When it comes to the streaming and subscription service future gaming is heading into, it’s hard to say where we’ll end up. Some think it’s simply the future and will improve things, while others are a lot more skeptical, for whatever reasons. One company that’s putting itself in the former category is EA, who thinks it’ll be a way to open the floodgates to new audiences.
In their most recent financial quarter report, CEO Andrew Wilson said that he saw the combination of subscription services (such as the company’s own EA Access) and streaming as a way for more people to have access to gaming than before. The high price of dedicated consoles or capable PCs are often a barrier that these things can, in theory, eliminate, as well as reach areas where that type of technology is simply not available.
“With games becoming an increasingly important part of our lives, subscriptions offer compelling new value propositions for players,” he said. “Other industries have demonstrated how subscriptions fundamentally shift consumer behavior. We consume more television content in different ways because of video subscriptions. We consume more music in different ways because of music subscription services. We believe the same is happening with games, where subscriptions can offer access to great content at great value with tremendously low friction.
“When combined with cloud streaming, the barriers are lowered even further, making it even more compelling to jump into new games and connect with new communities. The subscription opportunity is powerful for both players and game creators, and we’re continuing to invest in leading services on both console and PC.”
This is a sentiment that’s been echoed by others in the gaming industry. There’s still a lot of challenges that no one seems able to address, however, such as the existence of data caps and regions where internet access is limited. Either way, only time will tell, and the future is coming up on us pretty fast.
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