Bi-Annual Releases with Paid Second Year Support
Of course, giving he extra time in development sounds great from a consumer perspective and probably from a developer perspective, as well. However, how can all of this work from a business perspective? Bi-annual releases increase the amount of money being spent on each individual release and effectively halve the total revenue earned over a two year period. That’s a tough sell to the money-minded members of EA, 2k, and other sports game publishers.
The solution would be to pay a small fee for second-year support. Think, season pass or expansion pack. The criticism that sports games are, essentially, $60 roster updates year-to-year already exists. Therefore, slapping a relatively smaller price tag on the following year’s support could be viewed as a discount from having to pay full price for a marginally improved game.
Included in the expansion pack would be updates to stadiums, jerseys, and season schedules as well as access to all scheduled roster updates for the second year. Unfortunately, this would lock out online play for those without the expansion due to the fact players are required to have the latest rosters installed. The only update that would not be tied to the expansion pass would be critical updates that seek to take care of issues within the game itself.
