EA concerned by casual game price wars, but doesn't think it will undermine industry
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Oct 29th 2009 at 7:00PM }
EA Casual VP Harvey Elliott admits that the current price wars going on in the casual market is a concern, but feels that there will always be games customers will pay for more than others. CasualGaming.biz reports on Elliott's keynote at the Casual Games Forum, where the executive said he doesn't think that the gaming price wars incited by low-cost system's like Apple's App Store will go on forever.
Elliott believes there are "certain games for certain markets, and sometimes free games will feel and fit right, but the same is true for low-priced games." He thinks there will always be a place for "paid-for games of all price ranges" -- we hope that's what he thinks, because his job depends upon it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Xoonaka @ Oct 29th 2009 7:04PM
For me, it amounts to nothing new. There have been free flash and web based games for years, all readily accessible. It doesn't stop me from buying new higher quality titles.
If EA is concerned, it might be in the fact they can't produce things of equal or lesser value to something that's cheaper or even free. That doesn't hurt the industry though. That just improves overall quality.
BunnySlapper @ Oct 29th 2009 7:12PM
"I just don't think well see price wars indefinitely effect the industry. That inherent value will mean there will always be something of worth, so I don't think we need to worry too much."
We'd better see more price wars, because $60 for a current-gen console game is stretching the boundary of affordability for the target customer. I don't think there's any sustainable 'place' for games of that price range.
Mr Khan @ Oct 29th 2009 7:15PM
They're just saying that so they can justify continuing (or raising) prices for higher-end games
Of course they would be concerned about price wars when price wars are actually happening in this industry for once (in regards to software, at least)
CrimsonTalon @ Oct 29th 2009 7:20PM
Just because some of us pay the ridiculous price that is $59.99 doesn't mean that every game should be $59.99....
Just saying what everyones thinking...
Reuben @ Oct 29th 2009 7:27PM
If games reach $69.99 I think I'm going to have to wave farewell to one of my favorite hobbies.
Mychas @ Oct 29th 2009 7:32PM
I notice that there are a few games going for 69.99 here in Canada, so it might be possible that games will start to cost this much in America too.
But for now I'll be buying all my games from America while they're 10 bucks cheaper :p
Mats @ Oct 29th 2009 7:27PM
After giving away Dragon Age: Journey for free, I don't really know how much quality there has to be in a game before I should pay for it.
RobLink (Alex Kidd incarnate) @ Oct 29th 2009 7:36PM
system's... really? Editors didn't catch that one?
Tom Smale @ Oct 29th 2009 7:38PM
>> If games reach $69.99 I think I'm going to have to wave farewell to one of my favorite hobbies.
>> Just because some of us pay the ridiculous price that is $59.99 doesn't mean that every game should be $59.99....
I'm calling BS on both of you.
You SAY you'll jump ship but developers like EA know they can brown-clown you at $60, $70, or $80. Oh. You'll keep paying.
Me, as a lifelong gamer, I've jumped ship years ago. I won't pay more than $40 per game. Ever. There are so many great games out there, I just wait and buy them down the road. Since I'm no longer in school, I don't have any classmates to impress. The younger kids can't be seen as not playing the "hot" game, so they find a way to get that $60. I'll be playing Uncharted 2 and ODST a couple months from now. No hurry. I've got more movies, books, Internet, games then I could consume in a lifetime.
And BTW, I am spending most of my gaming time and money on the iPhone these days because there are hella good and innovative games there and EA's over-priced retreads just don't tickle my sweet spot anymore.
At any price.
Reuben @ Oct 29th 2009 7:43PM
No, I won't keep paying. I'm not some sort of consumer zombie, and I know what is reasonable and what isn't. If you can quit, then why aren't others capable?
There is no addiction here. I love gaming, but I'm not an idiot.
Thanks.
Tom Smale @ Oct 29th 2009 7:46PM
Hey, I don't know you. Maybe you will quit. I just know that gamers make a lot of noise, but then when that game hits the shelves and the hype machine is running white hot, they'll pay whatever price is on the box.
BunnySlapper @ Oct 29th 2009 7:56PM
No I don't that that's true Tom. I for one am going to have my first kid in 6 months, and there's no way in hell I would be able to justify $70 - $80 for a single game, $60 is about the max that I'd be willing to pay.
Even were I still single, I wouldn't be willing to pay more than $60 for a vanilla retail game (ie: not a collectors ed. etc).
The current price point is due to the now decades old business model the game industry uses, which is obviously collapsing quickly (by them trying to raise prices to cover absurd production costs). That business model is in desperate need of change for the industry to continue putting out traditional "retail" titles.
Casual and Free-To-Play are all the rage now because it's a completely different model that's cheaper for the customer AND the publisher. "Bite Sized Games" as some call them (I think that's even the name of a casual studio). This is a far more down-to-earth model, and it's obviously incredibly successful.
I don't know yet how the game industry beast is going to evolve to overcome their issues, but they certainly have to soon to be successful - there's no way the NEXT generation of consoles will function with $80-$100 titles.
MRLN (The Comment God) @ Oct 29th 2009 8:16PM
I'd still buy games, but there is no way I'd want to experiment at $70. It'd be all 90's on aggregated sites.
Tom Smale @ Oct 29th 2009 7:43PM
BTW, some people say you should "support the developers" by buying the game brand new at full price. That's crap. There is no better model for getting the majority of revenue directly to game creators than the App Store right now.
If you will pay $60 for Madden, but won't pay $0.99 for a game because it's "not worth it," then you are a complete hypocrite and have never cared about creators receiving revenue for their efforts. Buy sixty one dollar games at the App Store instead of another me-too title which feeds a soulless monstrosity like EA.
MRLN (The Comment God) @ Oct 29th 2009 8:19PM
Nobody says "support EA."
Those who do are WRONG.
IndiecisiveLink @ Oct 29th 2009 10:00PM
You guys forget that games used to be more than $59.99. Nintendo 64 games went for $69.99 and up. Chrono Trigger was $99.99 when it was released on SNES in the US.
Reuben @ Oct 29th 2009 10:48PM
If I had been old enough to be buying video games during those times, I wouldn't of. My mother used to be a gamer, and NES, SNES and N64 in my house all belonged to her.
Sector9 @ Oct 30th 2009 2:15AM
Also don't forget about inflation. If the internet is to be believed from 1995 (when Chrono Trigger was released) to 2009, there's been about 40% inflation, meaning it would cost about $140 in 2009 dollars. The more common $69.99 SNES and N64 premium priced games would be nearly $100 in 2009 dollars.
aznjohnny @ Oct 30th 2009 2:21AM
The higher the prices these games go up to, the more motivated hackers will be to hack these systems. Right now, copying and burning blu-ray video games isn't worth it and nobody has found a way of doing this yet. If devs start charging 80 bucks a game, and with the cost of blu ray going down drastically, it's only a matter of time.
Scott @ Oct 30th 2009 11:56AM
Casual games deserve casual prices.
To me, it seems that "casual gaming" is more of an industry term for "a game we make with a very low budget, and hope to charge a 'normal' price for". Good luck with that. If they want to make Reversi Remixi (reversi in HD with some animations and a pop soundtrack), I'm not going to pay $30 for it. Or $20. Or $10.. honestly. I'll maybe pay $3. Which means I think they could reasonably charge $5 for the market at large without being a major douchebag.
Fight on, price wars!
makimak22 @ Oct 30th 2009 3:38PM
Forget "casual" games. In Asia, EA is responsible for crazy price war on their OWN "premium" sport titles. It's not uncommon to see a 20-30% (or more) drop in retail price just 1-2 months after a title is released, especially on the xbox360 platform.
Bugaloo @ Nov 2nd 2009 4:45PM
Paying 60 dollars for a current generation game with little replay value and the rest of it being in the form of download content isn't exactly my idea of gaming *stares at Fable 2* Sure it might seem like a good idea, but what about when you're paying 800 points (10 dollars) for small upgrade in content i.e. new town and some side quests and who knows what else. I agree casual games should have a casual price accordingly, but I wouldn't exactly hold my breath. If people refuse to buy on its release it could force a some what of a price drop. Keyword SOME WHAT.