PCFormat Forum Archive

Yay, more software to install

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal Electronic Arts will be unveiling a new digital distribution service similar to Steam at E3 this year. The PC download service will be called Origin and will feature Star Wars MMO The Old Republic as a digital exclusive

Pity these services generally sell the games I want for the same price I can get them at a shop for.

I resisted Steam until 2010 and Civ5 - lets see how long before EA releases a game so good I am willing to install their crap software in order to play.

Looking at EA's recent track record I'd say a million years...

My take on anything EA:

Yes - they should be cheaper as there are no printing, packaging and distribution costs.

Climbing on the bandwagon?

Send them an email telling them you lost all your login details because you thought it was a joke. Let's see how they recover accounts then.

I wonder how restrictive the DRM will be with games sold over this system? Given EA's record, very oppressive.

Dont see the need for this at least not until I can afford a faster uncapped, unshaped internet account...

How many applications will we be running in the background in the next few years just to play a game? Now I think I can count Steam, Games for windows live and now this. Also note that these apps all use in-game integration(in game chat apps etc.) game performance can and probably will suffer.

Tribble wrote:Yes - they should be cheaper as there are no printing, packaging and distribution costs.

I doubt the costs of the actual packaging/printing etc. amounts to even 5% of the price of the game.

Siemens wrote:How many applications will we be running in the background in the next few years just to play a game? Now I think I can count Steam, Games for windows live and now this. Also note that these apps all use in-game integration(in game chat apps etc.) game performance can and probably will suffer.

Tribble wrote:Yes - they should be cheaper as there are no printing, packaging and distribution costs.

I doubt the costs of the actual packaging/printing etc. amounts to even 5% of the price of the game.

Packaging, shipping, handling, store markup and employee costs. I'd say a good 50%.

Edit: As long as The Old Republic still comes in a retail version!

Prime wrote: Packaging, shipping, handling, store markup and employee costs. I'd say a good 50%.

That must be why most new games on steam costs exactly the same as retail

Siemens wrote:

Prime wrote: Packaging, shipping, handling, store markup and employee costs. I'd say a good 50%.

That must be why most new games on steam costs exactly the same as retail

As usual, take the sentence out of context.

You don't for a minute think the prices of games on steam are representitive of the actual costs? And if steam prices them close to retail = steam making a mint!

For the record, they are actually cheaper than local games in alot of cases, with our crappy exchange rate.

Retail stores buy a whole lot of copies at a time and if they order too many then it's their own problem, moving that stock is up to them. EA already has their cash. If a game sells out at a retail store, then that store will probably order a whole lot more in one go instead of just a single copy they way people will buy through digital distribution. Those retail stores spend their own money doing extra marketing on the games they sell. Publisher wins that way, so I suppose it actually does cost more to sell via digital distribution.

YOU ARE ALL WRONG AND I AM RIGHT!!!

not if you are pick n pay. they buy on consignment. And pay nothing until it sells if your product doesn't sell picknpay makes it your problem. I believe a lot of the big retailers do the same.

I see. Used to work that way with books, some publishers really hated Amazon.