Microtransactions have become common with major studios and EA is still no exception. However, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen stated they don’t want to “nickel and dime” gamers. Stating…
“Our game teams are all thinking through, ‘What’s the engagement model to keep the consumer, to really entertain the consumer for a long period of time? When you think about that, it’s not really the economics; the economics come afterward. There might be multiple models of ways to engage people.”
Jorgensen specifically used Madden’s Ultimate Team as an example by saying…
“The fundamental way that we as an organization think about [microtransactions and subscriptions] is all around engagement. How do we engage the consumer as long as possible? In the old days, people played Madden for a few months and then stopped playing. When the Super Bowl finished, they were completely gone. Today, with Ultimate Team, they engage for 12 months, all the way up until the time you start playing a new season.”
Finally, He noted that microtransactions have become very controversial along gamers around the world, but he hopes that EA can address its future. Stating…
“I do think there’s a bit of consumer fatigue around feeling like they’re getting nickle and dimed all the time. And a lot of mobile games don’t allow you to have fun unless you’ve paid for it. So we’re looking at new models of ways to try to alleviate some of that fatigue that’s going on. Some of those might come in the form of subscription-style, but some of them might simply come in different ways to play games over time so you don’t feel like you’re always getting nickel and dimed.”
