Get Ready, Sports Game Subscription Release Models Are Coming

[RaychelSnr]

For a long time, sports gamers have imagined a model where sports games weren't released every...

Written By: Chris Sanner

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[SGMRock]

this would be cool but it would need to be something you could easily suspend without losing progress. I mean how many of us play Madden for instance all year round. Most of us that play say franchise and so on play in spurts. I might play like crazy the first 30 days after Madden releases, but then I wont touch the game until its had like 4 months of title updates.

For EA I would pay a flat fee for all their sports games per month if they kept them all on a continuous update cycle. This would make modes like Be a Pro in NHL series a lot more fun as you wouldn't have to start over with a new pro every dang year. Same could be said about NBA, Madden and FIFA where you have those same types of career modes.

The updates would be more like MMO game updates roll out all year around and you keep your current characters going in the ever changing game world.

[scottyp180]

Interesting but wonder how exactly this would play out.* What would the price model be?* How often and substantial would the updates be?*
I always liked the idea of this model but, now that it seems to be a possibilty, I'm a tad bit skeptical of how it will work in practice.* Just don't want this to be a new, more expensive form of microtransactions.

[wisdom less13]

Only thing that worries me is them just taking away the games, but I think sports games would benefit from biannual releases with patches and roster updates. If possible, of course.

[BaylorBearBryant]

It's about time to be honest.*

[Bolt957]

This move is one I'd be uncomfortable with, despite its upside. If it were to be another subscription, that's something else I have to pay on top of PS Plus/Xbox Live, internet bill, microtransactions etc. But my biggest concern, if they plan to do updates, just how well would it go? How long would it be to see actual improvement and things that change the game and strive for what would be deemed realistic; creating a better product? A route like this, we as consumers should be on high alert.

[The Senator]

That'd be the end of my sports gaming. I want to own things, not subscribe to them.

[CujoMatty]

K wait what? I thought this already was the plan. EA basically churns out the same games year after year anyways.*

If this came from from a company that actually innovates I would be more interested in knowing more