Traditional game pricing a “giant F-U” to gamers: Riccitiello

Console and PC games need to have variable pricing, like the mobile game industry, because paying $60 for every game is a “giant F-U” to gamers, according to former Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello.

Riccitiello was speaking at the Gaming Insiders Summit, and said that the install base in the mobile industry is proof that a variable pricing model works.

“There’s not been a console game with even half as many installs as Clash of Clans,” he said. “Puzzle & Dragons has got more installs than any console game in history. Getting a larger audience through variable pricing is a really useful thing.”

Riccitiello also said that the mainstream gaming industry also has a lot to learn from mobile, such as the ongoing service and testing that’s done in the mobile space.

“More than anything, what the traditional game industry should learn from mobile is it’s really about service,” he said. “It’s an ongoing business. You’d think we would have learned this some time ago, but I find it interesting that WoW and Sim City and GTA and Starcraft and many other games all fell over at launch when they put their service components together.

“Some of the biggest brands – I’d argue almost all the biggest brands – fell over from lack of the testing and research that mobile people do in the regular course of their day.”

Speaking of EA and game prices, check out the pre-order price roundup for Battlefield 4.

Source: Thealistdaily via VG247

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