We always want to hope for the best for games, even in cases where it seems a game is fundamentally flawed or misguided in some regard. In the case of Rocket Arena, there’s a laundry list of potential complaints that could have been aimed at it even prior to release. The name is rather generic, the aesthetic and character design looks like what would happen if you put a bunch of other popular games in a blender in the hope that something interesting might come out, and it was released as a paid game into a market where it’s biggest rivals are all free to play.
The odds were kind of stacked against Rocket Arena from the start, although it’s hard to identify any one single change that could have helped it generate some positive attention. Maybe more original character designs might have helped it stand out from the crowd, maybe a more interesting premise could have drawn players in, or maybe charging $30 upfront for a game already facing an uphill battle was never going to work.
EA has then perhaps addressed one of the biggest problems with Rocket Arena: the upfront price. Less than two weeks since release, EA has slashed the price of Rocket Arena to $4.99/£4.16, down from $29.99/£24.99. The cheaper price, representing an 83% discount, is only available on Origin though, it’s still full price on Steam. I can’t recall the last time an EA game received such a swift and aggressive discount, and it’s not exactly clear what might have prompted this decision. Were there so few people buying it at full price that clear and decisive action was needed? Is EA trying to draw players away from Steam and towards Origin? Was there internal disagreement about how to sell the game prior to launch? I get the feeling we won’t get any explanation from EA, but I am still curious about what could have led to this outcome.
What we definitely have not heard about is any kind of refund for players who got duped into buying this at full price. Obviously any time you buy a game, there’s a risk that you may be paying more than you might be able to get if you wait a little longer, but it’s kind of unprecedented to see a game from EA get priced in this manner. It’s almost like EA wants to send the message that players should not buy EA games day one, instead waiting a couple of weeks for an aggressive discount. Will we see future EA games follow this pricing trajectory?
In a saturated market, with very successful games like Fortnite, PUBG, Overwatch, TF2, Apex Legends, and others, you really have to do a lot to stand out. Not only has Rocket Arena so far failed to attract a wide audience, but it’s also punished those who did buy it at release for full price. These are the players that they should be doing right by. Maybe EA will be offering some kind of refund for people who bought it before the 83% discount, or maybe they’ll just be keeping that money thank you very much.
For all their faults, it is unusual to see EA drop the ball like this. Even in the case of Anthem, their last major fumble, it was very successful out of the gate, but it was post-release that the problems started to set in.
So what’s going to happen now? Is EA hoping to generate a large number of players with this discount, and hope that can sustain the game? Will this price drop be permanent? Is this a step along the path to making this game free 2 play? We really don’t know. For now, the game’s official twitter account hasn’t even mentioned this discount, you’d have thought that if you’re running an 83% discount you’d want to get the word out there. It looks like amateur hour stuff, and it’s a shame because it’s not at all necessary, and plenty of people worked hard on this game. Has EA sent this game out to die? It kind of feels that way, where they didn’t quite know what to do with it, so just released it and hoped for the best. It does perhaps make their portfolio look more diverse than simply just annual sports titles, Battlefield, Need for Speed, and Star Wars. Season 1 of the game just launched, although I really don’t know if hawking a Battle Pass in your game that people aren’t paying for already is really the smartest move. Maybe there’s some 4D chess here that I’m not seeing, and actually, EA is secretly doing something very smart, but it’s alluding me if so.
What’s your take, have you got any interest in this title? Did the $29.99 price tag at release put you off? Will you be jumping on this sale? Let us know what you think in the comments below.