The discussion surrounding microtransactions in the online shooter Star Wars Battlefront 2 never ends. Now Electronic Arts has commented and asks players for patience. He sees the new games-as-a-service approach as the future of EA’s titles.
The beauty of online games (games-as-a-service titles) is that they can be continuously revised and optimized, explained EA’s Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen during a tech conference this week.
The feedback from players is being heard, features can be adjusted. Operating a live service would also mean keeping an eye on the community and the feedback and responding to create a great gaming experience.
Players are reportedly willing to spend more money on a game
Of course, such games are also worthwhile for EA: If EA manages to keep players engaged and bind them to a game in the long term, then the company can find ways to continuously enhance the gaming experience and consistently earn money from it, according to Jorgensen.
According to Jorgensen, players don’t mind spending more time on a title and also spending much more money for it. Games work differently today.
Today many fans commit to a title and want to play it for a very long time. And as a company, you have to respond to that. Constantly enhance and adjust the gaming experience so that fans are willing to spend money.
Fans need patience
According to Blake Jorgensen, players simply need to be patient and understand that the developers are responding to feedback and continuously adjusting the gaming experience to present customers with a great title.
EA missed this opportunity with Battlefield 4. The game is actually consistently in the top 10 of the most played EA titles and EA could have earned a lot more money back then if they had already relied on the “game as a service” principle.
In the future, Electronic Arts also plans to focus more on games as a service and already has several such titles in development. This includes another Star Wars mobile game.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is currently received very controversially by players, as can be seen on Metacritic.
