Electronic Arts is aware that the future of gaming lies in digital content and wants to eventually move away from physical discs. In fact, EA CEO John Riccitiello is planning to completely convert the gaming giant.
“Over the coming years, we will transform EA from a packaged goods company, to a fully integrated Digital entertainment company,” Riccitiello said in an earnings call yesterday, according to a transcript posted on investment news site Seeking Alpha. “We’re transforming EA to a games as a service model by focusing on three new strategies.”
The day this happens, I don’t know what I will end up doing. Leave the franchise? Shut down the site? I love that the option of having a digital download is available, but strictly going digital and losing everything physical? This blows in my opinion. I’m a collector, I love supporting The Sims franchise…but if I can only get them thru EA’s Download Manager, then it’s game over for me. Heck, I don’t even hardly have any Steam games because I prefer having a disc copy… And to think they’ll still charge full price for a game after they no longer have to spend the cost for packing materials and sending the game out to retailers.
Sorry, Riccitiello….if you really are deciding to go down this path, I suspect there will be people taking advantage of digital downloads – just not by legal standards.
Source: Techspot
I don’t even like to pay for 99cent smartphone games. I’m cheap. lol
I really don’t think they could do it. they would lose to many customers. what about all the kids who don’t have debit cards, or credit cards to buy games online.
I feel the exact opposite about digital downloads. In fact the ONLY games I still get retail is The Sims. That won’t even be the case for me soon enough, as the terrible case for Outdoor Living Stuff actually damaged the CD, causing the center to crack. I feel like this isn’t a change that will happen 10 years from now. Its happening right now.
Is this what the future holds? Pirating has never before looked so tempting.
Besides, why pay EA when J.M. Pescado does the actual fixing?
I like having a physical copy of what I buy. I don’t know why, but I feel like it validates my spending to be able to actually be able to hold and see what I bought. I’d also be too worried about losing my purchase sometime down the road, like if the game company goes out of business or they otherwise take it offline (like if it’s too old) and I’m unable to download another copy. The last digital item I bought was an MP3 album off of Amazon. The next day, my hard drive died, and since I didn’t have a chance to back up the album, I lost it for good. Then there’s EADM. I like not having to have it installed. I tried it when TS3 first came out, but I didn’t like it, so I haven’t used it since.
Do the digital copies of TS3 and the EPs still have SecuROM, or some other DRM? Either way, I wouldn’t go near that again. After installing Bon Voyage when it came out, my DVD burner stopped working. Since then, I’ve been really careful of DRM and actually, the only PC game I currently play is TS3. All my other games are on the PS3.
I understand the desire for physical copies as they feel more tangible, but for people like me, who have a lot of games (350+) a box copy of all of them would be ridiculous. I think that we should have the choice but that focus should be on digital. that way we are inclusive to bandwidth caped and sentimental people while still having a more efficient method of storage, purchasing, and media sharing (we couldn’t have the store front without it).
This is horrible news!! May not sound like it for most, but going to the store, buying the game, holding it in my hand, bringing it to my room & opening it, smelling the plastic freshness (I know you all do lol) pushing down on the clasp to release the CD and inserting it into my computer was all part of the experience, and if that is ALL gone FOREVER, than what’s the point! You have to have an “experience” factor in a business like this, other wise it’ll fail! Sorry, Riccitiello, but this is one of the worst ideas I have heard in a very long time!! And yes, it completely demolishes the hobby of collecting these wonderful games and displaying them!
The day that this happens is the day I will give up computer gaming forever! Stick it to them!
Pure BS. This won’t happen for a LONG time, if it ever does. Consumers aren’t yet ready for full-priced digital goods. A 99cent smartphone game is one thing, but full games for a full price with nothing but less hard drive space to show for it? I just don’t see this making much sense until a different kind of consumer emerges.
Exactly – and more and more bandwidth caps are being put in place in various countries. This man is literally digging a burial hole for EA if this is his thinking.
Bahaha! I’ll buy a digital download from EA when they release a complete and working Sims game. I’m talking without the $40 expansions and instead integrate it in the game from the start. Oh, and organize their file systems better so it’s not a huge resource hog. That will be the day I’ll buy anything digital from EA. So… never.
And I honestly can’t stand the fact that after a year if I want to re-download the game I purchased I’d practically have to jump through hoops to get it. Sure, I could keep a copy of the install files, but then why did I use digital download if I was just going to burn them onto a DVD? :/
I agree I like to collect and I like hard copies I like to have the power to choose. My kids have steam but I don’t like it I think my hubby downloads some games to. I like to show off my game collection.
If he kills EA, maybe the remains will be picked up by others before or after. Would be awesome if EA crashed and burned and then RockStar/Take2 came in and bought what was left. Either that or the properties that were once under Maxis. That would be so sweet!
EA will decide to pull off the “We’re going Green” route which will satisfy the “new” consumer that has already emerged. For a business, going Green is saving money, not the earth.
Digital is a no go for me. DRM in my computer? No way jose.
EA already took a wrong turn for me when they integrated Social media into the next EP. Now my game will definitely be unplugged from the Internet when I play..
I will wait to see and hope they do not choose this route. If they do… bye bye for me!
this is why publishers should ALWAYS include the digital version with the disc version. That’s why I love EADM. I can keep my disc in a safe place and play the game without ever taking it out of the case. You use the registration code with EADM and you instantly have the digital version of an EA game.
If Rockstar picks up the game, it will be gone from PC for good. Rockstar seem to be all about the consoles now.
Not really surprised at Riccitiello’s comments at all. EA has never been about value for money and all about DRM and controlling the user experience. This is the same EA that can lock you out of your games if you say a bad word on their forums. A future controlled by EA? Screw that.
I’m not 100% against DD primarily because of sites like GOG.com who offer DRM-free titles, including The Witcher 2. EA’s implementation of it however will never be good for the consumer. I believe they already impose download limits (3 or 5 before you have to buy the game again) along with installation and activation limits on all their digital titles. I’ll never pay full price for what is basically a rental with a get-out clause for EA.
Given EA’s track record of shoddy releases, I won’t be buying Sims 4, and if it ends up being a digital-only release, then I definitely won’t be buying it.
With New Zealand’s average internet speed, this would equal no more sales at all in NZ.
Oh dear. If only Mojang could save The Sims franchise, then instead of EP’s we’d get free updates once a month…
Unfortunately even if EA loses money on this deal, they really are too big to fail, so EA dying out and people picking up the remains is nothing that will happen soon.
I totally agree with the Collector aspect. I have kept EVERY game case and all the papers inside for Sims 2 and Sims 3. I have a shelf in my room just for them. I don’t think I will continue to play Sims if it goes digital only, because as it is, you can only download it a handful of times, right? Well that just does not work for me. I’m reinstalling all the time.
This disgusts me. Am I the only one who thinks Rockstar should pick up this game?
Maybe if The Sims series becomes less of a money maker for EA, they’ll rid the damn TM and sell it off. I would love to see some competition if not a complete franchise sell. Obviously there is no Simulation competition since EA is a lawsuit spring.
Physical Copy: Yes! I’m a collector too.
Digital Copy with DRM like how they do it with Steam: Heck NO! I’ll get my copy digitally alright, but from my friendly local [redacted]
Digital Copy with no DRM like how they do it on GOG.com: I actually don’t mind! I can burn the image onto my own disc and make my own physical copy.
What I’m worried about is The Sims 2 Complete Collection. Don’t go all digital before releasing this. PLEASE!
He’s talking about the whole of EA, not just the Sims. Chances are, Sims will be one of the last titles, as Sims is one of those titles that traditionally is played more by not your typical gamer so to speak. For example, games that have serial codes and on disk expansion packs are becoming a lot rarer. Newer games now tend to have DLC packs, significantly higher specs and requirements.
So is this good or not?
When this happens, I’ll probably be downloading BitTorrent.
The day The Sims franchise is no longer available on disc, that’s the day I’ll stop buying The Sims games – EA can take THAT to the bank!
I’ve got some games on disc, a lot more on digital since i got my PS3 a few years ago (and of course, now I can’t do anything more along those lines what with that whole cer-aaaazy thing going on… :P).
Digital might be the more inexpensive and simplistic distribution for publishers and developers, but I’m not foreseeing it’s going to be wholly digital, even if there is some transformation going down. There’s something gratifying about having the disc. All this download stuff just gets you thinking, what happens is all that data is lost, even at the core server level? Might seem a pessimistic stance, but I already mentioned PS3 and therefore how it’s possible… xD
Ugh. EA like to make it difficult for me to actually be a customer. I almost got one of their games at the Easter sale at a nifty price, but couldn’t because their own download manager updated itself into constant-crash status. “What’s that EA? I have to work to give you money? No ta.”
For me, it’s not even about feeling that I need a hard copy for longevity or backup purposes.
I like in a rural area where the only two options are either dialup or mobile broadband. I already pay $60 every month so I can have mobile broadband but I have a bandwidth limit each month of only 5 GB. Even with just regular browsing (I don’t download movies or things too large because I don’t want to blow my limit), I pretty much use it all up because so many sites are so content-heavy these days. It would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to buy the games because I cannot afford to download games that are 4-7+ GB in size like the Sims games are. So unless EA plans to pay for my overage charges, they need to rethink this action.
If they go this route, it’s a stupid move and one that will alienate a lot of players worldwide. Not to mention that not everyone has a credit card or Paypal account.
Such a bad move, EA will only lose money with this, I doubt that parents would buy games to their kids as presents on something like Steam >_>