EA Sports and Planned Obsolescence - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 109

After the initial debut of online competitive play in games like Madden
NFL 2003 and FIFA Soccer 2004 , the amount of online interaction has
been steadily increasing in EA Sports titles, marking regular records highs
for online play with the debut of each new version of their major titles.
Shortly after the release of FIFA Soccer 11 , EA Sports “registered more
than 18.6 million online connected EA Sports game sessions, with more
than 11.3 million contributed by FIFA 11 over the two-day period.” 37 Driv-
ing the increasing number of online sessions is a growing ef ort to build a
robust array of online options into the games themselves. Complement-
ing existing game modes, recent versions of EA Sports games of er enough
online play “that the game should have a good deal of longevity throughout
the year.” 38 As EA Sports allows more online play, a large subset of the
player base is able to enrich their playing experience by taking advantage of
the dynamic option of playing against people, rather than a relatively static
computer. The richness of the added elements of online play are frequently
the highlighted in EA Sports titles, with Madden NFL 10 praised for an
“Online Franchise [mode that] is fantastic” 39 and FIFA Soccer 11 evalu-
ated as “a great game of soccer with a fi ne feature set that of ers plenty to
do online or of .” 40 EA Sports is seeking options for players to engage their
games in a wide range of ways, not only by expanding online play, but
spreading to additional platforms, as an E A executive contends that you can
now “start FIFA in the living room on your TV and then engage with it on
the go” as the company is adding the game to platforms like “iPad, iPhone,
[and] social gaming.” 41 As the game spreads, players have additional ways
with which to engage it, which can be a net benefi t for players who can
recognize added value to their purchase. Online play generally of ers depth
and replayability, but it comes with a cost, as it requires the use of servers
that are generally hosted or supported by EA. By providing online content
on their terms, the growing importance of online play increasingly of ers
EA Sports the chance to take their games and go home.
Increasing the amount of online content of ers EA Sports a substantial
amount of control about how they are played. Instead of releasing a disc
that players can use as they wish, EA Sports now sells both a disc and an
online service to go along with the disc. By adding the service, EA claws
back authority over the use of their games, as what they giveth, they can
also taketh away. There are three primary ways in which EA Sports reas-
serts control of their product via online play: through the use of Online
Pass, the hosting of servers, and charges for content.
The primary restrictive mechanism exerted over online play is the use of
EA's Online Pass. Online Pass is predominantly a means to discourage buy-
ing used versions of EA products. In addition to the game disc, EA Sports
games come with a code that enables online access. Each code works only
once. Should someone purchase a used copy of the game, the Online Pass
was likely used by the previous owner, particularly as the game prompts
players to input the code upon fi rst loading. Online Passes can be purchased,