hal-halpin posts

Many people in the game industry know of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group that organizes E3 and also fights in court against restrictive game selling laws. However, there is another organization that is centered not around the publishers but around game consumers. The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is a non-profit organization that not only goes after restrictive state laws but also is an advocate for gamers and their rights.

Big Download got a chance to chat with ECA president Hal Halpin to find out more about the group, his opinions on various PC game industry issues and more.

There's been a lot of talk lately on how the PC game industry can grow and become more stable. One of the major solutions that has been mentioned is free-to-play game titles which can be downloaded and played for free but can be supported via micro-transactions or in-game ads.

Our sister web site Game Daily has a new editorial from Entertainment Consumers Association president Hal Halpin who advocates this new business model for games. In particular he is looking at how the upcoming Digital Illusions-Electronic Arts game Battlefield Heroes will do when it officially launches later this summer. Halpin seems to think that EA should have made the game browser based (he believes that would have opened up the game to even more audiences) but he seems hopeful that this new business model could work for other games.

In particular, Halpin believes that a move to a free-to-play model will solve an issue that hurts both PC and console games; games that retail for $50 and $60 or more tend to be rented or traded in more and more. Halpin doesn't believe that all games could turn into free to play (although he adds, "that is certainly a possibility in the distant future") he does believe more publishers should look to changing their ways in order for the games industry to survive.