Gaming Gamers

November 15th, 2017 by

As video game companies begin to understand the potential to make real money via in game play, the parameters of their business model are going to change. It makes sense to some extent that people are going to become upset when the changes happen.

The current angst wave against EA for preventing favorite characters in the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront 2 from being available right away is a direct result of the business model change. EA viewed fan favorites, like Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader as a possible way to make more money. Those characters are products to the company. In the first Star Wars: Battlefront, there might not have been the incentive for holding back characters. Now there is incentive.

Granted, paying $60 for a game, and not being able to play a fan favorite is a shock. EA made a bad choice. Most people who would purchase Star Wars: Battlefront 2 are looking to play a certain character right from the start, that is why the game is being purchased. From a business stand point it does not make sense. Putting more valuable assets behind a paywall if you would, means players are either going to have to play the game long enough to earn the in game credits or spend real money to unlock the more favored characters right away. Buy putting the favorites behind the wall, the thought was people will pay more. Though people paying $60 already feel like they paid enough.

EA already has a way to make more money through game play set up. EA could have sold a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront 2, allow purchasers to unlock a limited number of characters, fan favorite or not, and then charge if the player wants to unlock more characters or bulk up their character’s faster. EA already has the model built into the Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes app for the smart phones. You do not get too many choices with a free app, but spending $60 on a game should allow you choices.

I have not played the predecessor game, Star Wars: Battlefront, so I am not overly familiar with the game mechanics. But, my guess is, it has something to do with battling using Star Wars characters. If you chose to play Darth Vader, EA could put up paywalls in the form of downloading more Stormtroopers or specialized Stormtroopers for Darth Vader to command. How about purchasing an AT-AT? How much would a Star Destroyer go for?

With the dawn of the internet, gaming has changed. Companies no longer are limited to selling a copy of the game, and having to include everything in that copy. Now companies can sell things to improve the play. Things will become more interesting as computers become more powerful.

EA sent me a notice via Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Battlefront was letting me get a 4 star ranked Kylo Ren. Only catch to this one time offer, it would cost $15.99. Nothing is free anymore.

Thanks for stopping by.