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There's an interesting comment [1] by a fella called kodemunkee at TechCrunch. Is there any truth to this? > This is definitely an "unmitigated disaster". Wha

There's an interesting comment [1] by a fella called kodemunkee at TechCrunch. Is there any truth to this? > This is definitely an "unmitigated disaster". What nobody's seemed to realize about EA's offer to give away a free Origin game is this: EA can write off the games they give away in dealing with this debacle as a tax write-off at full "market" value (on the Origin market, anyhow) even though they cost only pennies to deliver to you. In addition, the $20 coupon for another Origin game that was given to those who bought the game through Origin will also be used as a write-off against the $50+ the game went against. If we assume that the value of the games that they will offer for their "apology" will be around $35-40, then they will have effectively written off the entire purchase price of SimCity in "promotional" and "apology" give-aways, thus turning the aforementioned "unmitigated disaster" into EA's most profitable quarter ever. This is not just consumer fraud, it's tax evasion. [1]: http://fyre.it/QUB0pP.4 http://fyre.it/QUB0pP.4

blocking_io 14y ago
If by interesting you mean 'boring conspiracy theory'. Even if EA were the most evil company in the world, sacrificing a valuable franchise in order to marginally improve this quarters profit would still make no sense.
- blaabjerg 14y ago
  I'm not saying they fucked up the SimCity launch on purpose, don't be ridiculous. I'm asking if they can indeed write off the full retail price of the games they give away.
rm999 14y ago
It's pretty safe to assume most large companies pay very low/zero corporate taxes. Saying that this giveaway will make EA more profitable is misleading. Oddly enough, according to EA's financial statements their income after tax has been higher than their income before tax for at least the past four years. Not sure how that works, perhaps tax rebates or writing off losses? https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEA&fstype=ii&ei=R5k8UZj6KNCx0AH6HA https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEA&fstype=ii&#...

blocking_io 14y ago

If by interesting you mean 'boring conspiracy theory'. Even if EA were the most evil company in the world, sacrificing a valuable franchise in order to marginally improve this quarters profit would still make no sense.

blaabjerg 14y ago
I'm not saying they fucked up the SimCity launch on purpose, don't be ridiculous. I'm asking if they can indeed write off the full retail price of the games they give away.

rm999 14y ago

It's pretty safe to assume most large companies pay very low/zero corporate taxes. Saying that this giveaway will make EA more profitable is misleading. Oddly enough, according to EA's financial statements their income after tax has been higher than their income before tax for at least the past four years. Not sure how that works, perhaps tax rebates or writing off losses? https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEA&fstype=ii&ei=R5k8UZj6KNCx0AH6HA https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEA&fstype=ii&#...