EA Says Steam Sales Hurt Industry

[Sonereal]

Seems relevant to this part of the board.

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?

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


EA's Senior Vice President for global e-commerce then goes on to say that Steam sales hurt the industry and that Origin will not offer deep discount sales. As you can imagine, just by reading the comments section at the bottom, this went over well.

"What Steam does might be teaching the customer that, 'I might not want it in the first month, but if I look at it in four or five months, I'll get one of those weekend sales and I'll buy it at that time at 75 percent off'," he continued. "It's an approach, and I'm not going to say it's not working for Valve. It certainly works for Valve; I don't know if it works as well for the publishing partners who take on the majority of that haircut."

 

[Joecoolyo]

Of course EA would say this.

 

[CommonKnowledge]

Considering that EA is busy tanking and Origin is basically spyware it's hard to take his criticism seriously. However one thing he decided not to mention is the fact that games depreciate in value at stores anyway, i.e. a newly released game goes for about £35 but after a year or so it's not unusual to see them in the bargain bin. Steam doesn't seem to depreciate in such a way, I mean Dan of War 2 was released years ago and it's still £20.

I can possibly see what he means by saying that some people might hold off buying a game for a summer sale but without any evidence it does rather come off as sour grapes. Valve took a risk with Steam and it payed off whereas EA is playing catchup with Origin; they're hardly going to praise their competitor.

 

[Malachi256]

edit: "Malachi256 says EA Vice President David DeMartini shouldn't hold his breath waiting for Malachi256 to come to Origin.


When AAA titles start actually being worth the money, I'll buy them for full price. As it is, most of them have NOT been worth the money.

On platforms like steam you can often get the same quality "game," with worse production values (graphics, voice acting, etc), for a fraction of the cost.

And Steam has absolutely brought more cash flow into the industry - there's a reason this comic is both true and funny

Additionally, Steam is one of the leading mechanisms that has led to a resurgence in small-studio game development.

 

[PeteAtoms]

Maybe if games weren't released with so many bugs to begin with, more people would be inclined to buy sooner. Many gamers notice that games being released are typically unpolished and unfinished.

Day 1 DLC isn't helping big game companies either.

 

[Synobun]

The word of EA really carries a lot of weight in this matter.

The above may or may not be the most sarcastic thing I have ever said.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Hahaha EA. Poor EA. Nobody likes them anymore and instead of the tried and true "try harder to put out a product people want" method of business management, they instead opt for the "snipe at our competition like children having a tantrum" approach. Let me know how that works out for you guys.

 

[The_J]

Considering that EA is busy tanking and Origin is basically spyware it's hard to take his criticism seriously. However one thing he decided not to mention is the fact that games depreciate in value at stores anyway, i.e. a newly released game goes for about £35 but after a year or so it's not unusual to see them in the bargain bin. Steam doesn't seem to depreciate in such a way, I mean Dan of War 2 was released years ago and it's still £20.

I think the people are now more aware of the fact that there are sales, and that there's unlimited game availability.

I mean, I've been buying games for max. 20€ for more than 10 years (I own 3 full price games). I think I've always waited before I buy a game. A half year. A year. Or when the computer could handle it. But there was the chance that I could not get a game anymore at some point because the CDs were not pressed anymore. I'm sure there are some games on my "to buy" list which I'll never get, because they are just not available anymore.
But with digital distribution...who cares? If I buy it know with 1 click, or if I buy it in a half year with 1 click...that doesn't matter anymore.

At the other hand the Steam sales lead to the opposite. The value doesn't decrease after some time not anymore so fast, because there's no need to get that old crap out of the shelves, because it doesn't need space. Dawn of War 2 costs 20€? Wrong, only on Steam. On Amazon it's 10€. Steam plays here with the laziness of the customers. Easier to buy on Steam than to order from Amazon.. But even if the customer knows that, they'll still sell tons of this game when they cry "summer sale, only 10€", even despite the fact that they've at this point reached the normal prices. You can observe this relatively good with Civ5, because we sure get all the sales here, most often with only the prices from the retails.
I mean...hey SUMMER SALE, Civ5 50% off, now only 15€. Who gives a damn that it's been on Amazon for 15€ for months now? Forget it, 50% OFF on STEAM!
-> Here I also can't see how it hurts them. The average price over time has problably now been higher than it would have been in the stores. Steam sales hurt them? I don't think so.

 

[Sonereal]

Not that CivV is worth $15 in the first place.

Normal price is dictated by the majority. Therefore, the normal price is $20 and Amazon was offering it for $10. Still cheaper, if it wasn't for the fact that most people use Steam for obvious reasons.

 

[The_J]

On Gamersgate both (Civ5 and Dawn Of War2) are cheaper.
I'm pretty sure the proto-monoplist in this area is artifically holding the prices higher than the competitors, just because they can. That EA boss is highly misslead and doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[Oruc]

EA is still charging £30 (£10 off apparently) for sims 3 on origin and newest expansion is £30 also which is nuts ,sims 3 is 3 years old now

I mean...hey SUMMER SALE, Civ5 50% off, now only 15€. Who gives a damn that it's been on Amazon for 15€ for months now? Forget it, 50% OFF on STEAM!
-> Here I also can't see how it hurts them. The average price over time has problably now been higher than it would have been in the stores. Steam sales hurt them? I don't think so.

I bought civ 5 expansion on gamersgate for £20 thinking it was cheaper, then I went to hmv a couple of days later and its £5 cheaper

 

[Rub'Rum]

Valve replied to this accusation (Eurogamer)

 

[Sonereal]

Valve replied to this accusation (Eurogamer)

Apparently, EA did an 80% discount sale only a week or so after EA's accusation. One of the comments says it best.

Valve's 75% off sale cheapens games.

Origins 80% off sale cheapens credibility.

 

[Azale]

Like EA gives two shiite muslims about the "industry."

Moderator Action: please refrain from racist slurs in your postings. -ori
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Turquoiside]

Considering that EA is busy tanking and Origin is basically spyware it's hard to take his criticism seriously.

EA? Tanking? Maybe quality-wise (though that's nothing new), but as far as profits go that's just outright not true.

 

[Leonel]

I know someone who doesn't like competition!

 

[GoodGame]

Competition says it doesn't like competition. boo.

Pretty silly for EA to complain since they pretty much pulled out of Steam and offer their own service, Origins.
Pretty transparent, EA.

 

[CommonKnowledge]

EA? Tanking? Maybe quality-wise (though that's nothing new), but as far as profits go that's just outright not true.

Well EA is hardly doing well lately:

link

Not to mention that this is having a knock on effect with future games they're releasing because they need to get a ridiculous number of sales in order to break even. Dead Space 3 is probably the most high profile example:

"In general we’re thinking about how we make this a more broadly appealing franchise, because ultimately you need to get to audience sizes of around five million to really continue to invest in an IP like Dead Space,"

link

I don't doubt that companies in general are having problems due to the economy but EA is doing worse than most due to it's recent flops like Star Wars and milking reasonably successful games like Dead Space for all they're worth.

 

[Tee Kay]

Gamers Say EA Hurt Industry.

 

[OrsonM]

I thought endless sequels, driving studios into bankrupcy and harassing developers for an early release hurts Intellectual property more...


bam!


poof!



bif!

Nah, what do I know about this, I think America's most hated company knows better than little ol' me...