EA is now including one-time use codes in their more popular recent releases
I don’t buy every game at launch. In fact, I rarely do these days except for games I’m willing to pay the $60 price tag for on day 1. But with interesting games that aren’t worth the $60 on day 1, I’ll wait until I either have more time afterward or the game is cheaper. Gamestop fills this niche for me, as they often run promotions such that I can buy a game still retailing for $60 at about half that for the used price. I don’t love buying used games, but at half the price it’s certainly something I partake in from time to time. Publishers and developers hate this, as Gamestop makes all the money from used game sales. EA has implemented “Project $10″, and for me it’s actually worked. Read on for what it’s about and why I think it works.
I know people in the game development industry, and of course I’m not happy if they aren’t making money off sales of their games. But at the same time, I like saving money. Heck, even “starving” developers buy used games to save money so it’s really just a way of life. EA has come up with the best solution yet for dealing with used game sales: making you miss out on content when you buy used.
EA’s Project $10 Plan
With EA being sick of used game sales eating up a good amount of potential revenue EA could have been making (I think that both Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge suffered in sales significantly due to this), EA actually thought about doing something about it and thus Project $10 was born. EA believed that by including something in new copies of a game that are worth $10, it would dissuade users from buying used copies of the game. If you end up getting a used copy of a game, you can still pay the $15 to buy whatever the new copy got and thus that is where the $10 comes in (although maybe it should have been called project $15).
How It Has Affected My EA Buying Habits
Every recent EA release I’ve picked up has not been at launch, however – every game has been new. Compared to various other games I’ve picked up lately, the EA games stand among the few titles that were not used. The idea of buying a used game and not getting the “complete” product that the new game provides really made me rethink buying these EA games used. I remember when Dragon Age: Origins came out and I saw it on the used shelf. I had heard that there was some sort of token or code included in the box only for new copies, and while I didn’t exactly know what it was, it was more than enough to have me decide not to buy the copy used. If I’m missing out on some $10-$15 feature when I’m buying the $35 used title, I might as well just buy the new one when it’s on sale for $40-$50. And that’s pretty much exactly what I’ve done. I was too scared to buy the used copy for any of these games, and thus EA has gotten me to buy in. Let’s look at the different major EA games that I’ve picked up in recent times that are all partaking in Project $10 and what they’re about.
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins was perhaps the first EA game to go with the Project $10 plan – it included a one-time use code to access an additional character named Shale and a new quest-line in the game. I believe that this particular DLC was also available on the marketplace for $15. This was actually a very good piece of content for new owners of the game and made me very glad to have bought it new. It was a treat to have Shale as a member of my party, as the interactions with other party members were new and Shale was interesting and amusing. No complaints here and I’m just glad I didn’t miss out on it.
Mass Effect 2
I haven’t opened my copy of Mass Effect 2 yet, but from what I understand, Mass Effect 2 comes with an one time use code to gain permanent access to the Cerberus network, a place where you can download free additional content. So far, there have been extra missions, and a new party member named Zaeed. If his incorporation is anything like Shale was in Dragon Age: Origins, buying Mass Effect 2 new is definitely worth it. Or, if you buy it used, you can pay the $15 price to gain access to the Cerberus Network.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
In new copies of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 comes a one-time use code that you can enter to become a Bad Company 2 “VIP member”. Being a VIP member grants you access to additional free content such as new multiplayer maps. Those that buy Bad Company 2 used can still become VIP members by paying $15. So far, there have been two “map packs” consisting of two maps each released for Bad Company 2. It’s a bit annoying though that unlike Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, Bad Company 2′s VIP unlocks are maps that are already on the disc. So in a sense, if you buy the game used, you will not be able to play a few of the maps that new owners are granted access to. This starts to get into some hazy territory, which I’ll cover next.
The Potential Negatives of Project $10
I like the idea of Project $10. For the most part, you are getting some non-trivial content in that new version of the game and it’s also benefiting the publisher and developer. The only one that loses is Gamestop (who I am indifferent about). With less people buying the used games, Gamestop’s bottom line will suffer, but besides that, with Gamestop have to consider charging even less now for used games that lack substantial additional content that the new copies contain? Some people have even gone so far as to sue Gamestop by claiming that Gamestop is misleading customers that they would still get access to the additional content that the new copies provided when buying them used.
In any case, I don’t really care about that as I imagine we’ll all be moving forward into a DRM all-download future (where we would be buying full games and digitally downloading them all, a la Steam & Live Arcade). The thing is, right now, EA is putting out games that are in-between retail and DRM downloads. And while the used game market certainly hurts sales, I am not the biggest fan of the collateral damage that results from the move to DRM on additional content for a game. What if you want to lend your friend the game? Oops, too bad – they’ll miss out on the extra character in Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, and the extra maps in Bad Company 2. To the gaming industry, letting friends or siblings borrow a game is bad.
Another potential drawback to this project $10 is the confusion over what a customer actually gets when buying a game new. Dragon Age: Origins included a code to download The Stone Prisoner content for free. However, since then BioWare has put several additional DLC packs for sale (including a $40 expansion) on the Dragon Age: Origins DLC network. Practically all of the rest of this DLC sucks but it’s all out there and if you didn’t know that your new copy of the game had The Stone Prison content code included on a card behind the manual, you could end up buying it through the in-game network with the other DLC. Also, BioWare just released Kasumi DLC for Mass Effect 2. However, this is content that everyone has to pay for. But wasn’t the Cerberus Network supposed to allow free DLC for all owners of the game? Well, apparently, the Kasumi DLC content is not part of the Cerberus Network. Stuff like this just provides confusion. It’d be one thing if all additional content was free for new owners of a game, but the combination of some things being free for new owners and not free for anyone can cause problems.
In any case, even with the potential negatives, I do support EA’s project 10 dollar initiative, and will continue to buy new games from them. The good outweigh the bad in this approach, but for uneducated non-hardcore gamers, there may be a lot of confusion over what you’re getting when you buy an EA game new versus used. Just make sure you do your research before buying that used copy!
I haven’t bought any of those Project $10 games, but it sounds like not a bad idea to me. I rarely buy used games anymore unless I see them really cheap. If the used game is only $5 less than the new copy, I’ll always get the new copy. If there is a code for extra content in there, then even better! Lately I’m finding that if I’m not the fence about getting a game, or I know I don’t have time to play it right away, I’ll wait until the price comes down and then pick it up a year or so later. Or wait for the inevitable “Game of the Year Edition” like Fallout 3, where you might pay the full price, but get all the DLC on the disc.
One question about Project $10 though – do you know if EA will keep putting the codes in the new copies of the game a few months after its release, or will it only be for launch copies? That’s when you really need to decide whether to buy it at launch, and if the extra content is worth it!
yes – i believe that the codes will always be in new copies of the game months out but it does echo that whole “confusion” negative i mentioned earlier.
bad company 2 is a good example of this. the initial print run of bad company 2 was the “limited edition” version and now, copies of bad company 2 are just the regular version. people are still confused whether the regular version includes the VIP token. the answer is yes! the limited edition simply gave those players some vehicle perk unlocks for multiplayer, but again, this whole question of what comes with a new purchase can be confusing if you aren’t following the details. it would be good if EA were to make things abundantly clear if they continue to release games under the Project $10 strategy.