So the Inside Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event hit us last week and the Internet came away with one prevailing thought; "That wasn't gameplay! RIOT". Personally, I didn't really care that much because I'm not honestly sure what sort of amazing things one would expect from gameplay trailers for games that are built to run on both new gen and current gen consoles. (What are you looking for? Higher resolution? Smoother frames? None of those really translate well over streamed video anyway so what are we really missing out on?) But for me the real take away was the new consumer friendly practise that Microsoft were blazing a trail on (and hopefully setting an example with) known as Smart Delivery. This is an idea wherein folk can buy an upcoming game for their current gen consoles and then receive a free upgrade to it's next gen counterpart whenever they are ready to make the jump, saving money and taking a lot of pressure off of the consumer in a really commendable fashion. If only more initiatives like this ruled the gaming world.
For me such an idea is a literal life-saver, as in my current position I'm not really looking at picking up any consoles, next gen or otherwise, for a good many years. (I don't have the kinda cash that early predictions are talking about.) But this, on top of Microsoft's promise that all first party games for the first two years will launch on both gens, makes me feel like I'm not being punished for being a broke POS. (Which is nice) Playstation have been woefully silent on whether or not they have any similar plans so far and the AAA PC marketplace holds practically no scruples when it comes to meeting consumers half way on the hardware they can afford, so this is the sort of positive example we need being set more on our landscape. Of course, it's also the sort of example that a less scrupulous entity could certain adopt and bastardise if they saw fit, on that note: EA everybody!
Save your booing, folks, as today all the EA folk want to do is share in the same good press that everyone else is enjoying. They were present during the event with their sports title which I've already forgotten the name of because all those titles are so homogenised that I refuse to devote even the tiniest part of my memory core to it. Whereas all the other titles with a Smart Delivery system announced so with a snazzy logo at the start of their trailers, 'EA Sports Game: Number 358' had no such logo. Twas' not all for naught, however, as they took the time to get their talking-head sports presenter to talk about a system of free upgrades for purchasers of the current gen game. Okay, so everything's great then, right? But then why didn't EA announce as much with a Smart Delivery tag? What's going on here...
Well it might be time to start your booing again because as it happens EA were being slightly misleading with their messaging here. (I know, big shocker!) The team were piggybacking off of the whole Smart Delivery messaging present in the event to hide their own practises which, while not entirely atrocious, is not of the same calibre as Smart Delivery and really shouldn't be thought of as such. You see, mosey on over to the official website for 'EA Sports Game: Number 358' and you'll see a clarification on this matter. Sure you can buy your copy of the game and then upgrade it completely for free, but only if you buy before December and upgrade before March next year. So you know, far too quickly for the game itself to go down in price or the console. (Which is weird. What, do you have a contract with Microsoft or something, EA, why help their bottom line like this?)
Of course, the intention behind this system in favour of Microsoft's is obvious; they want to draw a deadline under people and allow that to influence their decision making. It's so plain to see that it really makes one marvel at the times when EA comes out to refute their guttered reputation. Their entire identity is founded upon taking every single anticonsumer option that they possible can, and yet they take exception when, said consumers, take an anti-EA stance in kind. Of course, EA want to take a goodwill gesture and twist it into a pressuring device to encourage people to pick up the new Madden game. Of course, they have no scruples about hiding this strategy behind a bevy of trailers that advertise the opposite of this plan. And of course, EA are willing to put themselves in the dog house once more for the vague hope of bumping up sales for a franchise that already has a loyal stable of brainwashed fans that flock to it year after year. (Is the sky blue? Then EA is still EA)
It's just a little surreal to see EA back to their wily ways so darn early into this new generation, and in the face of such overwhelming goodwill. You have multi-million dollar to-be-success stories like CDPR's Cyberpunk 2077 agreeing to Smart Delivery, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2, Yakuza Like a Dragon, all games with the legs to shirk Smart Delivery and yet all are taking that plunge just the same. And yet on the other shore you have EA wantonly spitting at their audience and then standing there in bewilderment when that audience spits back. I know I'm hamming on this point but I just seriously do not get it. It makes my brain hurt to even process.
Recently, CDPR made a statement about how nobody should be forced to pay extra for an upgrade to a game, something that rings louder in a time of economic hardship like this year. I'm willing to bet that sales for the next gen are going to be rough for a good-long while as people find themselves needing to spend their money on things just a little more important than video games. It's in times like these that folk who's living depends on providing luxury products should really be looking to make concessions to meet the folk they're dealing with, and Smart Delivery is the absolute bare possible minimum in this regard. And EA couldn't even meet that bare minimum. How sad is that? They tried with their personal upgrade system, but they fell woefully short and into the mud once more.
Of course, once again this won't affect their sales of Madden, and it probably won't even effect EA's reputation; everyone already thinks of the company as scum on our collective shoes anyway. But it does go to shine the spotlight on all the companies who didn't try to worm their way around a simple gesture, so at least EA fell on their sword for the good of their peers, I guess. (I'm sure that's exactly what the team intended to do.) At a stretch I can say that there must be some good influence in EA from the fact that they even offered an upgrade plan at all, but maybe that's even giving them too much credit seeing the way they decided to implement it. Ugh, I'm going around in circles again, (why does talking about EA always do this to me?) I'll just have to do the only thing I can: shake my head and sigh...
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