EA is Happy with Real Racing 3′s Freemium Model

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As a number of companies are doing lately, EA has released a Real Racing 3 infographic that shows off some of the numbers the game has racked up since its release. Included in the stats is that the game was downloaded more times in its first week than Real Racing and Real Racing 2 have been downloaded since launch combined.

While that’s not entirely surprising, seeing as Real Racing 3 is free to download, while the first two games come at premium App Store prices. And although the infographic doesn’t give any specific sales figures, the game currently sits at number 22 on the App Store’s top grossing chart in the US.

Nick Earl, EA’s vice president of mobile and social, says, “There’s no question that going freemium was the right way to go. The vocal minority lashed out at freemium. We respect them and understand, but the market has spoken. That’s just where things are going.”

In other words, don’t expect to see a premium-priced Real Racing sequel on the App Store any time soon. In fact, Earl goes on to say that Real Racing 3 “is a service that can live for years.”

real-racing-3-infographic

[Via GameIndustry.biz]

  • pholly

    Vocal minority, more like the intelligent few. Freemium is going to kill gaming but until it does I’ll exploit them whenever possible like I have with RR3 to get unlimited money and EA gets nothing from me for a well made game with stupid freemium additions. The money they’re making is from kids who don’t care how they spend their parents money and parents who can’t differentiate the value of a console game vs a mobile game’s digital goodies.

  • amirpro

    As long as unlocking all the cars and getting unlimited money is quite easy I’m happy as well.

  • Jacen

    Normally I hate freemium games, but the way that EA handeled the freemium model in RR3 is awesome. I’d like to see more freemium games handeled like Real Racing 3 in the future.

    • pholly

      So, how long have you worked for EA again?

  • http://www.facebook.com/hanseljr Hansel Junior

    of course they are happy!!! they get all our $$$, customers not so happy, but I dont mind waiting for my car to repair, while I repair one, I play with another car ;)

  • Qin

    I’ve been playing games since I was in grade 3. I’ve quit playing games recently because the nature of games have changed dramatically since then. In the past, games used to be designed based on a creative concept and then marketed to retailers like EB Games. However, now, business models are turned into games by adding non-sense storylines and fancy graphics. There’s very little artistic creativity save for a select few like the latest Bioshock.
    I could never treat freemium games like art. Can you imagine if Pokémon Gold sold Pokémon for $1 each ($10 for Mewtwo)? It’d ruin the experience and break the illusion of being immersed in a fantasy world. To me, freemium games seem to be dressed up slot machines where developers compete to see how little content they can provide before you reach for your wallet.