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Forums - Gaming Discussion - EA: Online Passes damaged our reputation

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From gaf:
EA: Online Passes "are dead".
EA labels president Frank Gibeau has said the firm nixing Online Pass had nothing to do with Xbox One’s digital rights management system. Speaking with Joystiq at E3, Gibeau said the Online Pass program has been “deep-sixed” and is “at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.”

“We’re not crafting a strategy to bring [Online Pass] back, you will not input codes to unlock your game, it’s not going to happen,” he said, even referring to the Online Pass program at one point as “flat out dumb.”

“The amount of money that we made, it didn’t replace the amount of frustration we put on our customers and it didn’t offset the reputation damage it caused the company,” he continued. “So we said ‘it’s not worth it,’ and so the idea was, look, ‘don’t do stuff like that anymore.’”

Gibeau said the opportunity to “to wipe the slate clean” came about under current interim CEO Larry Probst.

He went on to use FIFA Ultimate Team as an example of continuing to make money off “legitimate” customers who purchase DLC.

“Look, they own it, they bought the disc and it’s theirs. They have a legitimate right for not doing anything illegal,” he said. “If we want to be progressive about it, we will make online services available to them that if they want to buy they can, but they don’t have to. At least that way we participate in some monetization. The reputational damage [Online Pass] was causing us was in excess of the dollars we were making.

“At the end of the day, we’re not going to replace [Online Pass]. It’s not coming back. It’s dead.”
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/13/onli...els-president/

Background context

EA acknowledge they have an image problem after being voted worst company


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they could have know that when announcing it to begin with, huge backlash on the net. i can live with myself knowing i never wasted money on one either.



 

At least they admitted it. I might start buying EA games again.



All people in charge of your company damage your reputation go fire them already



One must first have a reputation to damage.



 

 

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They sure did. Don't like their DLC policy either but at least it isn't so stricly anti-consumer. Either way, it's good they stopped doing online passes.



Don't worry EA... You ruined yourself long before online passes... Biggest offense? Buying and ruining some of the best gaming studios (Bullfrog, Maxis, Westwood Studios, etc).



It took long enough for them to realise this. Now end DRM for games like Sim City



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