EA: We Believe in Microtransactions

Megalith

Megalith

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Despite the beating it took for Star Wars: Battlefront 2, EA will be doubling down on microtransactions for future titles. CEO Andrew Wilson believes that they, when “done right,” can “provide a very important element of choice that can extend and enhance the experience.”

Just how big are microtransactions in terms of revenue for EA? For the latest quarter, EA's digital net bookings for "live services," which includes optional add-on content, came to $787 million. Wilson went on to say he's happy that the Battlefront II community is so outspoken, acknowledging that EA did not get it right with how the game used microtransactions.
 
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Just opens up the market for another company to come in and do it the right way.
 
I think most of us knew EA would cozy right back up to micro-transactions once the Star Wars frenzy calmed down some and Disney stopped pressuring them.
 
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Al long as any items purchased in Micro Transactions are 100% cosmetic and do not give that paying person an advantage than why not. You want fuzzy dice hanging in your x-wing or a hula girl bobble head in your tie fighter than yeah pay your $2.99 who is harmed. Locking characters and useful items behind a paywall on the other hand needs to be seaverely punished by the community as a whole.
 
Sounds like BF3 will continue to be the last EA title I purchased, for a long while.

fwiw, I'm not universally opposed to microtransactions; what I object to is EA's implementations, along with their attitude and treatment of both customers and developers.
 
I find this whole issue/area pretty intriguing. EAs push is quite telling, microtransactions are hugely profitable compared to more traditional methods.

The items they are selling are easy to make (skins and simple models).
Small $ amount so the impulse spending is much much more likely

The freemium mobile market created this animal and now EA wants those insane profit margins for their AAA titles.

It works... I played a mobile game and did spend money, first it started out with the typical "hey its free, I should support the devs, $10 a month is worth the entertainment" then it moved to, well I get more efficiency if I spend during sales and larger amounts but just less often! Then after a year I looked at my play account and did the math. I spent twice as much as I thought I had, and I thought I spent an insane amount "for a mobile game", certainly more than I have spent on AAA games. I pretty much instantly deleted the game and will not play another.

There is a reason why all these loot box, freemium games don't post odds, AND where they have to legally they make custom versions... They clearly know this pricing model is not providing a fair product for value transaction otherwise they wouldn't work so hard to hide the numbers.

Another question is why does it work for sports games but has faultered for Battlefront? My initial thought is the customers... Sports game players probably tend to be more hyper competitive and willing to spend to stay competitive. Completely anectodal but my "non-gamer" friends are much more likely to play sports games on consoles than those that play more traditional games.
 
I belive in them too. I'm happy that nobody will make a new Deus Ex, Witcher, Elder Scrolls or GTA game, one of those single player epic adventures that will take 60 hours of my life. I can safely give up on gaming and focus on more important things! Thanks microtransactions, online-only dlc culture!
 
This is no shock. Making money through other means requires additional development. All that's needed for micro-transactions is to just create a new item or skin that can be applied - which are likely already developed - and then sold immediately. Not shocking in the least, I just wish people would wake the fuck up. I don't know how people get a hard-on for buying a stupid skin to make their character look a little different. It's downright silly.

But hey - a fool and their money are soon parted. The only games I play these days are ones where micro-transactions don't make a difference in the outcome (such as more powerful weapons, more powerful characters, etc...)

I've pretty much stopped all gaming after being a World of Warcraft addict during my childhood and early adult-hood. Now the only thing I'll play is something that starts and ends such as DOTA or TF2
 
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RB6 Siege is introducing paid-only RNG loot boxes and the community response has been predictable. I bring it up because RB6 generally had a good handle on MTX as far as that goes. The first point is that it's "just cosmetics" - nothing that changes the gameplay, a la Battlefront 2's initial fiasco. The second point is that outside of buy-only cosmetics (where you knew exactly what you were getting), RB6 has introduced so-called "alpha packs" (RNG) that could be earned with renown (through playing) or by chance through victory (again, playing).

This all changed with the announcement of the upcoming Outbreak event where there will be time-limited Outbreak packs available for sale. Everybody gets some for logging in during the event and new players who pay a premium for a better edition also get more. However, beyond that, you have no other way than paying to get these packs, and only in a 4-week period. They are "RNG" but there are no duplicates, something they emphasize but I find to be a bit disingenuous.

Now I'm not an Overwatch player but I tend to think they got the idea from there and I feel it's a good point of comparison. Yes, you have seasonal packs/cosmetics and the like with OW but there's always a way to earn them via play. Not so with RB6. I think all of these distinctions are noteworthy when discussing MTX; from paying for a cosmetic to paying FOR A CHANCE at a cosmetic, from being able to earn via gameplay to being unable to, these are important factors to consider. Of course you get the "if you don't like, don't buy" crowd but I think it's our duty as gamers to stand up to companies that try to push these lines.
 
I think I just read that microtransactions are being added back into Battlefront within the next month or so. So this comes as no surprise. They let the PR slide by and will now just reimplement them.

GotNoRice said:
Just opens up the market for another company to come in and do it the right way.
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Not likely. EA is huge and acquires most smaller competitors that would be more likely to do this. The other major publishers (Valve, Rockstar, Ubi) have already switched to microtransactions in some form.

I think a major point of contention is that microtransactions were historically used on freemium/F2P titles like WarThunder/WoT/mobile and served to allow players to both earn or buy-in to the game (you could pay to speed up progress). This was more of a fair trade. Alternatively, they're also used for cosmetic items that didn't affect gameplay.

EA's version of microtransactions is a more greedy form. They've slowed progress trees down so that you can't earn the items in any reasonable amount of time. On top of that, they've locked some items so deeply behind progress trees that it's essentially pay to win because players not paying will never have the uber weapons. Oh and they want you to pay $60+ for the privilege of being jacked around by a rich trust fund kid who can buy all of it.

If EA could, they'd monetize cheating as well.
 
Cyraxx said:
This is no shock. Making money through other means requires additional development. All that's needed for micro-transactions is to just create a new item or skin that can be applied - which are likely already developed - and then sold immediately. Not shocking in the least, I just wish people would wake the fuck up. I don't know how people get a hard-on for buying a stupid skin to make their character look a little different. It's downright silly.

But hey - a fool and their money are soon parted. The only games I play these days are ones where micro-transactions don't make a difference in the outcome (such as more powerful weapons, more powerful characters, etc...)

I've pretty much stopped all gaming after being a World of Warcraft addict during my childhood and early adult-hood. Now the only thing I'll play is something that starts and ends such as DOTA or TF2
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It is the impulus buy. For 1 to 2 bucks can that skin give me enough value. like eating a value meal piece. Its eaten up in a few minutes, but that skin could give you more enjoyment then those few minutes eating a value meal.
 
EA knows there are an endless supply of dumbasses, so it isn't a risk to make this announcement.

I am sure they get a kick out of all the peeps bitchin about their decision since it doesn't hurt their bottom line.

It is like they get their cake and can eat it too.
 
to bad the general population will happily pay for micro transactions..

its no different how the first dlc was released... i refuse to buy any dlc and i still haven't unless it is included in the purchase. Guess what happened with DLC's now..
 
They just need to follow in League of Legends, and Fortnite's massive success. Sell skins! (No loot box scams like CSGO, PUBG, etc) No gameplay altering aspects whatsoever, and in titles such as Battlefield, they could make a killing on various camouflages for guns, uniforms, and vehicles.
 
jfreund said:
As long as you keep buying it, they will keep selling it.
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This. And that includes DOTA and CS GO, where they got their ideas from. "But its just cosmetics!!!111" doesn't matter.

Chunder said:
They just need to follow in League of Legends, and Fortnite's massive success. Sell skins! (No loot box scams like CSGO, PUBG, etc) No gameplay altering aspects whatsoever, and in titles such as Battlefield, they could make a killing on various camouflages for guns, uniforms, and vehicles.
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Its called immersion. If for one hope the next BF doesn't become littered with Hello Kitty tanks, neon guns and soldiers wearing pumpkins and then Santa hats next month. But if people keep paying into it in games like CS/DOTA, EA and other companies will try and emulate it.

Its always fun to point the blame at EA or Ubi, but half the criticism needs to be pointed right back at the gamers themselves, who are increasingly becoming idiotic. EA should know better, but at the end of the day most developers/publishers want to make the most profit. And guess what? Gamers clearly are supporting these practices. Very few developers (probably zero to be exact) have enough integrity to turn down an extra pay check in order to add some integrity to their game. You can hardly blame them when jackasses regularly fork over $1-5 for a shitty skin in CS GO.
 
If all items in game are obtainable without purchasing, that's fine. If people need to purchase their gear and levels and loot to be happy, whatever. As long as there is a work method for it.
 
Well I hope the majority of people support indie game houses that have been making the much better games in general now for awhile anyway.

So many fantastic little games out there and in general you can pick up 5 or 6 of them for what you would pay up front for your standard EA game anyway. Counting Micros perhaps double or triple that.

So ya every time EA releases something you may like... distract yourself for weeks with a stream of indie games. Chances are you'll find gem or two, and you'll easily be able to forget about their garbage.
 
dandirk said:
I find this whole issue/area pretty intriguing. EAs push is quite telling, microtransactions are hugely profitable compared to more traditional methods.

The items they are selling are easy to make (skins and simple models).
Small $ amount so the impulse spending is much much more likely

The freemium mobile market created this animal and now EA wants those insane profit margins for their AAA titles.

It works... I played a mobile game and did spend money, first it started out with the typical "hey its free, I should support the devs, $10 a month is worth the entertainment" then it moved to, well I get more efficiency if I spend during sales and larger amounts but just less often! Then after a year I looked at my play account and did the math. I spent twice as much as I thought I had, and I thought I spent an insane amount "for a mobile game", certainly more than I have spent on AAA games. I pretty much instantly deleted the game and will not play another.

There is a reason why all these loot box, freemium games don't post odds, AND where they have to legally they make custom versions... They clearly know this pricing model is not providing a fair product for value transaction otherwise they wouldn't work so hard to hide the numbers.

Another question is why does it work for sports games but has faultered for Battlefront? My initial thought is the customers... Sports game players probably tend to be more hyper competitive and willing to spend to stay competitive. Completely anectodal but my "non-gamer" friends are much more likely to play sports games on consoles than those that play more traditional games.
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EA, specifically Andrew Wilson, created this animal. FIFA Ultimate Team was the thing that set the stage for all of this and what made the board select Wilson as CEO.
 
I completely abandoned EA long ago now... It will only get worse unless more people just stops buying their shit...
 
There is no "done right" with microtransactions. This is like saying we're sorry that we tried to skull rape you, we promise we'll do it in a way next time that you won't even know it!

Yeah, done right only means that is just obtrusive enough to get the maximal income from it, while not blowing the fuse of the community.
 
auntjemima said:
If all items in game are obtainable without purchasing, that's fine. If people need to purchase their gear and levels and loot to be happy, whatever. As long as there is a work method for it.
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That's very naive. Sure you can get to level 2 without paying: Here grind 10 hours. Or you can make this small donation to our private yacht fund and level up every 20-30 minutes like in a normal game.
No it's not a question of being attainable without paying. The real question is is the game still worth playing and fun without paying?
If it's turned into a grind fest, then no certainly not. Or If all character customization items are paywalled then again, no fun. Wildlands was already way out of line in this as at least two thirds of the custom gear was paywalled or only attainable trough lots of grind.

No, microtransactions, never. I pay for a game once, all I'm willing to pay for beyond that is content that expands the campaign of the game.

ChadD said:
Well I hope the majority of people support indie game houses that have been making the much better games in general now for awhile anyway.

So many fantastic little games out there and in general you can pick up 5 or 6 of them for what you would pay up front for your standard EA game anyway. Counting Micros perhaps double or triple that.

So ya every time EA releases something you may like... distract yourself for weeks with a stream of indie games. Chances are you'll find gem or two, and you'll easily be able to forget about their garbage.
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I don't mind indie games, but I wish to experience the high budget production quality from time to time. Owning 5 or even 50 civics won't make up for that lambo. But anyway I don't even know of any upcoming ea game that would be of interest to me even without microtransactions.
 
Looks like they finally figured out what Perfect World Entertainment does to get by.

EA: "So wait. The people who play your games...they pay for the micro transactions...for all this garbage...AND YOU DON'T EVEN ACTUALLY FIX ANY OF YOUR GAMES!?"
PWE: "Yep."
 
M76 said:
That's very naive. Sure you can get to level 2 without paying: Here grind 10 hours. Or you can make this small donation to our private yacht fund and level up every 20-30 minutes like in a normal game.
No it's not a question of being attainable without paying. The real question is is the game still worth playing and fun without paying?
If it's turned into a grind fest, then no certainly not. Or If all character customization items are paywalled then again, no fun. Wildlands was already way out of line in this as at least two thirds of the custom gear was paywalled or only attainable trough lots of grind.

No, microtransactions, never. I pay for a game once, all I'm willing to pay for beyond that is content that expands the campaign of the game.



I don't mind indie games, but I wish to experience the high budget production quality from time to time. Owning 5 or even 50 civics won't make up for that lambo. But anyway I don't even know of any upcoming ea game that would be of interest to me even without microtransactions.
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Think it's naive all you want. I see people crying that people who spend money on the game will be farther ahead, but who fucking cares? I play the game to enjoy it, not to sit awake at night wondering if that guy who beat me paid for it or worked for it.

Every single mobile game is currently like this. People regularly will throw hundreds at games like candy crush like it's nothing and then bitch when it comes to PC gaming? It's the same bullshit with a different bow.

To each their own.
 
auntjemima said:
Think it's naive all you want. I see people crying that people who spend money on the game will be farther ahead, but who fucking cares? I play the game to enjoy it, not to sit awake at night wondering if that guy who beat me paid for it or worked for it.

Every single mobile game is currently like this. People regularly will throw hundreds at games like candy crush like it's nothing and then bitch when it comes to PC gaming? It's the same bullshit with a different bow.

To each their own.
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Exactly I play the game to enjoy it. But it's impossible to enjoy if you have to grind 20x more to get basic items unlocked than it would normally take in a game without microtransactions. I mean, it seems to me like you're completely oblivious to why bf2's microtransactions had such blowback. It had nothing to do with what you're eluding to that people who pay will be further ahead.

Every mobile game is like this yes, and you know what? That's exactly why I don't play mobile games. They're garbage grind-fests, where the only way to progress at an acceptable pace is if you pay. Well I'm not paying. I don't even give the light of day to this garbage.
 
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it's not funny cause it's true.
 
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