Not surprising. Gaming companies are horrible investments. EA made the mistake to invest in the worst gaming genre - MMOs. And they invested a lot. Didn't they realise that very few people play MMOs. No one wants to pay subs. How many successful subscription MMOs have been there? WoW. Ok what else? That's right, there are no other games.
The so called "MMO fans" don't want to pay subs, they have ridiculous expectations and quit as soon as possible (usually within a month).
Look at GW2. The game is supposedly great and everyone is super excited to play it. Are they going for a sub based MMO? No, because they know it will fail miserably if it had a sub...
What's even worse is that Bethesda is trying to make an MMO.... Can great companies stop investing money in MMOs? If you base your game around sub, you will fail. WoW WAS, IS and WILL be the only exception.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Not surprising. Gaming companies are horrible investments. EA made the mistake to invest in the worst gaming genre - MMOs. And they invested a lot. Didn't they realise that very few people play MMOs. No one wants to pay subs. How many successful subscription MMOs have been there? WoW. Ok what else? That's right, there are no other games.
The so called "MMO fans" don't want to pay subs, they have ridiculous expectations and quit as soon as possible (usually within a month).
Look at GW2. The game is supposedly great and everyone is super excited to play it. Are they going for a sub based MMO? No, because they know it will fail miserably if it had a sub...
What's even worse is that Bethesda is trying to make an MMO.... Can great companies stop investing money in MMOs? If you base your game around sub, you will fail. WoW WAS, IS and WILL be the only exception.
EQ, EQ2 both make money one is 13 years old so calling it a fail is absurd. Don't come at me saying both are f2p now because they're not SOE f2p is a trial where you cannot wear group gear.
Not surprising. Gaming companies are horrible investments. EA made the mistake to invest in the worst gaming genre - MMOs. And they invested a lot. Didn't they realise that very few people play MMOs. No one wants to pay subs. How many successful subscription MMOs have been there? WoW. Ok what else? That's right, there are no other games.
The so called "MMO fans" don't want to pay subs, they have ridiculous expectations and quit as soon as possible (usually within a month).
Look at GW2. The game is supposedly great and everyone is super excited to play it. Are they going for a sub based MMO? No, because they know it will fail miserably if it had a sub...
What's even worse is that Bethesda is trying to make an MMO.... Can great companies stop investing money in MMOs? If you base your game around sub, you will fail. WoW WAS, IS and WILL be the only exception.
EQ, EQ2 both make money one is 13 years old so calling it a fail is absurd. Don't come at me saying both are f2p now because they're not SOE f2p is a trial where you cannot wear group gear.
Not to nitpick, but both of those games are old, made when the econmics and market of MMOS were different.
SOE's recent efforts have been for crap.
That said, subs are not the problem: crappy MMOs not worth the time OR money are worth the problem.
Show me a game that started P2P and converted, and I'll show you a game that had practically no players left or screwed the pooched so completely (financially speaking) that there was little risk in changing to F2P.
The sub model is not dead, but it seems making good, deep, and complex MMOs might be.
Not surprising. Gaming companies are horrible investments. EA made the mistake to invest in the worst gaming genre - MMOs. And they invested a lot. Didn't they realise that very few people play MMOs. No one wants to pay subs. How many successful subscription MMOs have been there? WoW. Ok what else? That's right, there are no other games.
The so called "MMO fans" don't want to pay subs, they have ridiculous expectations and quit as soon as possible (usually within a month).
Look at GW2. The game is supposedly great and everyone is super excited to play it. Are they going for a sub based MMO? No, because they know it will fail miserably if it had a sub...
What's even worse is that Bethesda is trying to make an MMO.... Can great companies stop investing money in MMOs? If you base your game around sub, you will fail. WoW WAS, IS and WILL be the only exception.
EQ, EQ2 both make money one is 13 years old so calling it a fail is absurd. Don't come at me saying both are f2p now because they're not SOE f2p is a trial where you cannot wear group gear.
Not to nitpick, but both of those games are old, made when the econmics and market of MMOS were different.
SOE's recent efforts have been for crap.
That said, subs are not the problem: crappy MMOs not worth the time OR money are the problem.
Show me a game that started P2P and converted, and I'll show you a game that had practically no players left or screwed the pooched so completely (financially speaking) that there was little risk in changing to F2P.
The sub model is not dead, but it seems making good, deep, and complex MMOs might be.
I would lift my boycott of EA to try maybe 1 MMO they come out with....but only 1, then its probably back to the boycott list and that is IF they are bought out and depending on WHO buys them. As of today, I will not buy any piece of junk they come out with, develop, produce, you name it. Not supporting them.
Dragnon - Guildmaster - Albion Central Bank in Albion Online
S&P Capital IQ analyst Jim Yin contends that the company “would make an unlikely takeover candidate because of the variability of its earnings, which depends largely on a few top-selling games.”
Yin adds that he thinks “the chance of success on new titles will become more difficult over time, given the decline in the sales of console games.” He points out that the number of subscribers the EA’s online Star Wars game has been falling, and writes that he is “concerned that more cancellations may cause EA to terminate the game due to its high costs.”
**************
This is not saying that this particular analyst is the final word, but when someone that probably isn't remotely concerned with the video game industry can see that people are leaving faster than income can be made to cover costs, well... I'll just be watching this a little closer now, lets put it that way.
And no, I highly doubt going F2P will change much with what's going on with EA here now.
Comments
Not surprising. Gaming companies are horrible investments. EA made the mistake to invest in the worst gaming genre - MMOs. And they invested a lot. Didn't they realise that very few people play MMOs. No one wants to pay subs. How many successful subscription MMOs have been there? WoW. Ok what else? That's right, there are no other games.
The so called "MMO fans" don't want to pay subs, they have ridiculous expectations and quit as soon as possible (usually within a month).
Look at GW2. The game is supposedly great and everyone is super excited to play it. Are they going for a sub based MMO? No, because they know it will fail miserably if it had a sub...
What's even worse is that Bethesda is trying to make an MMO.... Can great companies stop investing money in MMOs? If you base your game around sub, you will fail. WoW WAS, IS and WILL be the only exception.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
EQ, EQ2 both make money one is 13 years old so calling it a fail is absurd. Don't come at me saying both are f2p now because they're not SOE f2p is a trial where you cannot wear group gear.
Not to nitpick, but both of those games are old, made when the econmics and market of MMOS were different.
SOE's recent efforts have been for crap.
That said, subs are not the problem: crappy MMOs not worth the time OR money are worth the problem.
Show me a game that started P2P and converted, and I'll show you a game that had practically no players left or screwed the pooched so completely (financially speaking) that there was little risk in changing to F2P.
The sub model is not dead, but it seems making good, deep, and complex MMOs might be.
Not to nitpick, but both of those games are old, made when the econmics and market of MMOS were different.
SOE's recent efforts have been for crap.
That said, subs are not the problem: crappy MMOs not worth the time OR money are the problem.
Show me a game that started P2P and converted, and I'll show you a game that had practically no players left or screwed the pooched so completely (financially speaking) that there was little risk in changing to F2P.
The sub model is not dead, but it seems making good, deep, and complex MMOs might be.
I would lift my boycott of EA to try maybe 1 MMO they come out with....but only 1, then its probably back to the boycott list and that is IF they are bought out and depending on WHO buys them. As of today, I will not buy any piece of junk they come out with, develop, produce, you name it. Not supporting them.
Dragnon - Guildmaster - Albion Central Bank in Albion Online
www.albioncentralbank.enjin.com
For those not thinking that this (MMORPG.com/NY Times) is a reliable source for this information, here's a little additional snippet from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/08/20/electronic-arts-sp-capital-iq-cuts-to-sell-on-valuation/
For those DNC'ers out there:
*************
S&P Capital IQ analyst Jim Yin contends that the company “would make an unlikely takeover candidate because of the variability of its earnings, which depends largely on a few top-selling games.”
Yin adds that he thinks “the chance of success on new titles will become more difficult over time, given the decline in the sales of console games.” He points out that the number of subscribers the EA’s online Star Wars game has been falling, and writes that he is “concerned that more cancellations may cause EA to terminate the game due to its high costs.”
**************
This is not saying that this particular analyst is the final word, but when someone that probably isn't remotely concerned with the video game industry can see that people are leaving faster than income can be made to cover costs, well... I'll just be watching this a little closer now, lets put it that way.
And no, I highly doubt going F2P will change much with what's going on with EA here now.