$10 Online Pass successful for EA.

[Eric]

Probably not going anywhere and you'll see more developers adopting it.

http://kotaku.com/5838962/eas-15-millio ... -a-failure

[Julius Seeker]

Not bad at all. It doesn't seem Kotaku likes the program, I am not sure why. It's a very good idea. The price is appropriate too, while it isn't a completely trivial amount, it is also easy enough to swallow that most people won't care a great deal. Yes, they're right in that this will likely help encourage gamers to buy new games instead of used ones.

[Eric]

Zeus will explain in great detail why Kotaku doesn't like it, as I'm sure they share the same reason lol.

[Zeus]

Simple really, Eric: they, like me, probably don't believe in paying to play a game you've already paid for. Used vs new aside, I still bought the game, it's mine to play.

1.5M people paid for it? I'm really, really curious how many of those were re-ups from those who bought it new vs used. Or am I way off base here, if you buy it new, do you have it for life for that particular title? Not everyone's gonna by the next years' model, particularly if a) they don't feel it improved enough, b) still play the older one, or c) are not in a financial position to blow $60 for roster updates (a big reality in today's economic environment, I would imagine. Paying $10 for another year of online gaming vs $60 for the new one could just be a reality for some.

Here's another angle: why aren't more developers like Valve? People don't get rid of their L4D or buy them back 'cause of the great DLC (free on PC). They provide continuous value to their games, which is why they can still sell them for $40 new a year later and sell steadily, making their money that way. Maybe that's another business model other developers should adopt, no? Or is asking for regular delivery of quality from the developer too much?

[Eric]

EA's games by default don't have that kind of longevity, there are yearly updates to alot of their franchises.

[Zeus]

EA's games by default don't have that kind of longevity, there are yearly updates to alot of their franchises.

There's always a ton of the previous years' version that are in circulation. And at $60, a LOT of EA players don't update every single year.

I asked around a bit yesterday and it appears that your profile continues to have the Online Pass for that particular version of the game for life. So my re-up theory is shot. That means 1.5M people paid for it last year from almost exclusively used sales which is what, 8-10% of total EA Sports 2011 sales? Not bad, certainly good enough for them to keep the program going. Especially considering how badly publishers wanna destroy the used market