GC: Okay, so you’ll like this one: what has Sony got against EA Access?
JR: We don’t have anything against EA Access, we just need to position it… these sort of offerings they’ve got to fit into the framework of everything we do and everything that we offer. And we’re just not quite comfortable with how it sits within the whole ecosystem of our digital offering, including PlayStation Plus.
GC: I think the phrase used by Sony is that it doesn’t offer good value for money, can you be specific about why you think that is? Because to me £3.99 a month doesn’t sound bad, at least not once they have a good pool of games to choose from.
JR: It adds up of course, over the course of months and years, and you know we’ve got PlayStation Plus and we feel that offers our consumers the best value in terms of a subscription offer.
GC: But isn’t that just you being a bully and ensuring you haven’t got any competitors?
JR: I don’t think so, I don’t see us being a bully at all.
GC: If that’s not the case I don’t understand why you won’t allow it?
JR: Like I say, we’ve got to look at that value proposition…
GC: But what are you looking at that you don’t like? What part of that ‘value proposition’ don’t you like?
JR: How it relates to everything else that we offer, including PlayStation Plus.
GC: I don’t understand what that sentence is supposed to mean.
JR: All I can do is repeat it.
GC: [exasperated] But that’s just marketing gobbledegook! No one that reads this, when I transcribe this interview, is going to know what it’s supposed to mean either. It’s just white nose to move on this part of the interview.
JR: I think your readers are probably more intelligent than you are.
GC: They undoubtedly are, but unless they’ve got a PhD in marketing doublespeak I think they’re also going to wonder what it is you’re trying not to say.
JR: …
GC: Last time, when I suggested you police microtransactions, you thought that was unnecessary, but as soon as something that might affect Sony’s profits comes up suddenly you’re very heavy-handed and desperate to protect the customer from the mean old publishers. What would EA, or any other publisher, have to do to make their subscription service acceptable to you?
JR: We’ll look at each individual proposition on its own merits and make decisions accordingly.
GC: You know you’re creating conspiracies by giving all these non-answers. It’s like talking to Phil Harrison!
JR: [laughs] If you want to be paranoid that’s…
GC: I just want to understand Sony’s reasoning.
JR: Well I’ve done my best to explain it, that’s all I can do.
Originally Posted by skipwondah33
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I subscribed this weekend. Just doing the $5 a month thing for now.
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