EA's 'Project $10' to Squeeze Used Game Buyers
Buying it used? EA still wants you to pay up to the publisher.
Along with piracy, another huge concern of game publishers these days is that they are missing out on the profits to be had from that sale of used games. While shifting more content to straight digital download sales is one option, EA devised a plan called "Project Ten Dollar" that hopes to squeeze 10 bucks from a gamer picking up an EA title second-hand.
The concept was the result of a brain storming session held by EA CEO John Riccitiello where he gathered in New York 160 of his workers to come up with ways to ensure the game company's future success.
One such approved concept was "Project Ten Dollar," which aims to cash in on the estimated $2 billion annually spent on used games. In fact, estimates now are that used games account for a third of all games sold in the U.S., according to BusinessWeek.
EA's "Project Ten Dollar" first appeared in last year's Dragon Age and, more recently, in Mass Effect 2. While gamers buying those games used will still have a good experience, they'll have to fork over ten dollars to get access to all the same things that the original owners had.
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No second hand EA games for me then, screw you all.
The publisher's already been paid - and now they're being paid twice, for the same product.
Remind me next time I go looking for a second-hand car; I don't fancy spending more than I should - to the manufacturer - in order to make sure it has 4 wheels and a chassis..
Second-hand value is what the market is prepared to pay - not what the distributor is asking. Just imagine buying a second-hand CD album, then having to pay a sum to get the tracks the original owner did. This is absurd, in my opinion..just an easy tax on the poor.
Did the British Government have anything to do with this idea? (joke).
It just means that either the guy selling will have to fork over some of his money to EA by selling cheaper, or the buyer will be left to decide if he pays a bit more or learns how to use bittorrent.
If I own a product, real or digital, then I should have the right to do with it what I please. If I want to sell the item, then I should have the right to sell it. I should not have to pay the creator a fee to purchase the product "second-hand".
Oh wait, the Autodesk decision essentially said such. While I own Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, I will no longer purchase anything that EA sells again. It is sad I have to take this stance, as BioWare makes good products, but I will not support a company that tries to extort customers.
Since part of the purchase price for the original game is access to all portions of the current game, then the sell of the game should transfer all aspects of the game in question. Such issues were handled in the aforementioned court case.
I'd rather EA got the money then Gamestop. Used game stores are nothing but middle men that eat development dollars. If you by a used game none of the money goes to supporting the developers, is that right?
This is absoloutly absurd, no way am i forking out £15 for a pre-owned game, and then another £10/$10 to use it all.
Developers arnt getting their money twice over this. Its actually more like 3 times.
The original person buys a game, Trades it in, chances are BUYS ANOTHER GAME.
Somebody buys this pre-owned game, and once again EA cash in from this sorry man.
I didnt know this was used in some of EA games already, I wont be buying any of their games now. Thats simple.
I've not liked EA for a long time, churning out the same bollocks year after year, but this, this really is the final straw
i hate EA...
I promise you this! not only will i never buy an EA game i will ALWAYS torrent there stuff.
Double taxation- nice... The great men that wrote our constitution would be rolling in their graves. Now capitalism is turning towards socialism- what's next?
seems like this would increase piracy to me- people don't want to pay for a new game, so they get used. Now, they're gonna have to pay more for used games, so they'll just go download it instead.
Wait, so they want to double the profit for one game. I think not so piss off EA. Its like buying a used car and having the maker say hey we want you to pay and extra $500. If this happens I will never buy a game for EA.
screw em
Yes, MagicPoints, it is. The developer has got their money for the game.
Also, the used game trade does wonders for game stores. You might not care about your local Gamestop. But i sure as hell support the shops in my own town, and that includes buying my games when i can from my local GAME store. I know for a fact that pre-owned sales account for a massive ammount of their sales, take that away you may well lose your local game stores completly.
I devised a plan for submission to EA, it called "project kiss my ass".
seems like this would increase piracy to me- people don't want to pay for a new game, so they get used. Now, they're gonna have to pay more for used games, so they'll just go download it instead.
Agree 100%. Not to mention used games aren't really heavily discounted. So you might end up paying a new game price for a used game. That's just lunacy.
Double taxation- nice... The great men that wrote our constitution would be rolling in their graves. Now capitalism is turning towards socialism- what's next?
Actually this is Capitalism at its best ... honestly what does this have to do with Capitalism, Socialism or Politics in general? ... here's a hint, "Nothing"
I'd rather EA got the money then Gamestop. Used game stores are nothing but middle men that eat development dollars. If you by a used game none of the money goes to supporting the developers, is that right?
I gave you a thumbs up but...
EA creates a game and sells it for whatever profit (too much already).
the purchaser then plays it and throws it away, sells it, recycles it, craps on it... doesn't matter because they OWN it. EA got their profit and no longer owns that specific disk, no one owes EA anything after that initial sale.
Seriously this is like Mcdonalds charging me $1 for puking a big mac up... second use, not as good as the first chew, but $2 less.
While Gamestop does rip everyone off they are no different then Ebay... they charge for the service of selling your old stuff. I for one sell all my old games on kijiji to local buyers and get twice the price Gamestop (eb-games here) charges. Thus cutting "the middle man" out of the loop. Buyer gets game for less and I regain more money.
This really shouldn't be legal at all. Imagine buying a used car. You paid 20K on a 2 year old car that originally cost 30K. Suddenly, the owner tells you that it may have been driven on Toll Roads for those two years and they now want to recoup those costs... Sorry, that would not hold up in court.
Us gamers need to unite and stop this before it spreads to all publishers!
Someone make a petition, If this affects UK users i will make a petition to No10 to make this illegal
What does he mean by still have a good experience, but have to pay the $10 to get everything? Limited features? Different per game? Not sure what this means.
This really shouldn't be legal at all. Imagine buying a used car. You paid 20K on a 2 year old car that originally cost 30K. Suddenly, the owner tells you that it may have been driven on Toll Roads for those two years and they now want to recoup those costs... Sorry, that would not hold up in court. Us gamers need to unite and stop this before it spreads to all publishers!
I like the car comparison but it'd be a little more like you buying a used car(we'll pretend a Honda) for 20K that retailed for 30K, but finding out that the original keys only worked with the first owner's fingerprint so you have to go to Honda and pay 10K to get a new key made for you.
What does he mean by still have a good experience, but have to pay the $10 to get everything? Limited features? Different per game? Not sure what this means.
To start off it could well be multiplayer or something like that.
However if successful, and i hope to god it isnt, then we could well see a time where buying a pre-owned game only entitles you to play a "demo" copy, limited by time or content to the point you are forced to pay the extra money.
Someone should point out to EA if they didn't give the big fuck you to PC users they could have their profits. If you go direct download on Steam there is no used market.
Talk about having your cake and eating it too.. if I wasn't already shying away from anything EA due to past actions of theirs, this surely will make it so.
This is crazy on so many levels. Especially when you consider the fact that many used games aren't even $10 cheaper than their new counterparts.
I have been holding off on all of the EA criticism, but this is utterly ridiculous...
Okay so basically a brand new EA game is gonna cost me $59.99 but that same exact game that is used from gamestop or whatever is gonna cost me $54.99 + this $10 bs? Yes this will force people to purchase brand new games IF they decide to even deal with the EA name anymore.
I have enough issues with the 60 dollar price tag. Im not going to put up with the ~65 bucks just cause some suit is crying that his panties arent lined with 100 dollar bills anymore...
You wanna sell games? Try making more games that are worth playing new!
Assholes.We will just download the extra content as in being pirates.but then again you EA are the biggest pirates and many on this board can see that.
If you by a used game none of the money goes to supporting the developers, is that right?
WRONG !!! The game is used meaning someone bought the game and sold it so they got money from that sale.
Oh boy.... This is going to backfire soooooo bad. lol
I dont know about other places but the Gamestop here sells their used games for only 5 bucks cheaper than the new game. So if I buy a used game from them, I would have to pay an extra $10 to get the full game. So I am paying $5 more than I would for the new one?
EA not putting DeadSpace 2 on the PC had me pissed enough. This has helped me make up my mind.
I can do without anything EA puts out.
When I read the heading I was optimistic they were referring to re-pricing games at the $10 price point months after their initial release. Wouldn't that achieve the same ends and not piss off gamers in the process?