers either. They eliminate so much and you’re still charged the same price. and what about the book publishers and such? I will happily become a relic, as I hate keeping up with the Jones and all their shiny cutting edge toys and such.
And as stated it wouldn’t be so bad but when a digital (non_existing in the physical sense) copy of a game costs as much as the retail disc in a box, it isn’t encouraging. they justify the price of material goods by the amaont of labor and materials that go into it, so why is a non-material copy the same freaking price. Logic Failure
I often find the digital products on Origin and other retailers much more expensive than the physical ones… and physical ones come 1-2 days before release in the post.
If they are a pre-order.
Oh dear.
“If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that’s the best way for them to get it, that’s what we’re going to do.”
What a joke. The majority of gamers, I believe buy the disks, and prefer the disks, no? Most gamers will realise digital copies are rip-offs and rarely lower in price, and prefer to buy the cheaper retail versions.
“It’s going to be there some day.”
…the same day they fail.
The day discs disappear, is the day I turn to piracy. Sorry EA 🙂
Digital copy? It can work, but they’ll need to do the following:
1) Reduce prices
2) DRM free
GOG.com manages to do all of the above. At the rate EA’s going with Origin, I don’t see the above happening. And as such, I refuse to be their customer. I’m getting myself an eyepatch and joining the masses. Byebye!
…And after reading this, and the millions of others out there who share this opinion, I don’t know how they can claim to “Listen to their fans” This dampens my enthusiasm for Supernatural somewhat.
This. Do they think they can keep asking for so much money without even giving us THE OPTION to have a tangible copy of the game that we can COLLECT AND DISPLAY, and go to for multiple purposes besides playing the game, like reading the manual, looking at the illustrations, etc?
Companies nowadays don’t understand the true spirit of gaming, I’m afraid. Since the first games came out people were fascinated about collecting them, about the manuals, illustrations, boxes, EDITIONS, with different presentations and so on. Now it’s all taken down to how much money can I ask for so little.
Maybe the game is ok to play, we like it, we buy it, and so on. But the moment they take away the option to get a physical copy… Really, what makes buying a game worth it? Just being able to play it, or having it and being able to look at it, read the manual and so on?
Maybe for future generations this will make no sense, people arguing because they don’t trust a digital copy, or just hate the idea of not getting the physical copy? But what they call something inevitable, IS indeed inevitable because they do it. End of story.
I will NOT buy a digital book. I will NOT buy a digital album even if it’s my favourite band. And I so will NOT buy a digital game, moreover from a company like EA who, on top of that, uses Origin as it’s platform. Whatever, I hate this, sorry.
This is stupid. EA are idiots.
“It allows us to keep more that we make.”
But not mine!
Wow, my prediction about companies going to digital is actually coming true. How will this effect others, is all I’m wondering?
I think I should mention ea is already going down the drain.
I mean, look at their stocks and the prices of them.
http://i.imgur.com/UGnNy.png
Clothes and Food still have to be material…for now…They’ll find a way, I’m sure (Sarcasm)
Ea is full of idiots! XD
I wouldn’t mind if they made them available on Steam, but I never have and never will use Origin.
I prefer my hard copies but at the same time I am loving the idea that I wont have to worry about finding space for all my games and guides lol
Doesn’t really bother me. All of the games I buy are digital. It’s the way of the future. Get with the times, people.
Digital downloads don’t bother me in the least. I prefer the convenience of digital. No disks? No big deal.
I’m definitely not gonna buy them digitally. They just want more profit because believe me when I say it, they’re gonna charge just as much.
Digital is not a horrible thing, as long as we can burn a copy to disc what we just bought and install it from there. But if it’s going to be wrapped up in DRM and you have to activate it on their online server to play your game, then count me out.
Let’s just hope their aim sucks.
NO NO NO! I don’t even have internet connected to my darn consoles. This sucks!
OT, Has anyone noticed the huge lull in reporting/articles/Updates on here? Guys, Hello? SimsVIP has new Supernatural info already before Simprograms, which is rare. News wise…Ok, end off topic.
We’ve all been a little busy, especially me. I’ve been in the hospital dealing with cancer since Thursday, just got out this morning.
Goodness, Sorry to here that. I wouldn’t wish Cancer on my worst enemy, let alone a semi-stranger. Hopefully, you have options? Won’t pry, none of my business, either way.Best of Luck.