It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to say on my blog but with FIFA 12 news starting to come through in drips and drabs I knew it would not be long before I found my voice again. It was to my surprise however that my desire to get typing has not come from the first FIFA 12 screenshot or any game play related news but instead from the news that EA are about to introduce a subscription service for their EA Sports titles.
I first caught news of this on Twitter when @tem1985 (Tom Mills of FIFASoccerBlog) tweeted the following:
“RT @FIFASoccerBlog: [NEW] EA SPORTS Subscription Service Set To Launch - fifasoccerblog.com/ #FSB #FIFA12”
At this point I was not that bothered as my first thought was that EA were going to charge as subscription to play online and replace the current “Online Pass”, this didn’t bother me as my thought was with a continued subscription EA would have no ground to stand on if their servers did not improve drastically.
This year has proved to be hugely problematic for Pro Club Championship mode players what with button delay, lag and constant disconnections for those who tend to play in a team with 7 or more players, ironic when you consider FIFA 11s tagline is “we are 11”. Maybe this could be replaced with “we are 11 until the servers can’t handle it, at which point we’re reduced to as little as 3”.
Despite these initial thoughts I came off of my phone and turned my laptop on to read the full story which says the benefits of this plan are:
• Discounts on all downloadable content for participating EA Sports titles (possibly up to 30% off)
• Full downloadable versions of participating titles before they come out in stores
• Exclusive membership recognition badge that appears on both your online and in-game profile
• Ability to transfer paid content from current participating titles to future versions
• Free and exclusive opportunities to extend your EA Sports experience to the PC and Web
• Free and exclusive EA Sports downloadable content for participating console-based titles
Whilst these sound like good things to have it actually just seems like yet another way for EA to generate more money for things that in the past have actually been cheaper. Take the “benefit” “Discounts on all downloadable content for participating EA Sports titles (possibly up to 30% off)”. This is basically translated to “we will reduce the price of UT card packs by 30%” but when you consider you are paying a subscription for this “benefit” anyway it’s likely that EA will make up that 30% in subscription fees.
Then you have the “benefits” “Ability to transfer paid content from current participating titles to future versions” and “Free and exclusive opportunities to extend your EA Sports experience to the PC and Web”. In terms of FIFA this would probably mean that Ultimate Team would carry across to each new FIFA title and you’ll be able to use the web app for Ultimate Team, both of which were free this year. So does this mean if I want to enjoy Ultimate Teams full experience I have to pay extra for something that was free this year... fantastic (yes this is sarcasm).
The only real benefit I can see is “Free and exclusive EA Sports downloadable content for participating console-based titles” which means I’d probably get a boots pack or maybe a stadium (like the additional Bernabeu). The problem with this is again; I am paying for these via a subscription rather than deciding I want the item and making a single one off payment.
After looking at these benefits I can’t help but think I will be paying my subscription to get the exclusive membership recognition badge which will be more likely to be referred to as the “I paid for things I had for free last year badge”.
I was quite happy with the idea of the online pass as it didn’t really have a large effect on FIFA buyers who bought the game new but with this I feel EA have taken a completely wrong route and will only anger the fans of various EA Sports titles when they could have added a monthly subscription for the online modes and used a large proportion of that subscription to improve their servers. This would have still angered many fans but at least they would be getting what they want for their money, server stability and a more enjoyable online service.
So now this begs the question, are the fans of EA sports titles going to be paying further fees for a service that will remain largely faulted by its substandard servers, I truly hope for the sake of EA that this is not the case.
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