Electronic Arts' CEO, John Riccitiello, has said that the pricing structure the games industry has in place will have to change over the next decade.
Riccitiello questions how long customers are going to be prepared to pay £49.99/$59.99 for a game. “In the next five years, we’re all going to have to deal with this", he said to Forbes. "In China, they’re giving games away for free. People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for others to disrupt.”
Riccitiello certainly has a point. The high pricing of games is arguably fuelling the pre-owned market, a source of revenue for retailers that is a growing cause of frustration for publishers and developers and from which they see no profit.
Riccitiello also stated that EA will experiment with different pricing models.
Riccitello also spoke up on mass media characterisation of games as violent. “Our industry is exceptionally well-controlled. Every game gets rated”, he said, referring to the Entertainment Software Review Board in America. “The desire by the media to censor games amazes me.”
Source: Forbes
Riccitiello questions how long customers are going to be prepared to pay £49.99/$59.99 for a game. “In the next five years, we’re all going to have to deal with this", he said to Forbes. "In China, they’re giving games away for free. People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for others to disrupt.”
Riccitiello certainly has a point. The high pricing of games is arguably fuelling the pre-owned market, a source of revenue for retailers that is a growing cause of frustration for publishers and developers and from which they see no profit.
Riccitiello also stated that EA will experiment with different pricing models.
Riccitello also spoke up on mass media characterisation of games as violent. “Our industry is exceptionally well-controlled. Every game gets rated”, he said, referring to the Entertainment Software Review Board in America. “The desire by the media to censor games amazes me.”
Source: Forbes
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Comments
Joji 1 Nov 2007 19:40
1/2
I don't think second hand games are a problem. Gamers will always exchange games, even if Game etc are out of the picture, everyone will migrate to Ebay or elsewhere. Ebay I prefer as it cuts out the likes of Game taking a huge cut for nothing.
Pricing of games I agree needs to be more reasonable. Current PS3 games for £50-60 is far too much, even though I'm aware developer/publishers need to recoup their costs. £40 is reasonable, and no game should breach that price point, unless its a special/limited edition copy with extra bells and whistles.
One bad culprit of pricing is Nintendo handheld games. GBA and DS games tend to stay so high in price that I shop on import instead. I still think £30 is too much for a DS or PSP game. If they were £20, I'd buy much more and with that in mind, I just wait for sales and price drops.
And while some in the industry, want to see the back of second hand games, they do play a vital part for gamers, in a second chance saloon kind of way. I've discovered many gems I missed first time or forgot about.
Pricing of games I agree needs to be more reasonable. Current PS3 games for £50-60 is far too much, even though I'm aware developer/publishers need to recoup their costs. £40 is reasonable, and no game should breach that price point, unless its a special/limited edition copy with extra bells and whistles.
One bad culprit of pricing is Nintendo handheld games. GBA and DS games tend to stay so high in price that I shop on import instead. I still think £30 is too much for a DS or PSP game. If they were £20, I'd buy much more and with that in mind, I just wait for sales and price drops.
And while some in the industry, want to see the back of second hand games, they do play a vital part for gamers, in a second chance saloon kind of way. I've discovered many gems I missed first time or forgot about.
realvictory 1 Nov 2007 20:36
2/2
Plus, you might buy a game and realise it's crap, and want to get rid of it. If you've paid £50 for it in the first place, you don't just want to throw it in the bin - you want to get your money's worth by making someone else experience the same frustration.