KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analyst Evan Wingren, who surely makes more money than you do, wants you to know that he’s a gamer too! And he assures you that you’re paying too little for games! In fact, KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analyst Evan Wingren says the real problem with the whole Star Wars Battlefront 2 monetization fiasco – the one that apparently worried Disney enough into making EA turn off microtransactions – is actually the big scary powerful gaming press, some dudes on Reddit, and their “popular press narrative.”
“This saga has been a perfect storm for overreaction as it involves EA, Star Wars, Reddit, and certain purist gaming journalists/outlets who dislike microtransactions,” KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analyst Evan Wingren insists. “Quantitative analysis shows that video game publishers are actually charging gamers at a relatively inexpensive rate, and should probably raise prices.” Indeed, KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analyst Evan Wingren estimates that you’re paying only 40 cents an hour for the average video game, compared to 60 cents for TV and 80 cents for a movie rental! Shit, guys, I’m going to go write EA a check right now.
In other business news, which does not involve the 1% informing us that we unwashed masses should be grateful for the pixels EA is generously donating to us:
GI.biz has polled some random AAA devs on lootboxes too, and they’re all over the map. A Paradox dev suggests lootcrates aren’t “radically worse” than anything that came before. A Vlambeer dev says we’re all right to complain but literally tone-polices complainers and accuses gamers – “populist YouTubers,” specifically – of a “general lack of research and investigation.” A Gearbox dev calls lockboxes predatory and asks everyone to stop using the term lootbox since loot is a good thing (he’s right). A different Paradox dev says young players and Asians are fine being exploited; it’s the olds and Westerners who are complaining (the implication being they can ignore what “dinosaurs” think as Millennials and foreigners will let it slide, I guess?). In other words, EA isn’t the only studio where mouths open and stuff that should not be said in front of customers falls out.
Need for Speed Payback is apparently trying to get out in front of the angry mob with pitchforks and torches by fixing its degenerate business model before the mob remembers it exists, which wasn’t likely anyway, but don’t sully this! The pity for NFSP, which does exist, is that it didn’t listen to KeyBanc Capital Markets financial analyst Evan Wingren’s advice to let this blow over and then charge even more. “Our aim with these changes is to make the progression, especially around the ownership of cars a much more enjoyable experience,” explained developer Ghost Games, which somehow managed to avoid EA’s obvious lie that the business model was designed to engender in players “a sense of pride and accomplishment.” EA should ask them how that’s done.
Let’s end this on a light note. Kotaku has a list of alternatives to lootboxes. I am fond of Groot Boxes myself. But yes. The point is that boxes aren’t the problem. Loot isn’t even the problem. It’s everything else. It’s exploitation. It’s greed. And it’s not having even the grace to blush over either.
