Friday, March 29, 2024

Electronic Arts Creating Tech To “Facilitate” In-Game Purchases Through Mobile

One of the companies known for its notorious monetization structures is EA. The company is behind some of the most successful titles in the world, namely FIFA, Madden NFL,  Battlefield, and Need for Speed. Over the years Electronic Arts has successfully used various monetization models in its video games.

Electronic Arts constantly looks for new ways to boost its in-game purchases revenue; be it the frowned upon Battlefront 2 loot boxes, FIFA  Ultimate Team cards,  or Madden NFL’s monetization system.

Fans are usually pretty steamed about how EA handles in-game monetization and I doubt this new technique is going to be taken well too. Although it’s just a system that “facilitates” in-game purchases, knowing EA we can be fairly certain that the “facilitation” will be quite aggressive.

The patent that was filed at the United States Patents and Trademarks Office on October 1st, 2019 revealed EA’s possible future plans for selling in-game microtransactions. It seems the idea is to allow players to use their smartphone devices while playing popular console and PC games to purchase in-game items without having to visit in-game stores.

Players will have purchase options and all the necessary details on their smartphone devices, and unlock the item in-game immediately after purchasing via smartphone devices. “The purchased content may be integrated into the game space such that purchased content is available for use while the user is playing the video game,” the patent reads.

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for communicating a primary display comprising information that facilitates visual presentation of a view of a game space to a primary client device and facilitating purchases of content for use in the game through a secondary client device such as a user’s smartphone. The system may include a game device that allows a user to play a video game or otherwise interact with a virtual environment using the primary client device and purchase content for use in the video game using a secondary client device while playing the video game using the primary client device. The purchased content may be integrated into the game space such that purchased content is available for use while the user is playing the video game.

Either this will be done through companions apps for each video game or a central hub app for in-game purchases. The latter seems the most likely implementation of EA’s in-game purchases system.

Jake
Jake
Hey there! I'm Jake, and for the past eight years, I've been diving deep into journalism and whipping up video game guides. Big-time Pokemon fanatic? That's me. Obsessed with RPGs? Guilty as charged. When I'm not jotting down the latest game tips or hunting for that elusive Pokemon, I'm geeking out with fellow gamers and sharing my latest adventures; 2500+ articles and still going! Dive into my world and let's game on!
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