It's no secret that Anthem is gearing up to be EA's ultimate answer for Destiny, and looks to be the online-based action game that will counter it. How should EA make money off of it for the long term, ie monetization?
First, a little history just in case you're interested!
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Over the past few years I've covered BioWare's once-secret IP (previously known as "Dylan," now confirmed as Anthem) in length without any real input from sources or the studio. I'm not Jason Schreier or anything :P I just watched EA's financials, paid attention to their calls, and gathered the clues that spoke to me.
Back then the clues told me two major things: it'd probably be action-based, not RPG-based, and it'd be online-based and likely be monetized with a service-game wrapper to make big revenues over time. (Other things were kind of obvious such as it'd be powered by Frostbite, and it'd be online-based). In July 2017 EA re-confirmed their action focus for upcoming titles.
"We're trying to build a fictional world that feels real and is alive and is constantly changing," BioWare said during their E3 2014 tease.
Back in May 2017 I predicted Dylan would have microtransactions (again) and gave the proof I gathered (just slides from EA's calls combined with other data, etc).
Hell, I did the same with Battlefront 2, predicting it'd have class-based microtransactions before confirmation, and even predicted that Ubisoft would monetize Assassin's Creed's RNG/RPG elements.
And I'm no gumshoe! Anyone can find this data. I was surprised I didn't see more predictions out there.
More quotes about Anthem!
-- Patrick Soderlund said at EA Play in June.
-- EA said in its Fiscal Year 2017 earnings call.
-- EA CEO Andrew Wilson, EA's FY2017 earnings call
Over the past few years I've covered BioWare's once-secret IP (previously known as "Dylan," now confirmed as Anthem) in length without any real input from sources or the studio. I'm not Jason Schreier or anything :P I just watched EA's financials, paid attention to their calls, and gathered the clues that spoke to me.
Back then the clues told me two major things: it'd probably be action-based, not RPG-based, and it'd be online-based and likely be monetized with a service-game wrapper to make big revenues over time. (Other things were kind of obvious such as it'd be powered by Frostbite, and it'd be online-based). In July 2017 EA re-confirmed their action focus for upcoming titles.
"We're trying to build a fictional world that feels real and is alive and is constantly changing," BioWare said during their E3 2014 tease.
Back in May 2017 I predicted Dylan would have microtransactions (again) and gave the proof I gathered (just slides from EA's calls combined with other data, etc).
Hell, I did the same with Battlefront 2, predicting it'd have class-based microtransactions before confirmation, and even predicted that Ubisoft would monetize Assassin's Creed's RNG/RPG elements.
And I'm no gumshoe! Anyone can find this data. I was surprised I didn't see more predictions out there.
More quotes about Anthem!
"New IP is one the purest forms of innovation in our industry. A brand new idea combining the latest tech and a vision for something extraordinary.
"This game will push every boundary for you. It is fast, dangerous, beautiful and unexpected."
"This game will push every boundary for you. It is fast, dangerous, beautiful and unexpected."
-- Patrick Soderlund said at EA Play in June.
"Looking forward, we will continue our aggressive pace of innovation through experiences that capitalize on our technology, network and creativity.
"We are very pleased with the progress of our new action IP from BioWare - the design is stunning, gameplay mechanics are excellent, and the action will be exhilarating.
"This game is built around a live service, and through our creative process we have decided to add more to the disruptive new social designs for our players.
"To accommodate that, we are moving the launch date for this project into FY19."
"We are very pleased with the progress of our new action IP from BioWare - the design is stunning, gameplay mechanics are excellent, and the action will be exhilarating.
"This game is built around a live service, and through our creative process we have decided to add more to the disruptive new social designs for our players.
"To accommodate that, we are moving the launch date for this project into FY19."
-- EA said in its Fiscal Year 2017 earnings call.
"It's action-adventure, not RPG. So what we're starting to see more and more in games is kind of genre-melding, which is great components of a number of different genres really coming together in a single game.
"So when you're thinking about this game you should be thinking about the great RPG character development and storyline progression that BioWare is known for, but in a world of greater action and greater adventure. Which is growing to be the largest categories of games.
"It will be a wholly-owned IP and we're very excited about it and we'll share more in the year to come."
"So when you're thinking about this game you should be thinking about the great RPG character development and storyline progression that BioWare is known for, but in a world of greater action and greater adventure. Which is growing to be the largest categories of games.
"It will be a wholly-owned IP and we're very excited about it and we'll share more in the year to come."
-- EA CEO Andrew Wilson, EA's FY2017 earnings call
But my real question here for all of you is this: how should EA monetize Anthem, assuming of course it does have microtransactions?
Everything I've seen points to Anthem being extremely important. It should be the biggest game BioWare has ever made, and it certainly sounds like EA's dream game--another big online service game that taps Destiny's revenues.
The point is Anthem is too big to mess up. EA has to do this just right, and so does BioWare. But ultimately I think EA calls the shots about monetization.
Can EA get away with another Battlefront II-style Star Card scheme to fund free post-release content, or could they charge a subscription fee? Would anyone pay that on top of the $59.99 for the base game? Could EA maybe monetize it like they do FIFA with randomized packs? How can they balance things to keep everyone happy?
With the Javelin mechs and a huge array of weapons and add-ons, Anthem looks to be prime territory for mTX (microtransactions), and EA could monetize everything down to paint jobs if they wanted to.
