Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

EA To Charge For Game Demos

Posted by Soulskill on from the gotta-stay-ahead-of-activision-as-the-most-evil-game-corp dept.

Kohato brings word of a new Electronic Arts marketing strategy that aims to start monetizing game demos. According to industry analyst Michael Patcher after an EA investor visit, the publisher will start selling "premium downloadable content" prior to a game's release for $10-$15 that is essentially a longer-than-usual demo. Patcher said, "I think that the plan is to release PDLC at $15 that has 3-4 hours of gameplay, so [it has] a very high perceived value, then [EA will] take the feedback from the community (press and players) to tweak the follow-on full game that will be released at a normal packaged price point." He also made reference to a comment from EA's CEO John Riccitiello that "the line between packaged product sales and digital revenues would soon begin to blur."

1 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sounds familiar by besalope · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I don't remember that. Link?

    http://developer.apple.com/iphone/index.action

    $99/yr for the "membership" that gives you access to the iphone's SDK (link is on the right side of the page "Not a program member"...)

    It's similar to Microsoft's visual studios, only significantly less useful for the price.