E3 gave nearly every video game publisher the opportunity to talk about launching a video game subscription service.
To stand out from the crowd, some game publishers are considering passing the design responsibilities for these platforms to third-party developers. EA is one of these publishers.
EA’s Origin Access Premier is arguably the most established subscription platform in the industry. Just like Netflix and Crave, Origin Access Premier features games from both EA and third-party developers that work with the publisher, giving players the chance to play a wide variety of titles for $19.99 CAD per month.
Origin Access Premier also matches competing services in a number of ways. For example, Ubisoft’s Uplay+ features a price tag of $19.99 per month. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate costs $16.99.
In a recent interview with The Verge, Mike Blank, EA’s vice president and GM of Origin/EA Access, explained that subscriptions will create a space that’s “ripe for innovation and experimentation.” He continued by stating that some of the services will eventually die because the industry is oversaturated with many similar platforms.
“There aren’t 50 gaming subscriptions in the market right now,” Blank said during the interview. “If we do reach that point, I do think people will have to choose. That means some of us will succeed, and some of us will not.”
Players want to get the most out of their money and publishers want to get more people to try out their latest titles. Blank says a subscription model will be a win-win situation for both parties. It allows players to try out different games without wasting money.
Origin Access Premier provides EA with an opportunity to study players’ gaming behaviour. This allows the company to showcase some of the titles created by indie studios that were too experimental for retail release. EA also already has its own indie publishing label called EA Originals.
Blank says he believes that EA is on the right track by following the Netflix strategy. People are playing more games than before because they can try out new titles for free under this subscription model.
Source: The Verge
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