Discussion
  • Read More
    darthviper107Jason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:42pm

    I wonder if this kind of talk is a strategy to drive up the perceived value of the company in the potential Microsoft acquisition. To me, of the choices that they are supposedly looking at, EA would be a bad choice.

    Reply
    • Read More
      Jason Schreierdarthviper107
      1/31/18 1:43pm

      The Microsoft rumors are thin and insubstantial, and should not be taken too seriously. As I said on Twitter:

      Reply
    • Read More
      Babbyloniandarthviper107
      1/31/18 1:45pm

      No, this kind of talk is standard CEO talk when arguing that s/he is doing a good job. He’d say the same thing no matter what rumors are floating around.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Randy RandersonJason Schreier
    1/31/18 2:07pm

    But to be fair, has there ever been a time in the past 20+ years where you could say you were passionate or excited about EA’s work? Even as a kid who loved the classic Need for Speed games, I implicitly understood that EA’s work had a much more corporate feel than Nintendo, Squaresoft, etc. The marketing research was much more apparent, and in a decade where games were exceptionally weird, they always played it straight.

    Looking over their list of games (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electronic_Arts_games), there are plenty of great games, and even fun games, but games that inspire fandoms? Games that fans love? And even when you do find a gem on the list, EA was often the publisher, not the developer. They acquired, but rarely created (and many of their acquisitions have only hurt their popularity). Out of their entire list (excluding the countless sports, shooters, Need for Speed, and licensed games), these are what I’d consider their strongest and most interesting games, and each game that they published but did not develop is marked with an asterisk*.

    Bard’s Tale*
    Black & White*
    Burnout*
    Command & Conquer*
    Dead Space*
    Latter-day Bioware (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, etc)*
    Mirror’s Edge (by DICE, considered a subsidiary)
    Plants vs Zombies*
    Rock Band*
    Sims / Sim City*
    Skate (by EA Black Box)

    Don’t get me wrong, Mirror’s Edge and Skate are classics, both very interesting and with fans of their own. But as a high bar of their creative output? Every other developer can beat that. Ubisoft, who also get lots of shit from fans, actually create a lot of really interesting and exciting work - Mario & Rabbids is insane in concept and a joy to play, the recent Rayman games are exquisite, and their dedication to smaller experiments like Child of Light is fantastic. Even Far Cry, one of their most formulaic and steady franchises these days, had the balls to release Far Cry 2, a morally ambiguous game where your gun jams regularly and you have to inject yourself with malaria medication on a regular basis.

    TL;DR - I’ve never seen EA as a game developer, more just a publisher with a wide range of acquisitions. Hard to love something so corporate.

    Reply
    • Read More
      GlauconRandy Randerson
      1/31/18 2:22pm

      I mean Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri is on that list, so yeah, I am pretty passionate about that game.

      You also have the command and conquer games, that were great.

      Reply
    • Read More
      Randy RandersonGlaucon
      1/31/18 2:28pm

      Again, those were the results of EA’s acquisition, not creation. (the whole point behind my post) I’m not saying everything with EA on the label is automatically shit, just that they’ve very rarely actually made anything worthwhile.

      Reply
  • Read More
    HurricanedjJason Schreier
    1/31/18 2:05pm

    Why haven’t you said anything about SW:BF2 adding loot boxes back in the game? It was announced during the same conference. The site made a big stink about it during the launch and now nothing...

    Reply
    • Read More
      Jason SchreierHurricanedj
      1/31/18 2:11pm

      It’s not news - EA made it quite clear during the original announcement in November that the removal of microtransactions was temporary.

      Reply
    • Read More
      HurricanedjJason Schreier
      1/31/18 2:15pm

      I get that its not breaking news, but this part of the problem. A big deal was made of it during the launch that forced change, if this same pressure continued from video game sites and gamers alike it could force continued change, imo. Instead we let them get a free pass for putting it back in the game without any backlash.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Sandrockcstm GamingJason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:34pm

    EA is the Taco Bell of video games.

    No, it’s not technically “quality beef” in their tacos. Yes, every single item on their menu is a heart attack waiting to happen. Yes, it’s a cheap product with a jillion add-ons. Yes, we’re probably going to see the same things offered by them 10 years from now.

    But, at least...

    ...I’m sorry, I seem to have lost my train of thought.

    Reply
    • Read More
      DarigaazSandrockcstm Gaming
      1/31/18 2:10pm

      Taco Bell isn’t afraid to experiment.

      Reply
    • Read More
      The AwesomologistSandrockcstm Gaming
      1/31/18 3:12pm

      But, at least...

      ...I’m sorry, I seem to have lost my train of thought.

      You’re hungry for taco’s now aren’t you? That’s how they get you. No matter how hard it is to like Taco Bell, it’s hard to say no to a taco.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Smooth JAJason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:30pm

    It blows my mind that EA has blown the Star Wars license. 12-year-old me could not have imagined that a day would ever come where I wouldn’t want to own a Star Wars game or even EA’s football and hockey games, and yet, here we are.

    Here’s hoping that the rumor of Microsoft buying EA comes true, and MS keeps all EA properties as exclusive so that the NFL and NHL along with the Star Wars licenses are allowed to expire because those companies want their games available on a wider variety of platforms. In short, I just want more Rogue Squadron games and EA sure as shit isn’t going to make one that doesn’t charge me $5 for a proton torpedo to blow up the Death Star.

    Reply
    • Read More
      StairmasternemSmooth JA
      1/31/18 1:42pm

      I think more then anything I want to see Machine Games make a Dark Forces sequel.

      Reply
    • Read More
      JustKidding,RollingSmooth JA
      1/31/18 1:59pm

      It’s actually really easy to mess up star wars because people like star wars for different reasons.

      Some people like light sabers, some like the space ship battles, etc. I think Rogue Squadron is mindnumbingly boring (same goes for the force unleashed or whatever) while BFII is pretty fun.

      That’s how easy it is to screw up Star Wars.

      Reply
  • Read More
    PajamasJason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:28pm

    I believe that the gamers that have enough passion to be totally pissed off at microtransactions are in the minority. The masses are not going to care and will play the game for a while and then move on to the next game. I believe major publishers like EA are geared for the masses. They occasionally launch a title that the more “hardcore” gamers latch onto, but I think that’s more a unexpected event than a planned structure.

    Reply
    • Read More
      IshamaelPajamas
      1/31/18 1:37pm

      A million sales off expectations? I don’t know I think this one seeped into the mainstream. I’m of the same mind that microtransactions are a niche issue, however Battlefront II was different. The sheer amount of work that was required to unlock anything seemed to come straight out of a F2P game. 

      I can put up with that much effort but putting down $90.00 (the Canadian cost of a game plus tax) and then having to toil for hundreds of hours to unlock good characters that effect gameplay? No, that is a bridge too far.

      Reply
    • Read More
      btifultwilightPajamas
      1/31/18 1:39pm

      I disagree to an extent, i do believe most gamers dont really care enough to voice their opinion about games. Most gamers will be driven by what their friends play and by previous experiences. They are not going to keep track of what EA does and hasnt done, but they will remember the last SW game they bought was disappointed and might wait for the next one because they will simply not be that excited about a new release.

      the videogame world is similar to movies, most people dont really care who makes a movie, they care about enjoying a movie and if game mechanics get in the way of the enjoyment, people move on quickly.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Jovian09Jason Schreier
    1/31/18 2:30pm

    Has any player of games ever stopped and thought: man, that publisher’s been a bit scummy lately, but they got really good metacritic scores this year!

    I’m trying to be open-minded on this, but I don’t hear passion. I hear a businessman looking at a stat sheet, quoting buzzwords.

    Reply
    • Read More
      Roto13Jovian09
      1/31/18 4:08pm

      To be fair, he’s talking to an audience that also doesn’t care about actual quality as long as they’re making money.

      Reply
    • Read More
      NatRJovian09
      1/31/18 5:11pm

      As various pundits have pointed out, the actual customers of these companies are the shareholders. Both games and gamers are part of the product cycle, and what the company is actually trying to produce is stock price growth and dividend shares.

      Anything that sounds like good news to analysts is worth touting.

      Reply
  • Read More
    HydorusJason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:47pm

    Well, we keep on buying the stuff they make, of course he’s happy. EA said yesterday that they forecast 10 million copies of Battlefront II sold until march. That’s 4 million units less than the first game, sure, but it’s still 10 million friggin’ units!

    Inquisition was way, way worse than Origins, and still sold like hot cakes. Ditto for Battlefront II. Ditto for The Sims 4. Etc, Etc, Etc. Despite all the noise, EA easily beat sales forecasts for the quarter and are particularly happy with their results on games as “services” and “recurring revenue”, which is to say goddamn microtransactions.

    Gamers have such poor impulse control that we dump this company with both outrage and boatloads of money at the same time. Want something to change? Make those stocks plummet.

    Reply
  • Read More
    JustKidding,RollingJason Schreier
    1/31/18 1:56pm

    EA screwed up with BF2, yeah, but at a C-suite level, Jorgensen and Wilson aren’t clued in to the minutiae of how mtx works in each game, they’re executives and really only see the big picture, which is something a lot of gaming consumers *don’t* see.

    I genuinely believe that gamers are the central problem that’s led to where the industry is today. Games are more complex, involved, and take more time, effort and work to develop than at any point previously (as illustrated by your book, which I bought last night - HEY KOTAKU READERS BUY THE FUCKING BOOK IT’S GOOD).

    So you’ve effectively got a product which is more difficult to produce and costs more to produce, in an industry which has seen widespread industry consolidation because so many studios have died off from failing to keep up with expectations, and still gamers expect quick development timelines and expect to pay $60 for the base experience, a price which has effectively gone unchanged for nearly 30 years.

    Yeah, microtransactions, etc., suck, and so do series rehashes (think CoD every 2 years or whatever), but these businesses are just that - businesses - and exist to make money. THQ died off despite being one of the old big dogs, Nintendo nearly drowned itself with the Virtuaboy and then suffered lean years with the WiiU, and that shows you that even though EA and Activision make money now, it’s easy to slip up.



    Reply
  • Read More
    JashbyJason Schreier
    1/31/18 2:32pm

    “Even, you look at Mass Effect and while there was some polarizing sentiment in that franchise, it’s actually performed really well, and player engagement is really strong.”

    Then why did you [Andrew Wilson] immediately kill it??

    They’re so damn shortsighted. They killed the team that would have produced Mass Effect DLC and reassigned them to pump out Battlefront 2 which turned into its own minor disaster. They could have sold a million copies of Mass Effect DLC. Aren’t they always talking about the “live game” and “games as service?” They killed the live game almost immediately.

    Dear EA: stop doing stupid stuff.

    Reply
    • Read More
      JustKidding,RollingJashby
      1/31/18 2:40pm

      Couple of things (as a massive ME fan who is in the midst of trilogy playthrough #50-something):

      1) The number of people who buy DLC on SP games is crazy low - it’s like 10% of the original population, and even lower without a season pass. The DLC would not have made up its costs.

      2) ME:A was just not well received, at all. I played through all of it, constantly hoping that the next hour, and the next, and the next, would be better. It was not very good. They killed off the series because the game was so disliked, both by the wider community and the ME community, that keeping it afloat for its comparatively small group of fans did not make sense.

      3) ME will be back. It’s the Bioware flagship IP. Assuming Anthem goes well, ME will probably be rebooted in some form or another in 2022 or 2023.

      Reply
    • Read More
      Roto13Jashby
      1/31/18 3:42pm

      The effects of a disappointing game aren’t really felt until people who bought in and got burned are expected to buy the next thing. That’s why Assassin’s Creed Syndicate underperformed, despite being much better than Unity, and it’s why Justice League underperformed, despite being much better than Batman vs Superman. Tons of people bought Mass Effect Andromeda, but they didn’t like it very much, and they probably wouldn’t have bought more of it.

      Reply