News - ASA bans EA's "misleading" Dungeon Keeper email ad in UK

[HEXUS]

UK advertising watchdog upheld complaint against EA's free-to-play game marketing.

Read more.

[cheesemp]

About time. Sure you could play it at glacial speeds but who would. I'd rather pay once (which I have done several times in play store/amazon app store) than put up with this sort of behaviour. It doesn't help its never a one off payment to make the game work. These sort of games need an almost constant flow of £s just to make it anywhere.

[kajjot]

It's sad that most mobile games are going down this route.
This is main reason why i stick to basic puzzle games like 2048 as there in nothing to spend on.
I would much rather pay £5 for a mobile game that works (at a reasonable rate) and doesn't require a constant connection just to stream ads to your screen.
It seems that games industry has only one thing on their mind "MONEY".
Although i understand that there are costs to develop and maintain a game, there is no reason to use every game as a cash cow.
Same thing happened to FIFA 14, i still have FIFA 13 on my iPhone as 14 has gone to pay to play strategy as well.

[Jingee]

What's wrong with a good game of Sudoku or 2048? Save the real gaming for a dedicated machine that won't commit rape on your wallet.

[LSG501]

EA's whole principle when it comes to their 'free to play' games is dodgy, not just the adverts.

I play need for speed world and they have no confirmation about if you would like to spend 'boost' (the pay real money currency) and they've specifically placed buttons so you hit them by 'mistake'... yeah right.

And don't get me started on their idea of 'micro transactions'... one car can cost as much as one whole GAME....

[MustardCutter]

I have fond memories of playing the original dungeon keeper on the PC as a kid, it's probably my favourite game of all time.

The fact it's now a cash grab phone game saddens me...

Someone needs to slap a horned reaper a few times and drop it in EA's office.

[PaulLFC]

Good. Hopefully some legislation on F2P games eventually too to regulate how often they can grind your progress to a near halt unless you cough up some more money. They always say "but you don't have to pay" which of course is true, but the mechanics of the vast majority of F2P games ensure you get to a point eventually where it becomes utterly miserable to slog through unless you pay up, and some of the practices in certain F2P games are downright offputting.

[MercutioUK]

The thing to do is spend money on games that are actually decent and don't try to fleece you like this.

At £7 the mobile version of X-Com costs slightly more than the desktop would in a steam sale (you could possibly have got it with all DLC for the that price during the summer sale) but it's DEFINITELY worth the money.

Until we start putting hand in pocket and showing we are willing to pay even a small amount for a proper, well made mobile platform game this is the sort of crap we're going to be getting pushed on us.

[shaithis]

I feel that this is quite OTT.

Yes, these games are a joke but all people need to do is not play them. They are free to play and many games that people have paid up front for have had a grind on par with some of these f2p's.

[isandunk]

Another EA cockup? Who would've thunk it!

All EA Execs seem to be doing these days is promising to learn from feedback given. In reality, if they had put in a bit of common sense before their actions then we wouldn't be having this discussion!

[bledd]

Demo for first few levels, £2-5 for rest of the game, this is the model all games should use.

[wasabi]

Demo for first few levels, £2-5 for rest of the game, this is the model all games should use.

Agreed. Google should simply ban the microtransaction thing. One fo the reasons I'm using Android less and my good old PC more is simply I can get software that isn't full of annoyances. While I have my issues with Steam, not allowing publishers in-game sales is one of the advantages.

[Denis_iii]

We need another Bullfrog, who one that won't sell out.

WFTO got my hopes up, but isn't looking promising atm but still beta so fingers crossed.

[csgohan4]

Lol the first screenshot kind of sums it up, greedy EA

[ZaO]

This would be much more of a victory if it was a game that you actually had to pay for in the first place. That's where the real problem is imo. Cutting out chunks of content, then selling it as Dlc on day one. That crap is really ruining a lot of games that we actually pay upfront for!

[kingpotnoodle]

The F2P model has arisen out of piracy and lack of willingness to make up-front payments, if "gamers" as a collective had been less stingy then it wouldn't have ended up like this.

EA might have got the payment/reward/timing balance of DK wrong but you can't entirely blame them for taking the F2P route, they are fully entitled to monetise their creation and there is no basic human right to free gaming; it's entirely an optional luxury. People can vote with their wallets and steer clear where the balance of the game has been broken.