[MCV] EA Origin: 'Our aim is to be a better version of Steam' - Page 24

Developers have said how much they love the 70% off sales on steam. They increase revenue by an amazing percent. I wish I still had the link to the figures. Selling software is not like selling hardware, the per unit cost is very little; what matters is revenue. In the end its actually better to net $1 million by selling 50,000 copies than to net $1 million by selling 25,000 copy, especially for a small developer.

EA hates those sales because, as a publisher, it hurts their ability to do multi-billion dollar launches. They are in the business of selling boxes, not games.
Edited by erunion - 6/25/12 at 4:12pm

I like how you somehow connect launching a game with discounting O_o

Also, here's GOG saying pretty much the exact same thing EA did.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/06/gog-talks-preserving-value-of-games-slow-death-of-drm/#more-102864

Didn't see any of the "BUT THEN HOW WILL GOG COMPETE?!!?!", "GOG are idiots!!" or the song and dance of recent similar announcements but then again, some people are a little bit hypocritical

I will go into the article where Gabe discusses sales though:

Certain (Read:many, most, too many to retain faith in humanity/individual thought process) people will read this and completely miss the actual point in lieu of their Gabe Boner. It also goes well with my recent assertion of the fact that while people rabble and rant about companies being blinded towards anything but £$£$£, consumers for the most part are sometimes no better. Do as I say, not as I do and such. (For the most part....sometimes..¬_¬)

The discussion here was not simply about the effectiveness of a 75% sale, but the effectiveness of MARKETING and ADVERTISING that 75% sale.

This was about the difference between SILENTLY dropping prices like they would do in a regular retailer (as opposed to Steam prices usually being around £10 more than competitive retail prices in a games later life) and making a huge song and dance about having a sale. The 75% was mentioned, but that wasn't actually the point he was making.

He clearly states that he is talking about the difference in getting people excited and buzzed about a deal and silently dropping price of a game over time.

Also, you never know what this factor of 40 is in relation to. If a game is not selling because its priced too high for its price point in the first place, then dropping it to reasonable prices can EASILY increase revenue by a factor of 40.

I could also mention how Valve has the blog who wrote this article "Rock Paper Shotgun" have a "relationship" with Valve, but thats for another time.


Really though, as much as people keep going on with the "its not about the money" thing, this very article shows how the whole thing is literally experiments in ways to extract money from people via psychological impact (even when people aren't really interested in the games).

Essentially working on how to turn gamers into women at a large sale. Doesn't matter if you were particularly interested in said game before it was on sale. Now its on sale, you gotta have it. Or the mere fact that because a sale is on, purchases must be made in order to not miss out. Not to mention the fact that they just love to talk about what they bought in X sale.

Then we get that same argument we have with our lady friends when all that stuff they just bought doesn't even get used, yet they run out to buy even more stuff come the next sale, hence the 100 pairs of unused clothing (or games) that she has in her wardrobe lol! Heck, with all those things just sitting there and collecting dust, you could possibly say its almost as if she didn't even value them at all... Nah. Crazy talk.

Dont even get me started on how she has to keep going back to that same damn shop so often just incase a sale pops up and she misses it

I'm actually finding this interesting even as I type this as I've never even really looked at it like that before and the more I ponder on it, the more I have to just smile at the "EA only care about £$£$£" statements.

Maybe EA do only care about the £$£$, but you can bet that more time/resources are spent at Valve researching marketing psychology than working on HL3 (or games in general tbh) and I scoff at the thought of Gabe saying something like this and being loved for it lol.


@ Below, incorrect filter setting for installed/hidden games fail? Did you actually activate the games on Origin?
Edited by GrizzleBoy - 6/25/12 at 6:39pm

the goal of having a goal is to be possible right x)? well this one is impossibruuuu

EA Origin is sad. Couldn't add games to the shopping cart using the Origin App.
Origin app doesn't even show all my EA games. Don't expect much from EA but
only showing BF3 Beta while none of the four games I bough show up is pitiful.
Time to uninstall that adware.

I will just keep on buying all my games from Steam.

Must be something wrong with your computer, I just got a couple game for my brother. So its your computer. Don't come bad mouthing when all you have to say is contempt.

Sounds like he's got his filters set wrong or just didn't actually activate the games on Origin.

Sums it up real well.

If I could +rep you I would.

lol Riou.

I can almost feel your geniune concern.

Why do you also assume that the only people who play games are those who care about any of that?

In order to succeed all they need do is release successful games and keep the client stable. In reality, almost none of what you assume anyone outside of internet nerd land (no I dont cout myself out) is an issue.

If I asked 90% of my friends and family if they would have a problem buying a game if it required Origin, they would answer "what the hell are you talking about?"' Just think of all the females who play the sims. How many of them do you think give a hoot about EA apart from when they see the logo when they start the game?

Do you truly believe that everyone or even a majority of people who own a copy of BF3 shake their fists at their computer because of Origin?

In the same way I could tell them how people spend large amounts of money amassing libraries so large they couldn't possibly play the games they own, but there was a sale on so......and they would either laugh or be like "wth?".

I dont know how many times I have to say it, but internet opinion != world opinion, especially when it is such a nichey section of the internet (in regards to people who actually give a crap about Steam vs Origin and just like to play games).
Edited by GrizzleBoy - 6/25/12 at 7:12pm

I've asked my console friends, and they themselves even consider the quality in EA games have gone down the shaft. My friends who play on the PS3, never receive their copy of BattleField 1943 that was promised. They as well don't like the way EA runs (Not only because of the BF situation but many other issues on the console side), which has nothing to do with Origin. EA and Origin go hand in hand on the PC side, you can't say the same seeing as how Origin isn't on the console.

Go look at the issues with EA Published games on the console side. BattleField 3 is a great example in fact as to how many issues there are with the game on the PS3.

Asking people who don't even use the product or know nothing about is, is not a very good representation. Present them as to why people dislike the product, and why people enjoy the product and see what they think is another story.