Game prices will fall, predicts EA

By Robert Purchese Published 5 January, 2010

The future is downloadable content.

EA Canada senior suit wearer Jason DeLong has peered into his crystal ball and seen a future where game prices fall rather than rise - a future he believes is only a handful of years away.

"We're going to start to see - maybe not in the next year, but in the near future - games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning, and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material," he told Game Informer.

"Games are getting more expensive and times are tough, and it's getting harder to purchase every game you want. So, how can we keep people playing and offer them more but not have to make them break the bank to do it?" he asked himself. "It's going to be an interesting creative problem for us to solve."

I can't remember ever being able to afford all the games I wanted; they've never been cheap.

EA has made strides in this direction before, first with Burnout: Paradise and it's commitment to offering new downloadable content, and now with Dragon Age: Origins, which BioWare has promised two years of post-release support for.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Retroid #1 2 years ago

    The future is downloadable hats and skill unlocks, then.

    :(

  • TheNinkyNonk #2 2 years ago

    The future is downloadable content...which usually sticks at the RRP?!

  • dr_shambles #3 2 years ago

    Good. Now can someone tell Activision?

  • Lukree #4 2 years ago

    Horse armor is so 2011.

  • the_dudefather #5 2 years ago

    Games were £40-£50 over ten years ago

    and thems 90s pounds!

  • TonyCocaCola #6 2 years ago

    Good call dudefather.

  • MiniAmin #7 2 years ago

    £5 per level coming soon.

  • HermitArcader #8 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Doctor_What #9 2 years ago

    I'd happily pay £10-15 for the first half of a game then £15 for the second half as DLC - it would force companies to ensure that the first half was good enough for you to want to play on (improving quality), as well as supporting future game development by directing more of the money from sales to the game's makers rather than to second-hand sales.

  • chukcyQ #10 2 years ago

    I buy just older games that cost £10. This way I can use an older computer as well.

  • mingster #11 2 years ago

    considering a don't finish most big blockbuster games and only get halfway through ie: GTA IV.
    I would happily pay half price for half a game instead.

  • tossetaz #12 2 years ago

    As I read it there's a big difference between the traditional microtransactions as #1 describes and the kind of episodic content that Mr. DeLong seems to be referring too. I for one wouldn't mind having games come in smaller sizes with lower prices and then allowing one to extend the experience with additional investments. As long as the total price is similar to the current one I don't really see a problem here.

    I think that the reason behind the future that Mr. DeLong predicts is that game companies would like to have more people buy their games (DUH!). It doesn't matter if they buy all episodes since the hardcore gamers will always (in general) buy the whole thing and thus representing the same or equal to the same revenue from todays sales. The additional non-complete sales is thus just an increase in revenue compared to todays salesmodel.
    Edited by 2 at 05/01/10 @ 11:47

  • mingster #13 2 years ago

    My sentiments exactly Tossetaz. Totally agree.

  • gjgjg #14 2 years ago

    so overall they'll be more expensive? infact no limit price tag......

    at least you pay for what you use, ok its an improvement ...maybe

  • tossetaz #15 2 years ago

    #14 It doesn't really say anything about the complete experience being more expensive than today, it could be similar price and still benefit the game companies as per what i wrote in #12.

  • M_of_the_sys #16 2 years ago

    @Doctor_What & tossetaz

    I think that's a good idea but don't you think this might produce a half arsed second half though?

    @mingster

    I'm surprised at anyone who finished GTA IV as it got very boring very quickly.

  • Jesus: Action Figure #17 2 years ago

    Surely it's a move to stop people trading in their games so much?

  • tossetaz #18 2 years ago

    @ M_of_the_sys I doubt, I think they would have almost as much an incentive to create a good second part as the first part since people are just not gonna buy the last part if it's shit, and if people (including the hardcores) are only going to buy the first part they loose revenue. But I guess it comes down to how the game is split up.

    On topic of GTA IV, I agree, fucking took me forever to get through that game cause I felt it was boring and the save-points where so ridicules.

    @18: Yes, that could be part of the reason aswell though second hand sales will become less important as digital distribution becomes more common.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/10 @ 12:07

  • Spekingur #19 2 years ago

    So, it's going to be more like shareware in the olden days but now from companies like EA?

  • tossetaz #20 2 years ago

    @#21 No shareware was designed to be shared between people - like a trial version which you can then buy, this is designed to be bought from the get-go it seems.

  • M_of_the_sys #21 2 years ago

    @tossetaz

    I see your point. What I was suggesting is that if they put all their effort into the first half, a lot of people who really enjoyed it will just purchase the second half regardless.
    I'm not saying this is what will definitely happen, just a worry of mine.

    I guess if they're using the same engine, all they need to do is provide new directions rather than content.

  • RexRunti #22 2 years ago

    Something I've noticed happening and I expect to see more and more often is the "free downloadable content with this game" promotions. This means when you pick up your copy of Dragon Age: Origins, Assasins Creed II or Mass Effect 2 you get a little voucher which gives you more game content, in the case of DA:o, and I suspect ME2, that free content is actually pretty substantial and well worth downloading. Of course if you buy the game second hand you don't get the little voucher so if you want to play the extra content you'll need to pay for the downloadable meaning the publisher/developer actually makes some money out of you.

  • parablax #23 2 years ago

    Problem is about 90% of production costs will go into developing the game mechanics, art, etc.
    If we are to expect cheaper episodic gaming then the games themselves would have to be cheaper to produce - no publisher is going to invest 4 years into a game and only sell the 1st 1/2 at 50% costs with the risk that only a few will buy the downloadable extras.

  • bad09 #24 2 years ago

    Not sure if this "up front" gaming is the answer, I still think a drop in the price of new retail by £10 and stopping the endless shovelware most push out would do wonders. However if the "entry level" price is cheap enough though I can't see a problem with that method (especially on the EA Sports stuff). How many games have we all blown money on only to never finish because we don't like it or got bored? Then again how would it work with a story driven game? I can see many getting annoyed at paying out more to "finish" a game they enjoy.

    / looks at AC2


    It will be interesting to see where they go with this though as I actually have faith in EA. Even though their DLC tactics are horrid I do think EA, to an extent, understand pricing is an issue that will not go away. Sure they are still more expensive than retail in THEIR OWN DD store (You seriously can't tell me selling directly to your punters is not saving EA money somewhere), but their older games are really well priced on most sites and they themselves offered a brilliant winter sale on the EA store. Still feels weird that EA are one of the publishers working to give us value though....

    Me, I already solved the pricing problem in 2010 so no bother!

    / stares at HUGE pile of games to play thanks to winter sales across the DD sites

  • actionfitz #25 2 years ago

    I have a whole heap of games I enjoyed but haven't found the time / will to finish.
    Deadspace, GTA4, AssCreed, Riddick Dark Athena, Killzone 2 and a few more.

    On the other hand, I've been playing warcraft on and off for around 5 years now and just sunk an entire xmass week off work into Dragon Age Origins... and im still not done - probably another 3 play-throughs coming lol.

  • thesombrerokid #26 2 years ago

    i doubt they'll stop making dragon ages, that ship with 100+hours, although games in general are getting smaller and cheaper and deterants to selling on and tail extension stuff like dlc is getting more common, but the publishers will need to price them cheaper to win over the pubic, these are problems for publishers, they can't expect to profit from the solution.

  • IneptPercy #27 2 years ago

    Prices can come down with downloads, I recently got GTA IV for £4.99 on steam.

    Right now I only buy online if it is a lot cheaper, which happens sometimes but might start to happen more often.

  • TruWari3r #28 2 years ago

    Forget about Dragon Age, I want two years of post-release support for Mass Effect 2..

  • OldK1ngCole #29 2 years ago

    Isn't this what Microsoft have just done with Fable II. Split a game down into 5 blocks, then sell each block for a predetermined amount.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/10 @ 13:58

  • miiiguel #30 2 years ago

    I like the idea of revitalizing a game with DLC's and so on, though, like the previous poster stated episodic content isn't good for us, consumers, who would be hostage of general populace flavour of the month.

  • gintoki #31 2 years ago

    It's funny, back in the day I paid £65 for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES and the average price was £40 but now I refuse to pay more than £35 for a game... Burnout Paradise and Dragon Age style DLC is fine by me but how does that work on non story games like FIFA?

  • RexRunti #32 2 years ago

    Actually, isn't that how the games industry works at the moment. A developer spends an a fortune creating a believable engaging world, brilliant game mechanics and beautiful graphics engine and think of a cool title. One year later they copy the world, tweak the mechanics and graphics engine and stick a 2 on the end of the title.

    PS This does not have to be a bad thing, good games deserve a good sequel.

  • Lee_Morris #33 2 years ago

    I think he was meaning a lower entry fee then regular chances to update the game with addition content after that. Not Burnout and Dragon Age where the RRP was actually the regular £35-£40 then there was paid add on content afterwards.

  • actionfitz #34 2 years ago

    boneparteofballybay
    05/01/10 @ 13:45
    "
    The problem with episodic content or games released in two halves as some have mentioned is that, if the initial release(s) are commercially unsuccessful, then the rest may be ditched."

    The flipside to this is that less content could possibly mean less pressure on the team which would mean more TLC on the first part. In an Ideal world hehe.
    Think of it like a TV show.
    You make a Pilot (for games that would be a Demo maybe), then a season 1, if that does well then the Network pays for more seasons until popularity wanes.
    You will have total gems that die in their infancy (think the gaming equivalent of 'Firefly' - bitter sob :/ ), but will also have juggernauts like Lost or 24 or Stargate (10 seasons + spinoffs ^^ ).

  • Murton #35 2 years ago

    This depends completely on the calibre of the DLC though. If DLC such as that offered for Borderlands becomes the norm then it'll work, where the main game gives you a complete and engaging story and the DLC offers additional shorter stories to experience when you've finished or on the side. If however we get something like Assassins Creed 2, where a massive amount of story is cut out of the middle to be sold later, or Failout 3 where the ending is is swapped making the original game a non-canonical then fans are going to have a hard time accepting such strategies, especially considering that not all developers will take this route, many will continue to make full games and then offer expansions/DLC as they wish rather than making their games smaller and offering episodic updates.

  • Les #36 2 years ago

    "So, how can we keep people playing and offer them more but not have to make them break the bank to do it?"

    That should be how can we make them break the bank without them realizing it... Upfront prices might become lower a bit but publishers will definitely not be willing to make do with lower overall revenuel. As not all people that get the initial 'limited' game will get (all) the subsequent DLC, this will very likely mean that gamers that want the 'full experience' will pay more than they do now.

  • VMerken #37 2 years ago

    Survival of the fittest... we'll see what happens in this complex matter in the years to come. As I said in another thread though, I am pretty sure that we will be paying more for less... it's hard to give up something you're used to, and companies that are used to a certain cash flow would prefer it to increase rather than decrease.

  • sarcasmoidosis #38 2 years ago

    How do you get people to spend? Make GOOD games and give us 2 hour trials or really relevant demos. If it's good, we're buying, don't you worry :)

    DLC's are pretty risky in my opinion, since you have to blow the "audience" away multiple times. Take Fallout's example, Point Lookout was awesome for me, Zeta was crap. If they had released another one after Zeta I would have hesitated. Risky.

    Edit: smelly has a good point. +1
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/10 @ 21:40

  • smelly #39 2 years ago

    DLC will also help them combat piracy.. Especially on the consoles.

    i.e. they wont care if you're using a pirated game disc - as long as you buy the next 2 episodes...