EA Sports Season Ticket - Another Way To Get Your $$$

[Trace17]

Announced today, you can pay $25 a year to play EA Sports games digitally 3 days early, but only for 3 days. You can also get a discount on downloadable content. Sounds great, right?

More info:

http://www.easports.com/seasonticket

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/118/1185442p1.html

Electronic Arts today announced EA Sports Season Ticket, a premium subscription service being implemented into several upcoming sports titles, starting with Madden NFL 12 this August.

For an annual fee of $24.99 (2000 Microsoft Points), subscribers get four perks: Early access to all participating EA Sports titles three days before release; a 20-percent discount on downloadable content; free premium web content; and a membership recognition badge displayed both in-game and on the user's EA Sports profile.

Andrew Wilson, head of worldwide development for EA Sports, made it clear this is not an instance of the publisher locking existing game content behind pay walls.

"It's a completely additive program; we're not taking anything away from the game and we're going to continue to build and invest in feature, content-rich experiences on the disc, he told IGN. "It's a value-add and doesn't take away anything from the gamer who just wants to play the same way they've always have."

Season Ticket currently applies to Madden NFL 12 and the upcoming releases of NHL, PGA Tour, NCAA Football, and FIFA titles. Subscribers can download a full, digital version of each game three days prior to its retail release, however the digital game will time out once the game officially launches.

Any stats, progress, and achievements earned within the digital version will carry over, but the retail game must be purchased in stores. You cannot purchase the full game digitally.

"This is for core gamers who are already buying the game at retail and giving them the opportunity to play it three days earlier," Wilson said. "This is also for gamers who, for example, never tried our hockey titles before. This gives them an opportunity to do so."

Subscribers also get a 20-percent discount on all available downloadable content for the selected EA Sports titles, which include items like Ultimate Team packs, accelerator packs and gear upgrades. Additionally, premium web content is also unlocked for each title for members beginning with Creation Center packs for FIFA Soccer 12. Web content is available as long as the membership doesn't expire.

Wilson said discussions for Season Ticket began to take shape over a year ago after the company decided to look more closely at researching player needs.

"We're always looking at how we can deliver better gaming experiences and respond to feedback we get from gamers," he explained. "In this instance, the components that are part of this program are a direct result of substantial gamer feedback that we had.

"This is an initiative focused on enhancing and delivering value to our core gamer."

Season Ticket is available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox
360 in North America, and Xbox 360 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand starting today. Head over to the official website to see more.

Absolutely pathetic. And you thought online passes were bad...