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Hot on the heels of news that EA is working on a “number of projects for delivering premium content to consumers before, during, and after the launch of a packaged-goods version of the game”, the producer on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of upcoming football title 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa has told VideoGamer.com that EA is “not interested” in making money from downloadable content for the game.
In recent months EA has ramped up the online integration of its games, selling premium downloadable content for games like Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Earlier this month analyst Michael Pachter claimed EA was even considering charging for extended pre-release game demos – a suggestion later denied by the US publisher.
According to EA Vancouver developer Simon Humber, PDLC isn’t the focus for 2010 FIFA World Cup.
“This is a game where we’re not interested in generating alternative revenue streams from the game. We’re a World Cup game. We launch at the end of April. The World Cup ends mid-July. So, some of the things we’d maybe do in other titles aren’t relevant here for us. Plus, you can’t ask for too much sometimes. You have to give things back to people.”
For the duration of the World Cup, EA will package special scenario challenges based on the tournament’s games and make them available to download for free on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game.
The live service, called Story of the Finals, will make these scenarios available the day after the games they’re based on.
“With the World Cup there’s a sense that it isn’t a full game for some reason, and why don’t you release it cheap, or why don’t you release it as DLC? Frankly, it’s fine to release a map pack as DLC, but trying to put the biggest sporting event in the world as DLC, it’s just literally impossible with the space limitations you have on DLC. We put our heart and soul into making this a big game that appeals to hardcore gamers, core football fans, and adding things to make it accessible to football fans who are engaged by the World Cup,” Humber added.
“With the service being free at the World Cup, it’s around those points. We’re releasing this game as a full price game because it is worthy of being a full price game. We’ve got so much content in there. However, why not give this service for free for the course of the World Cup?”
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is due out on April 30. Check out our latest hands-on preview here.
