EA Origin Boss: "Steam Is Bad"

Q: One of the things that Steam does is this random deep-discounting of software, and it works well for them. Do you see that as something you want to do?

A: David DeMartini: We won't be doing that. Obviously they think it's the right thing to do after a certain amount of time. I just think it cheapens your intellectual property. I know both sides of it, I understand it. If you want to sell a whole bunch of units, that is certainly a way to do that, to sell a whole bunch of stuff at a low price. The gamemakers work incredibly hard to make this intellectual property, and we're not trying to be Target. We're trying to be Nordstrom. When I say that, I mean good value - we're trying to give you a fair price point, and occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount, just don't look for 75 percent off going-out-of-business sales.

Really ??
Seriously ??



And the going price for non-Premium BF3 right now is ????

too easy

If EA doesn’t want to cheapen an IP, they should be remove “EA” from their games. The studios stand on their own just fine, or better.

Don’t get me wrong, EA does many good things and is often unfairly persecuted, but that doesn’t mean their name represents quality.

So figure this one out. You may remember that twelve days ago, there was quite a lot of discussion over EA’s Origin store boss saying they wouldn’t be engaging in “deep discount” sales on their Steam-rivalling service. David DeMartini (whose name sounds like he should be the star of a Bond spoof) said, “We won’t be doing that,” when asked about such services. Explaining why he added, “I just think it cheapens your intellectual property.”
Today on Origin, Dragon Age: Origins is available for £5. That’s discounted from £40 – an incredible 87.5% off!

Spore is 75% off, as is Darksiders, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Battlefied: Bad Company 2. 66% savings can be found on Alice: Madness Returns and Darkspore, while Dead Space 2, Shank, Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam, Mirror’s Edge, The Saboteur, Gotham City Imposters, Gatling Gears, and Batman: Arkham Asylum are all half price.
That’s half the price of their current Origin prices, of course. Not half the price of their original prices. In fact, most of those games are now available for 87.5% off their original launch price. That’s an awful lot of intellectual property EA are cheapening today.
“Occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount,” said DeMartini less than two weeks ago. “Just don’t look for 75 percent off going-out-of-business sales.”
Uh-oh!
We’ve contacted EA to ask them why the sudden change of heart. Cheers to Lewie P for the spot.

there has always been regional price differences. hard to sell a game for $60.00 in some countries