Topic: EA Headed Toward Full Digital Distribution

[NWR_DrewMG]

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of their life.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30942

Electronic Arts is eventually "going to be a 100% digital company, period" according to President of EA Labels Frank Gibbeau. Gibbeau stated that he believes that a time will come in the not-too-distant future when game companies are making most, if not all, of their money from digital sales rather than retail. He then went on to refer to the NPD figures as "totally irrelevant", stating that internally at EA, these figures are no longer used to measure success.

In the interview with GamesIndustry, Gibbeau stated: "It's in the near future. It's coming. We have a clear line of sight on it and we're excited about it. Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do. It has a lot of enhancements for our business. It allows us to keep more that we make. It allows us to do some really interesting things from a service level standpoint; we can be a lot more personalized with what we're doing."

President of NPD Games David McQuillan responded to these comments by saying he was surprised by Mr. Gibbeau's comments: "While digital is a growing part of the industry and something that needs to be addressed for the future, the current games industry is still largely rooted in retail and any industry player involved with AAA content simply can't take their eye away from the retail environment."

[house3136]

 I think statements like “100% in the near future” is what is confusing. I could see potentially, next-next-gen possibly being 100% digital in some instances. It just sounds like they are forcing people to abide by one option that alienates a segment of population that can’t download digital titles or move to cloud gaming for whatever reason. He also says “Retail is a great channel for us.” But aren’t they abandoning retail other than download codes? Their line of thinking is that all customers will have decent internet access within the next few years and be willing to abandon physical media. I think EA has some plan they see as superior and that all other developers will follow suit (mainly, stop all used game sales to increase profits to offset money hemorrhages at EA). What precedents do they have to make such statements along the lines of “You’ll only have one option and it will work.”  Such restrictive policies may result in “…for the rest of their life” being shorter than they anticipate. We’ll just have to wait and see how this works out for them.

[NWR_insanolord]

As someone who likes the idea of digital distribution, I hope this means they'll support Nintendo's plans for retail 3DS and Wii U games being on the eShop fully and immediately.

[broodwars]

The entire industry will be moving towards 100% Digital Distribution at some point in the future, so I don't see why EA stating that they are headed towards it is such a revelation.   

[house3136]

 I agree, I think Nintendo being able to download full retail titles at launch will be tremendously beneficial in terms of support. And I like the idea of having certain titles right on my 3DS without cartridges. I just think having digital as the only option is restrictive. 

[Enner]

I recall EA having a subscription service for their sports games that let you get the next Madden and/or NCAA game early digitally. It doesn't seem far fetched for EA's digital future to provide a subscription service where you can play all of EA's games.

[NWR_insanolord]

FIFA would work really well as a subscription service, as that sport's going on year-round. I'd subscribe, especially if it meant more regular updates for MLS, which usually gets short-changed by being on a different schedule than most other leagues. On a side note, being able to complain about that directly to the executive producer of the game was one of my favorite parts of E3.

[rlse9]

I think it's still a little premature for talks of abandoning retail completely and going 100% digital.  It's probably going to happen sooner or later but look at the music industry, as much as it seems to be all about iTunes and Amazon now, you can still buy every major album release in stores on CD as well.  I don't think it's that far off until all games are offered both digitally and as physical media but I don't think the physical media is going away that soon.

[TJ Spyke]

It's foolish to think the game industry will be digital only anytime within the next 10 years (if ever). A lot of gamers don't have Internet capable of downloading full games, or if they do then not very fast. Not to mention that even the most connected console systems are at 70%, meaning almost 1/3 of the console owners have never even connected online. Maybe they will be both digital and retail, but digital-only won't happen anytime soon (and I hope it never does).

[nickmitch]

Yeah, I think it's a little premature to start talking about going 100% digital. I'm glad EA is ready to move in that direction, but it's not happening anytime soon.

[Ian Sane]

Well 100% digital makes it quite easy to outright block used sales and they have a nice little remote off switch to disable or discontinue a game at any time.  No bargain bins to get rid of extra inventory either.  While there is some convenience in being able to just download the titles you want from your own living room the model is really beneficial for the companies.  They can control the price, the stores, the availability.  So of course EA is all over that.

It's a concept I think everyone likes now because they haven't personally encountered frustrating roadblocks with it.  The concept is still too new.  But ten years from now if your Wii breaks your Wii Ware is GONE.  Maybe Nintendo will let you re-download it but SOME of those games won't be there.  Think of the frustration of how Goldeneye's legal situation prevents it from being re-released.  That sucks BUT you can always find an old N64 cartridge and if you owned one in the past if your N64 busts you can replace that.  The game and the system are independent and there is nothing that ties either of them to any service that could be discontinued.

Digital distribution eliminates that.  You're tied to some sort of service and that service will eventually disappear and your games are gone.  I think this isn't as big of an issue yet because it hasn't really happened to anyone yet.  The concept is still so new that for the most part your games are all still there.

[MegaByte]

It has actually happened a couple times in the music industry.

[Chozo Ghost]

(and I hope it never does).

Why not? Seems like you would love that because then your big corporation buddies can more easily trample over consumer rights by taking away the ability for consumers to resell their games, and eventually allowing them to killswitch the games for good. So what's not to love? More money for corporations, less freedom for consumers, seems like a win-win.

[TJ Spyke]

I support rights, for consumers and companies. I don't think people should be allowed to illegally download copyrighted material, but I also think consumers should always have the option of buying that stuff.

[Chozo Ghost]

I support rights, for consumers and companies. I don't think people should be allowed to illegally download copyrighted material, but I also think consumers should always have the option of buying that stuff.

Then why did you describe that EU court ruling that allowed consumers to resell digital games as "nutty"? Its the same right consumers have always had for physical goods, so why is it nutty for that right to be extended to digital goods as well?

[TJ Spyke]

Maybe not nutty, but not practical. Almost no digital store has a method for letting consumers sell their products, and I can't see the EU having the authority to force Valve/EA/Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft/etc. to create a method to allow it. As someone in another thread mentioned, this is like how you are legally allowed to make back-up copies of your media (though you of course can't distribute it) but media companies are allowed to encrypt them and and do everything they can to make it difficult to do it. So consumers may be allowed to sell their digital games, but the companies that sell the games don't have to do anything to make it possible (and they can do stuff like make it a bannable offense to transfer your account).