EA: Games Will Become Services

Electronic Arts is serious about changing the business model behind its games. The company's president of publishing and COO, John Pleasants, reckons that all games will eventually become services, rendering the current publishing model extinct.

"If you believe all games will eventually be services - as I do - then the idea of game teams that make a game, ship it, and then do something else goes away. They will now ship and day one begins when the customer gives feedback to the live service", Pleasants told VentureBeat.

The change in publishing model will mean big changes for the business of selling games, Pleasants said. "The way you distribute will be different. The way you charge will be different. There will be more permutations in pricing. Merchandising will be much more important. Co-marketing will be much more important", he went on.

Pleasants compared the move to that of movie rentals going from Blockbuster to Netflix and music sales shifting towards iTunes.

None of Pleasants' comments seem to bode all that well for High Street retail...

^{Source: VentureBeat}