According to a report from analyst group DFC Intelligence, the games-as-a-service trend has been made popular by Activision and EA. So popular in fact, that GameDaily reported that EA and Activision have grown by a combined $79 billion since 2012.
This was thanks to the games-as-a-service style releases. DFC intelligence has studied both games-as-a-service compared to standard releases with one-off purchases. They found that Activision’s value has increased from $10 billion in 2012 to $60 billion. Meanwhile, EA has grown all the way to $33 billion. Their increase was from $4 billion back in 2012.
Now, you may be asking, what exactly is games-as-a-service? Well, games-as-a-service represents all titles with post-launch content and consistent updates. So, EA, for example, has its lineup of sports games like Madden and FIFA. They both have ultimate team content that encourages a fair amount of spending by players.
Also, EA’s MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Sims 4 are also getting players to spend real-life cash, especially with the number of expansion packs and add-ons since launching in 2014. However, there have been staggering figures, so EA is getting rid of the premium pass for Battlefield 5.
Activision’s big games-as-a-service titles include Bungie’s Destiny series, Call of Duty, and Blizzard’s portfolio. Destiny 2 received its first major expansion, Forsaken, back in September. Also, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 had more players online than Black Ops 3 and WW2 its opening weekend.
Although EA has moved away from the season pass business, Black Ops 4 still has its $50 season pass. This season pass allows players to use 12 multiplayer maps and four zombie scenarios in incremental content drops.
In addition, Activision also receives money from King, the mobile phone company who made Candy Crush, giving them $6 billion.
Since games-as-a-service is so popular and profitable, we’ll most likely see more of it in 2019. Especially with titles like EA’s Anthem and Ubisoft’s The Divison 2.
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