A developer-issued subscription service is a new and unfamiliar idea for console gamers. This market of gamers are knowledgeable of the monthly fees for MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft or DC Universe Online, and find this service to be reasonable given the context of the games. These developers charge a monthly fee in exchange for keeping the players’ online gaming world alive and breathing. In the recent months, console gamers have been confronted with the idea of subscription services, but these services are different from typical subscription plans. EA Sports has announced the “Season Ticket” and Activision has revealed “Call of Duty Elite,” plans that supposedly further the experience, but are not essential themselves. There was an overwhelmingly negative response to the announcements of these services, but gamers should actually be approaching this idea with skepticism rather than doubt. There is as much potential for success as there is for error.
The gaming community has good reason to be skeptical about these services, mainly because they have yet to be proven valuable. We’ll begin with the EA Sports Season Ticket. This service just launched this week, with its main draw being the ability to download five select EA Sports titles three days before the retail release. If you consider yourself an avid sports gamer, then the Season Ticket may be a good idea. You can think of the three days as a rental and decide whether you want to purchase the game based on those three days of play. Maybe the latest NCAA or FIFA title didn’t expand enough upon the previous entry, or maybe it exceeded your expectations and convinced you to buy the game. However, while this is a great feature, the rest of the service seems to be lacking.
The remaining Season Ticket features seem rather gimmicky. The service offers a 20% off discount on all EA Sports DLC, but considering only FIFA has produced worthwhile DLC while other EA Sports titles just sell cheat-codes and uniform accessories, this may not be the best of deals. EA Sports has also promised “Premium Web Content,” but they have skimped on the details. They have explained that gamers will have the ability to put custom graphics on their favorite players’ uniforms, but is this really worth $25 a year? If the three-day rental prior to the game’s release is worth the $25 a year, more power to you. But if you’re expecting more from this service, you might want to wait a few years until they add more substantial features.
This feature editorial concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read on.
