EA man wants to charge for Spore content

By Ellie Gibson Published 30 July, 2008

But will focus on launching game first.

The launch of Will Wright's Spore is still over a month away, but John Riccitiello is already considering whether consumers could be charged for extra content in the future.

Speaking in an investors' conference call, the platinum-coiffeured EA boss said he'd be keen to "monetise, if you will, body parts, plant parts, car parts and planets as a way to generate incremental revenue on an installed base of several million active users".

"But it's a little bit like pool," he continued. "I'm afraid if we spend too much time setting up the second shot, we'll miss the first shot."

Spore is launching in Europe on September 5th and in the US two days later. As you'll know if you've read our extensive previews, we reckon it's looking good - and Riccitiello agrees.

"I would love to imagine that two years from now or a year from now the debate is whether or not we need a 'Spore' label inside of EA," he said.

But at the moment, "It's all hands on deck to make September 7th the event that matters."

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DutchDemons #1 4 years ago

    *shock horror*!

  • the_dudefather #2 4 years ago

    This was pretty much a given, hopefully it won't lead to 'Spore: ikea stuff'

  • Bitkari #3 4 years ago

    I want to monetize incremental revenue in his face.

  • skillian #4 4 years ago

    I like the pool analogy :)

  • kestral #5 4 years ago

    I was afraid they were going to charge our creations based on the headline, this is just more of an expansion / micropayment thing.

  • johnnybrn #6 4 years ago

    Good old EA havent changed a bit

  • Darren #7 4 years ago

    Didn't the developer say that you could feasibly play this game for a lifetime and not see everything...?

    If so, then I don't see why anyone would need to pay for any DLC. And besides won't the mod community go to work on this game meaning that there'll be a plentiful supply of unofficial content?

  • DFawkes #8 4 years ago

    I defended you EA! I said you were doing better and not being such a bastard! No more for you. No more praise.

  • kestral #9 4 years ago

    @darren i think you can play forever with the amount of variations you can create with the included body parts but all from the same pool of body parts. if you want extra parts then pay for it?

    Don't see the problem if you like a game and you want to play more / get more, then pay a little? It's been the same since shareware / DLC so this is not any different. Eventually maybe they'll move to a free / very low cost basic game with paid expansions, to get the benefits of a big installed base and less piracy. Win /win?
    Edited by 1 at 30/07/08 @ 09:28

  • Dizzy #10 4 years ago

    EA shouldn't really be the company that publishes this. I would prefer Valve.

  • Zomoniac #11 4 years ago

    EA shouldn't really be the company that publishes this. I would prefer Valve.

    The same Valve whose last games were published by EA?

  • Eraysor #12 4 years ago

    If they made a major difference to gameplay I would happily purchase extra body parts. I would prefer proper expansions though, because then they could add underwater creatures and space stations and stuff like that.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #13 4 years ago

    Well seeing as mircotranactions are massivly part of the console industry these days and widely acepted, plus in the pc side cash shops in MMO seem to but doing well on the westen side of the market, then stuff like TV and music follow the same thing... it seems a logical move to me.

    Put it this way I'd rather spend a little bit on stuff that I want that have a pile of cds with content I don't use just because I wanted one item (ala Sims), I perfer MTs for 'parts' over expantions when it comes to this type of game.

  • Dizzy #14 4 years ago

    >The same Valve whose last games were published by EA?

    Hmmm yes.. you have a point :)

    /feel stupid

  • tomkuryakin #15 4 years ago

    I'm considering charging EA for the creatures I've created and uploaded to the Spore website for free.

  • Amajiro #16 4 years ago

    All that pool metaphor says is: "we are going to charge for incremental content, we're just not going to say so now for fear of frightening consumers away from buying the core product".

  • Redeye #17 4 years ago

    EA - still wanting to rob you blind, regardless of the spin coming out of JR's trap.

  • skillian #18 4 years ago

    All that pool metaphor says is: "we are going to charge for incremental content, we're just not going to say so now for fear of frightening consumers away from buying the core product".

    That's why it's a good analogy. That's exactly what they're thinking.

  • michaelius #19 4 years ago

    "All hands on the deck" that's what one of our socialist politicians said before his rulling party got totally demolated in next elections :D

    Thank God I'm not getting spore :)

  • Dynamize #20 4 years ago

    Creep.

  • Silvervein #21 4 years ago

    Allrighty...so I got free creature creator...spent days of making different creatures, and uploaded them for free to their server...
    Now they are going to use them to populate the game and charge someone for playing it...And then charge everyone for bits and pieces.
    I regreat I didn't read EULA, but I wonder if I could get some royalties from them, due to using my creations for generating income without sharing it with me.
    Heh.

  • Eroneouse #22 4 years ago

    First they have the SecuROM thing... 1 strike.
    Then 3 activations and relying on EA's crap to non existant customer support to get further activations... 2 strikes.
    And now they want to charge for extra DL content... 3 strikes.
    YOUR OUT.

    Seriously though if they want to charge people for expansion discs thats fair enough I guess as most software companys charge for expansion discs but they better have extra content worth paying for is all I can say. So far with myself they are on 2 strikes and that means I will be waiting 2 or 3 months before buying Spore as I will be following the forums and seeing how much grief is caused to players by strikes 1 and 2. If the game is problematic with its crapfangled SecuROM and 3 activations rule I will be playing but EA wont get any cash from my pocket I will wait for the torrent version to be released by the usual third party folks.