Madden NFL 15 won't be playable early unless you pay for EA Access


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Madden NFL 15 won't be playable early unless you pay for EA Access

 

You'll only be able to play Madden NFL 15 before its Aug. 26 launch if you own an Xbox One and subscribe to EA Access. There will be no publicly available demo, a representative for publisher Electronic Arts confirmed to Polygon today.

 

That bucks a trend nearly a decade long. EA has released a downloadable demo on consoles for every Madden title since Madden NFL 06 in 2005, although that game's trial came out shortly after the title itself launched alongside the Xbox 360. A playable Madden demo is traditionally available approximately two weeks prior to release.

 

Asked to provide details on why there won't be a Madden 15 demo, the EA spokesperson declined to clarify. But it's worth noting that last month, EA announced an Xbox One-exclusive subscription service called EA Access. The program, which costs $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, includes up to five days of pre-release access to upcoming EA titles. The subscription's initial slate of early access games consists of Madden 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15 and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

 

Madden 15 will be released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The lack of a demo means that potential customers on three of those four platforms won't be able to try the game before they buy it. This will likely be particularly frustrating for those who haven't yet upgraded to a PS4 or Xbox One. EA hasn't put out any screenshots or gameplay footage from the last-generation versions of Madden 15, so people on those platforms looking to buy the game at launch will literally have no idea what they're getting.

 

There's no word yet on whether EA's decision to forgo a Madden 15 demo will also extend to the other EA Sports titles set to be offered in EA Access' pre-release trial program ? NHL, FIFA and NBA Live. But if it does, this could be the start of a sad new trend for sports fans who have come to expect free downloadable demos. For more on Madden 15, check out our recent preview.

 

Source: Polygon

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I wish more games would offer demos nowadays, but it seems to have gone the way of the dodo.

At least Origin (not sure about the 360/One/PS3/PS4) will refund your purchase if you don't like the game, many other services don't.

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Ahh, so basically timed exclusive recurring monthly paid services are required to sample free demos now.

 

How is this an improvement? You save money upfront, but long term, unless you buy these games constantly, you will lose out.

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Yeah this is a big no no.

EA had a decent deal going, but this does nothing but create bad pr and its simply bad customer service.

We need more demos, not less, and withholding demos behind a paywall indefinitely is not good for anyone. What they could do is simply offer early access to the demo. That is something that XBL Gold and PS+ offer and its pretty much an accepted practice. EA better wise up before this poisons the market.

Its bad enough that neither MS nor Sony require demos for every game on their platform.

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Devs choosing not to release a demo as its not a requirement is one thing, a demo existing and having been made but being put behind a paywall is another...

I can be okay with subscribers accessing the demo early, as long as the public have it in their hands for release, but a demo existing and simply being paywalled is stupid.

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Just IMO, but this seems to be a case of an overzealous reporter attempting to link something that may not necessarily be connected.

 

EA Access provides gamers with the full game in advance of its release -- what EA is providing through its service there is not a demo. It's unlikely there's any special development that has to go on beyond implementing some sort of DRM that stops the game from working after you've played it for X hours (but can then unlock the entire game once it's officially released if you purchase it).

 

Demos are not the same. Many developers and publishers have lamented for years that they're expensive to create, as they have to be worked into development schedules and take actual coding resources to create. It's not as simple as simply throwing a switch and freeing up one level of a game for a demo. This also wouldn't be the first time people have misunderstood EA's demo policy, as some people freaked out and claimed "Battlefield 1943" was the equivalent of paying for a demo, even though it was clearly a full, smaller game.

 

Given that no demo is coming to any platform -- including PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, etc. -- I'm going to wager that there's far less connection between EA Access and this decision than this report implies. Is it possible they're connected? Absolutely. But if the idea is that you want to provide incentives for users to go to your subscription service, then this decision makes no sense, as only Xbox One users can use it, which is a relatively small percentage of the overall amount of people who would be buying Madden.

 

TL;DR: Calm down. It's going to be OK.

 

Edit: EA released a statement in line with what I said (obviously they could be spinning it, but I don't think they are -- beyond the phrasing, that is).

"The difficult decision not to do a demo for Madden was strictly a result of the team's commitment to deliver the highest-quality game possible. We chose to put 100 percent of our development resources toward the full game."

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This is EA, a 5 man indie team not having the time to branch off a demo, fine, EA have been creating demos for their games since most gamers were in diapers.

Fact remains a chunk of gameplay fit to be a demo* exists, it's going to be an EA access exclusive. Of course its not on PS4, they have no way to paywall it there (on their own terms, with PS+ Sony get a cut) meaning the internet would explode saying how unfair it was PS owners didn't need to pay for it.

*Early access is most likely going to be a timed amount of gameplay, aka a "demo".

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You're right, this is EA, not an indie developer, hence the scope of a demo is going to be much larger. Regardless, it still takes away valuable development resources. Publishers and developers have literally been saying that for years -- these aren't the shareware days of your and my youth.

EA Access early games are timed full games, according to what they have said, not a demo. That's an absolutely massive difference. And, again, if you think this is some grand conspiracy, I'd ask you to think rationally for a second from EA's perspective. Why only offer a demo, if that's what you truly think it is, on a service that only a very small percentage of your user base can access? That's counterintuitive and doesn't help you lure customers to that service, as very few can use it. You'd potentially be losing money, as gamers who would base their opinion on a demo wouldn't have the chance to play it, and the extremely small revenue you'd make from luring Madden gamers to the service almost surely wouldn't make up for it.

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This is EA, a 5 man indie team not having the time to branch off a demo, fine, EA have been creating demos for their games since most gamers were in diapers.

 

 

With the level of incompetency that some of EA's developers have displayed recently, I personally would prefer that all their developers work on getting a polished game with no immediate post-release patches  :/

 

Though I doubt putting demos behind a paywall is going to do anything for quality...

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First I would like to say, this looks very bad on EA's part.  Perception/Context is everything.  

 

EA has stated that, these will be full parts of the game, and not demo builds.

 

But my mindset (and others) is, "If your only getting a slice of the pie, then it's a demo" although in context it's the actual full game, in which you can even save your progress.

 

And with EA's track record, I think they may want to very much EMPHASIZE this.  

 

Instead of fine print, they may want to Boldly state that it's actual real game play and any progress can be saved and resumed if the actual game is purchase.  And make sure that it's stamped into people's minds.

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You're right, this is EA, not an indie developer, hence the scope of a demo is going to be much larger. Regardless, it still takes away valuable development resources. Publishers and developers have literally been saying that for years -- these aren't the shareware days of your and my youth.

EA Access early games are timed full games, according to what they have said, not a demo. That's an absolutely massive difference. And, again, if you think this is some grand conspiracy, I'd ask you to think rationally for a second from EA's perspective. Why only offer a demo, if that's what you truly think it is, on a service that only a very small percentage of your user base can access? That's counterintuitive and doesn't help you lure customers to that service, as very few can use it. You'd potentially be losing money, as gamers who would base their opinion on a demo wouldn't have the chance to play it, and the extremely small revenue you'd make from luring Madden gamers to the service almost surely wouldn't make up for it.

The industry has coped with demos under timed pressure to get them to magazines in time for demo discs, sorry for not believing in the age of digital distribution a demo can be cut out of a game by some of the programmers who've done the bulk of their work for a deadline of say a week before release.

Publishers and devs don't want to release demos these days as it can affect the blind pre-order culture they want us to adopt. Give them their money upfront without a demo, and these days sometimes without reviews as reviews can be embargoed till after your games already shipped (release day embargoes). With paywalling the "demo" at least if its a buggy POS they've already taken your monthly fee, you aren't getting a refund on that, where as if the games broken at launch or reviews poorly you can return your copy, sell it or trade it in.

EA won't be thinking this is a niche service for a small % of their users, they want "everyone" who plays EA games subscribed. If they had it their way this would be on the PS4 right now if Sony hadn't blocked them. You can bet if they could angle it at PC games they will, but PC gamers aren't as gullible and quick to buy into marketing speak as console gamers historically are.

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The industry has coped with demos under timed pressure to get them to magazines in time for demo discs, sorry for not believing in the age of digital distribution a demo can be cut out of a game by some of the programmers who've done the bulk of their work for a deadline of say a week before release.

Publishers and devs don't want to release demos these days as it can affect the blind pre-order culture they want us to adopt. Give them their money upfront without a demo, and these days sometimes without reviews as reviews can be embargoed till after your games already shipped (release day embargoes). With paywalling the "demo" at least if its a buggy POS they've already taken your monthly fee, you aren't getting a refund on that, where as if the games broken at launch or reviews poorly you can return your copy, sell it or trade it in.

EA won't be thinking this is a niche service for a small % of their users, they want "everyone" who plays EA games subscribed. If they had it their way this would be on the PS4 right now if Sony hadn't blocked them. You can bet if they could angle it at PC games they will, but PC gamers aren't as gullible and quick to buy into marketing speak as console gamers historically are.

I'm not sure of the point you're making. Yes, demos have existed. That doesn't mean developers and publishers haven't complained about them before, as I already cited one example, and I'm sure a quick Google search will reveal hundreds more examples. You also seem to have a very poor opinion of developers in the first place -- none of the game developers I've ever met have been sitting on their hands after a game goes gold; they're typically working on day-one patches, DLC, etc.

 

And, again, this isn't the simple hatchet job you're claiming it is. You don't just say, "Oh, I want this level," and cut and paste some files. There are thousands of assets that have to be managed, and lots of code to oversee. It does take quite a deal of development resources, hence why developers and publishers have complained about it in the past. I don't know how much clearer I can explain that, so I apologize if my point isn't coming across properly.

 

Your argument seems to be 'this is what EA is doing because EA is evil.' That's not much of an argument. Yes, the service would be on the PlayStation 4 right now if Sony had wanted it, but they rebuked the offer. Yes, Sony would have taken a cut of the proceeds, just like Microsoft surely is. I'm not sure why this is a Microsoft versus Sony issue for you. This is one game not releasing a demo and Polygon and other websites have turned it into something else completely in an attempt to troll for hits, which is becoming commonplace in gaming media.

 

Let me be clear about this: Mentioning EA Access in the decision to stop offering Madden demos was a worthwhile inclusion in the article. Heck, if I were writing the article, I would have absolutely included it as well. What I wouldn't have done is made a misleading headline that implies EA Access is the cause for the decision when that's known, and I certainly wouldn't have made that the overall point of the story. It would have been a large chunk, yes, but what I mentioned before about developers using resources to make demos also would have been a significant chunk.

 

So what I'm saying is it's always a possibility. But I have absolutely no idea how the author or you seem to be so sure of it as the reason when it's an extremely complicated subject and all the rational explanations point to a different reason.

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I'm not sure of the point you're making. Yes, demos have existed. That doesn't mean developers and publishers haven't complained about them before, as I already cited one example, and I'm sure a quick Google search will reveal hundreds more examples. You also seem to have a very poor opinion of developers in the first place -- none of the game developers I've ever met have been sitting on their hands after a game goes gold; they're typically working on day-one patches, DLC, etc.

 

And, again, this isn't the simple hatchet job you're claiming it is. You don't just say, "Oh, I want this level," and cut and paste some files. There are thousands of assets that have to be managed, and lots of code to oversee. It does take quite a deal of development resources, hence why developers and publishers have complained about it in the past. I don't know how much clearer I can explain that, so I apologize if my point isn't coming across properly.

 

Your argument seems to be 'this is what EA is doing because EA is evil.' That's not much of an argument. Yes, the service would be on the PlayStation 4 right now if Sony had wanted it, but they rebuked the offer. Yes, Sony would have taken a cut of the proceeds, just like Microsoft surely is. I'm not sure why this is a Microsoft versus Sony issue for you. This is one game not releasing a demo and Polygon has turned it into something else completely.

 

Let me be clear about this: Mentioning EA Access in the decision to stop offering Madden demos was a worthwhile inclusion in the article. Heck, if I were writing the article, I would have absolutely included it as well. What I wouldn't have done is made a misleading headline that implies EA Access is the cause for the decision when that's known, and I certainly wouldn't have made that the overall point of the story. It would have been a large chunk, yes, but what I mentioned before about developers using resources to make demos also would have been a significant chunk.

 

So what I'm saying is it's always a possibility. But I have absolutely no idea how the author or you seem to be so sure of it as the reason when it's an extremely complicated subject and all the rational explanations point to a different reason.

 

It's not a MS vs Sony issue, nor an EA is evil issue, it's just an issue of not guzzling the EA coolaid, looking at how historically demos were fine till publishers started ramming the pre-order culture down our throat and having been burned so badly over the past few years with mountains of marketing/publisher BS. EA create the consumer issues they have themselves. Even right now they are getting roasted for absolutely butchering The Sims 4. It's as if they learned nothing from Sim City.

 

If you think this is a "complicated" situation and want to buy any line that's fed to you, be my guest! Time will tell if "every" EA demo magically cannot be done anymore due to "development pressures" and the only way to try something before launch is through EA access.

 

Your point is coming across fine, it's just sadly for you in my eyes reading like an EA press release.

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It's not a MS vs Sony issue, nor an EA is evil issue, it's just an issue of not guzzling the EA coolaid, looking at how historically demos were fine till publishers started ramming the pre-order culture down our throat and having been burned so badly over the past few years with mountains of marketing/publisher BS. EA create the consumer issues they have themselves. Even right now they are getting roasted for absolutely butchering The Sims 4. It's as if they learned nothing from Sim City.

 

If you think this is a "complicated" situation and want to buy any line that's fed to you, be my guest! Time will tell if "every" EA demo magically cannot be done anymore due to "development pressures" and the only way to try something before launch is through EA access.

Don't troll me. I'm not drinking any "coolaid" and I'm not gullible. I'm simply looking at it from a rational perspective, and I'm not going to apologize for that. It has nothing to do with EA's explanation -- my view of the likely reason for the lack of a demo was stated before EA even gave that response. It's the most likely explanation, period. I haven't shown you any disrespect, so I'd appreciate if you extend the same courtesy to me.

 

I don't have the highest opinion of EA. They royally screwed over the "Battlefield 4" launch along with DICE, they killed the Command & Conquer franchise, they ruined the Medal of Honor franchise, they made a horrible sequel in "Dead Space 3," and they've released lots of buggy games in recent years. But I'm not going to base my opinion of this situation on that when all the rational reasoning points another direction, as I've already laid out.

Edit: You added this.

Your point is coming across fine, it's just sadly for you in my eyes reading like an EA press release.

No. I am giving a rational explanation. I'm not defending EA or EA Access -- I'm waiting to see how that works out -- I'm providing the most likely rational explanation. To reiterate: Please treat other forum users with respect.

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Don't troll me. I'm not drinking any "coolaid" and I'm not gullible. I'm simply looking at it from a rational perspective, and I'm not going to apologize for that. It has nothing to do with EA's explanation -- my view of the likely reason for the lack of a demo was stated before EA even gave that response. It's the most likely explanation, period. I haven't shown you any disrespect, so I'd appreciate if you extend the same courtesy to me.

 

I don't have the highest opinion of EA. They royally screwed over the "Battlefield 4" launch along with DICE, they killed the Command & Conquer franchise, they ruined the Medal of Honor franchise, they made a horrible sequel in "Dead Space 3," and they've released lots of buggy games in recent years. But I'm not going to base my opinion of this situation on that when all the rational reasoning points another direction, as I've already laid out.

Edit: You added this.

No. I am giving a rational explanation. I'm not defending EA or EA Access -- I'm waiting to see how that works out -- I'm providing the most likely rational explanation. To reiterate: Please treat other forum users with respect.

 

That bucks a trend nearly a decade long. EA has released a downloadable demo on consoles for every Madden title since Madden NFL 06 in 2005, although that game's trial came out shortly after the title itself launched alongside the Xbox 360. A playable Madden demo is traditionally available approximately two weeks prior to release.

 

 

How did they manage to get a demo out for every other Madden title since 2005 without issue? Genuinely interested in your opinion. These are the facts, no issues with a demo until EA Access comes about and the only way to try Madden before release suddenly becomes put behind a paywall.

 

How have those poor developers done it for 9 years in a row?

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How did they manage to get a demo out for every other Madden title since 2005 without issue? Genuinely interested in your opinion. These are the facts, no issues with a demo until EA Access comes about and the only way to try Madden before release suddenly becomes put behind a paywall.

 

How have those poor developers done it for 9 years in a row?

And yet the reviews have been consistently been bad and largely got worse over the years since they began doing that. I never said it wasn't possible. I said they decided not to use development resources on it. EA's new CEO has already made changes to their policy of how they develop games, which includes delaying games that aren't shaping up, as happened with "Battlefield: Hardline" and "Dragon Age" being delayed. Only time will tell if he stays true to his word, but their actions indicate they're at least attempting to create that perception, which could potentially be an economically poor decision if all they're trying to go for is perception.

 

To reiterate my early point: Behind the "paywall" is a full game. It is not the demo you originally claimed. It does not require anything beyond DRM to implement a timing system.

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And yet the reviews have been consistently been bad and largely got worse over the years since they began doing that. I never said it wasn't possible. I said they decided not to use development resources on it. EA's new CEO has already made changes to their policy of how they develop games, which includes delaying games that aren't shaping up, as happened with "Battlefield: Hardline" and "Dragon Age" being delayed. Only time will tell if he stays true to his word, but their actions indicate they're at least attempting to create that perception, which could potentially be an economically poor decision if all they're trying to go for is perception.

 

To reiterate my early point: Behind the "paywall" is a full game. It is not the demo you originally claimed. It does not require anything beyond DRM to implement a timing system.

 

I really wouldn't try to tie creating a demo to a game being critically panned. Madden has crapped out in reviews at times for masses of game breaking bugs - The kind even months of work on patches afterwards hasn't fixed. Again I really do not think creating a demo can in anyway seriously be linked to a fundamentally poorly developed game. Issues that break games come about with poor development and planning throughout the development stage, not in the last month or so when the publisher starts asking for a demo to be branched off.

 

If the full game is ready to be played ~1 week before release, doesn't that make it even more ironic that a demo cannot be created? So the whole game is ready early, but a demo cannot be knocked out of the final code within say a week even for release on the day the game comes out?

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I really wouldn't try to tie creating a demo to a game being critically panned. Madden has crapped out in reviews at times for masses of game breaking bugs - The kind even months of work on patches afterwards hasn't fixed. Again I really do not think creating a demo can in anyway seriously be linked to a fundamentally poorly developed game. Issues that break games come about with poor development and planning throughout the development stage, not in the last month or so when the publisher starts asking for a demo to be branched off.

 

If the full game is ready to be played ~1 week before release, doesn't that make it even more ironic that a demo cannot be created? So the whole game is ready early, but a demo cannot be knocked out of the final code within say a week even for release on the day the game comes out?

So you wouldn't tie something that takes away from development resources from a game to that same game being critically panned, but you would tie EA Access offering something that isn't a demo on one platform to not releasing a demo on all platforms? Genuinely interested in your opinion.

 

I have not said a demo cannot be created, as I literally just told you in my previous post. I have said, to repeat, that a demo can be created but that it will take away development resources. That includes development for this year's entry in the franchise and the work that's already going on for next year's entry. The industry has largely moved away from demos as we've progressed through the years, and I'm quite honestly surprised that it took this long for a franchise that's released demos every year has taken this long to stop releasing its own. And, to repeat, I'm sure this could possibly be tied to EA Access in some way. I just don't think it's the most likely reason. If presented with actual evidence that indicates that, I'd agree with you. But there isn't much real evidence or rationality behind that at the moment.

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What I would question is, why have EA been able to do this in the past and not now? Games cost more now than they did 12 months ago so I would not expect them to give less?

Game Demo's are important in part of the marketing process IMO, I don't have the money to go out and buy every game that is released and I am much more likely to go out and buy a game if I can try it first!

 

It's not like Demo's aren't popular;

Look on the Xbox One store and you still won't find many game demos. It's something users have asked Microsoft to encourage, and it sounds like Microsoft is listening.

Microsoft has recently updated the console with the same game trial functionality found on Xbox 360 - where you can download an Xbox Live Arcade title as a free demo and then pay to unlock the full version without downloading the game again. It's not something any available games currently make use of, but future titles are free to

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-11-xbox-one-now-supports-trial-and-unlock-game-demos

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So you wouldn't tie something that takes away from development resources from a game to that same game being critically panned, but you would tie EA Access offering something that isn't a demo on one platform to not releasing a demo on all platforms? Genuinely interested in your opinion.

 

I have not said a demo cannot be created, as I literally just told you in my previous post. I have said, to repeat, that a demo can be created but that it will take away development resources. That includes development for this year's entry in the franchise and the work that's already going on for next year's entry. The industry has largely moved away from demos as we've progressed through the years, and I'm quite honestly surprised that it took this long for a franchise that's released demos every year has taken this long to stop releasing its own. And, to repeat, I'm sure this could possibly be tied to EA Access in some way. I just don't think it's the most likely reason. If presented with actual evidence that indicates that, I'd agree with you. But there isn't much real evidence or rationality behind that at the moment.

 

Yeah, because if they release a demo on the PS4 the internet will go crazy that the only way to play it on XB1 is by subscribing to EA Access. The second they decided to make this move there was absolutely NO way they could release a PS4 demo.

 

There's games on the PS4 and XB1 stores just now that download the whole game and act as a trial to be unlocked, and do not require a subscription of any kind. These are still demos. It doesn't matter the size of the file you download, if it's only a portion of the game you can play, or timed, it's a demo  :rolleyes: Downloading the whole thing is just acting as a convenience gate to unlocking it by buying, it's not indicative of what you get to play prior to buying.

 

If companies are oh so crippled by having to branch off a specific demo portion of a game, just do a full download with a timer slapped on to the content of 20 mins. If anyone wants to argue a corporation the size of EA cannot do that "for free" for consumers due to resources then you're having a laugh. Either don't do a demo, or do one and treat it as what demos have always been (a free why to trial a game), don't try and pull the wool over peoples eyes by saying demos are added value to a paid service. Discounts and full games are, arguably early beta access if it does come to everyone at some point, but not demos.

 

What I would question is, why have EA been able to do this in the past and not now? Games cost more now than they did 12 months ago so I would not expect them to give less?

Game Demo's are important in part of the marketing process IMO, I don't have the money to go out and buy every game that is released and I am much more likely to go out and buy a game if I can try it first!

 

It's not like Demo's aren't popular;

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-11-xbox-one-now-supports-trial-and-unlock-game-demos

 

Exactly. It's especially telling with Madden. If it hadn't received a demo every damn year since 2005 it wouldn't look as suspect, but it has. Games like FIFA and Madden make literally MILLIONS of profit for EA, they release demos because it gets everyone pumped. If there's any kind of demo that can be played over and over and talked about prior to release it's a new entry in a sports franchise.

 

What they're trying here is to dangle the carrot in front of all the mouth frothing sports fans who cannot wait to try this years entry with it's updated rosters early. And to play early you do not get your short but satisfying demo for free before purchasing now, you have to pay to try early. Hook, line, sinker. Take what was once expected for free as an industry standard and try and find a way to monetize it. The games industry in a nutshell.

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Yeah, because if they release a demo on the PS4 the internet will go crazy that the only way to play it on XB1 is by subscribing to EA Access. The second they decided to make this move there was absolutely NO way they could release a PS4 demo.

 

There's games on the PS4 and XB1 stores just now that download the whole game and act as a trial to be unlocked, and do not require a subscription of any kind. These are still demos. It doesn't matter the size of the file you download, if it's only a portion of the game you can play, or timed, it's a demo  :rolleyes: Downloading the whole thing is just acting as a convenience gate to unlocking it by buying, it's not indicative of what you get to play prior to buying.

 

If companies are oh so crippled by having to branch off a specific demo portion of a game, just do a full download with a timer slapped on to the content of 20 mins. If anyone wants to argue a corporation the size of EA cannot do that "for free" for consumers due to resources then you're having a laugh. Either don't do a demo, or do one and treat it as what demos have always been (a free why to trial a game), don't try and pull the wool over peoples eyes by saying demos are added value to a paid service. Discounts and full games are, arguably early beta access if it does come to everyone at some point, but not demos.

Congratulations on creating the Kobayashi Maru of EA. You've created a scenario in which the only reason EA can't release a demo is because of EA Access. If they do release a demo, then it hypothetically would only be on PS4 in your scenario, because of EA Access. If they don't release a demo on any platform, it's also because of EA Access. Because the scenario I've explained to you all along -- that making a legitimate demo costs development resources -- isn't possible in your Kobayashi Maru.

 

EA's sports demos have always been consistent: You only get to play as two teams (usually the two teams that met in the previous year's championship) in one scenario in a specific stadium for a specific time. That requires work, and that requires not offering the full game unless you want to make changes to it, which again takes development resources.

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Congratulations on creating the Kobayashi Maru of EA. You've created a scenario in which the only reason EA can't release a demo is because of EA Access. If they do release a demo, then it hypothetically would only be on PS4 in your scenario, because of EA Access. If they don't release a demo on any platform, it's also because of EA Access. Because the scenario I've explained to you all along -- that making a legitimate demo costs development resources -- isn't possible in your Kobayashi Maru.

 

EA's sports demos have always been consistent: You only get to play as two teams (usually the two teams that met in the previous year's championship) in one scenario in a specific stadium for a specific time. That requires work, and that requires not offering the full game unless you want to make changes to it, which again takes development resources.

 

Not at all, whatever they release as their demo on the PS4 can be on the XB1 just fine, what I said could not happen is paywalling it on one and not the other. Currently they have no way to paywall it on PS4, so it doesn't take the brightest man on earth to know that they simply cannot* put it on the PS4 as things stand.

 

And boo-hoo for the publishers and developers that something may require work, this industry requires work to sustain, and development resources. But you know what when the individual gamers hand over hundreds if not thousands of their hard earned money each year the least the companies can do is not rip the arse out of trust, expectations and continue this pursuit to monetize absolutely everything to the point where we have to have these stupid conversations about demos/trials or whatever you want to label them to push your agenda, being paywalled.

 

*Cannot in the sense that it's committing suicide to do so, sure they technically can.

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