EA has long been the leader in finding new, progressive ways to charge people for content. One need only look to last year's introduction of the EA Online Pass--a one-time use code that prevents used game buyers from getting online without paying a nominal fee--as a shining beacon of their groundbreaking work in the field of charging people for things. Many imitators have since come along, but few have displayed such capitalistic verve.
The document in question.
Now, according to an internal document acquired by PastaPadre, EA allegedly has hit upon an entirely lucrative methodology of getting your money every single year. The document dictates plans to introduce a yearly subscription service that would tie into all EA Sports titles. For a yearly price--the cost is currently being bandied somewhere between $14.99 and $34.99--users will gain access to a number of exclusive offerings, including:
- Discounts on DLC
- Exclusive DLC
- An in-game and website-based "Digital Badge"
- Ability to transfer paid content from older titles to newer titles
- Early downloadable access to new feature titles
In practice, this actually sounds a little like the PlayStation Plus model for subscription-based gaming. Those who just want to buy a copy of Madden NFL 12 and not futz with all of the extra perks and downloadables and whatnot can do so, their enjoyment only encumbered by the need to enter a code to play online and an aural assault courtesy of Young Jeezy and Ozzy Osbourne. But were you the kind of hardcore player to take advantage of things like multiple DLC downloads, these discounts and exclusives could prove a legitimate enticement.
EA, for its part, declined to comment on this story. If this is a real thing, we will undoubtedly be hearing more around E3 2011.
