Has EA Season Ticket hurt sales?

[bucknut88]

I sincerely apologize if this has been discussed but I haven't seen it. I was wondering if anyone thinks EA Season Ticket will/has hurt sales of EA's games? Does anyone have any proof for either outcome? I would think it could only hurt it. It gives people the opportunity to play the game in its entirety and if they don't like it they don't have to spend the 60 bucks for the game. Now, of course EA makes money on the ticket but they could lose more if the game isn't liked by season ticket subscribers. The other theory is, well I've spent $25 to get the game a little early, I may as well get it.

I don't know. Any facts to any of this? Opinions?

[DELUS1ONAL]

I think there is two ways to look at this. On one hand I think it could hurt their sales as like you said it gives people the opportunity to try the game out in full and see if they like it or not. On the other hand it could increase sales because it is much less of a risk to buy the pass and try Madden out without spending $60. Edit: Those people who try out the game could end up buying it.

The pass is nice for the people on the fence about buying the game.

[billsmafia13]

I would think that the people willing to pay for season ticket are more often than not those who plan to get the game. I expect a good proportion are MUT team guys and players that pay for DLC. I don't think it hurts sales or helps, it's just another stream of revenue.

[JaymeeAwesome]

EA season ticket and PDLC is what makes EA it's most profit. I see this as the future of gaming.

[Cre8]

I feel like there would be correlation rather than causation at best at this point.

I see the Season Ticket as a way to rent the games before they come out so you can be sure that you want to buy them. I personally get enough of a feel from the demo in this case that it is worth my purchase.

In the case of NCAA I was able to make what I felt was an informed decision this year and avoid the purchase through the demo.

Outside of that, there is also the strong possibility that you might find something that is terrible and 'breaks' the game for you (in your view at least) for the retail release - that might be worth $25 if it means avoiding a $60 disappointment (or $120+ depending on how many other EA titles you want).

[mestevo]

We will never know, but doubt it. I've played more EA sports games because of it and am more likely to buy some of the other games later on that I otherwise wouldn't have considered.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[mrprice33]

There's no way to know, especially after just one year of Season Ticket.

[DirkJesusNowitzki]

I doubt Season Ticket appeals to many people just looking to try the games out. You could rent the games available on Season Ticket and come out well short of $25. And then you'd have access to the full game, including a trial online pass, and no need to download a huge file.

Imho the DLC appeals more to diehard fans who already are planning on buying even just one of the games and are willing to pay that $25 just to get it a few days early. Kind of like the shady deals you see all the time where someone sells a game early but puts a little premium price over the top. Only now it's completely legal and facilitated by EA themselves.

Now, there would be a situation where a die hard FIFA fan who bought the pass, then sees Madden is coming out and they try it using the pass they bought mostly for another game. The pass could dissuade that person from buying Madden but how likely were they to buy it anyway? And just as likely as that scenario, it could also persuade an NHL or NCAA or FIFA fan to buy Madden.

But mostly it's just free money for EA, minus bandwidth costs.