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EA drops games that "aren't growing", "aren't large enough", or not on viable systems
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Well they're making a first person slasher/kinect game for Xbox 720.
Ahhh, I remember Peter Mooore's outrage over that site that reported that Dead Space was no more:
Quoted cause it should be.
EA can do whatever they want, but to then come off like a whiney douche bag and knowingly lie about calling Kotuka liars... not cool. You made an executive decision and live with it. No need for him to get all pissy like that.
Thank you. Was hoping for a little more detail, like specifically which studios are now actively developing or getting ready to go to work on Star Wars games, but maybe its too premature for that. Some of their studios were mentioned in the press release the other day, but I was hoping for some executive confirmation.
BioWare, DICE, and Visceral were all listed again by Frank Gibeau, who is in charge of them.
It's the same strategy Sega's using. It's working out for them as far as keeping them afloat, but it also means fewer games and probably fewer people working in the industry.
maabus1999
Member
They need to erase the last two games and restart at what made Crysis great.
BriareosGAF
Member
Isn't that just a publishing arrangement with Insomniac? I doubt it's a significant line-item for them, and EAP is sort of end-of-line'd now, so it's already wrapping up.
Welcome to "what the video game public buys".
BolognaSoup
Member
I wish they would drop SimCity and let someone else take it.
I'm fairly certain their plan is to be platform neutral (with the possible exception of Respawn), which is why they're waiting for E3, so they don't end up announcing games for only one platform or the other.
It's worth noting that several of the third party games that showed up at Sony's press conference (Watch_Dogs, Destiny) had PS4 exclusive content, so they were announcing products that tied into their relationship.
djplaeskool
Member
Was sort of wondering, whatever happened to that SSX patch/expansion that was hinted at? Just blowing wind up our skirts or what?
Aye, sadly the case but the choice that keeps the majority of the high-ups in the industry alive.
Huh, what the video game public buys doesn't mean raising the budget to insane level each time so that the products need to sell even more to not lose money.
I mean I'm all for blaming the market once in a while but they put themselves in this situation alone.
Crysis was the best FPS ever made.
That makes it hard to not care.
There is no logical reason why they couldn't make a Crysis game more like the first one if they wanted to.
Not only will next-gen make the more open style possible on console but the exact stuff that fans loved about the game must be well known to CryTek. The Assault and Onslaught levels in particular.
nephilimdj
Member
Not really surprising scaling back this year, after all will be next year will need the new engines and reboots.
Making 4 version (360, 720, ps3, ps4) would be a nightmare this xmas.
Making 4 version (360, 720, ps3, ps4) would be a nightmare this xmas.
Fewer people working at the big factories. I still believe there's a coming democracy to game development that'll allow talented people to make a decent living if they can make quality games with widely available tools.
These AAA wanna-be games weren't really producing results anyone was happy with anyways. Publishers weren't happy they weren't making money. Gamers weren't happy they were homogenized CoD wannabes. If these people can find new ways to make money circumventing this, everyone will probably be happier in the long run. It can just be a rough period as things transition.
Nightstick11
Banned
I hope by this time next generation, EA goes the way of THQ, Acclaim, and Midway.
I agree with you. I just wanted to point out that EA's not the first industry company to publicly state an austerity policy like this. I think it represents a contraction of the industry and is a sign of trouble.
So they are stagnating and waiting and hoping that the market rebounds.
EA is such a reactionary company. They don't drive the industry at all these days. Just look at Activision for comparison. Just 2 years ago they invested in Skylanders and it has paid off immensely. They've also committed 10 years to Bungie. 10 friggen years. That's long term plan that EA would never be able to do.
EA doesn't have a clear vision of what the market is going to do. Heck - they don't even try to figure it out. What they do instead is look at what is currently happening and they attempt to latch on to that. They failed on Facebook. They succeeded on iOS (mostly through licenses - Hasbro, Simpsons, etc). They don't know what to do with Nintendo.
They need people with better ideas at EA. But people with better ideas don't want to go there.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
I realized this sounds pretty bad for Mirror Edge 2.
*crosses fingers*
*crosses fingers*
Little Green Yoda
Member
What happened to investing in platforms at the start of the gen? New IPs? If they are this risk averse now, why would we expect things to get better a few years from now? Install base will be larger but that doesn't grow by itself and another publisher could have the bulk of the mindshare/marketshare a few years from now.
I think it will get one shot for a Next-Gen game and if it does not sell millions, it will get shelved.
Excellent point,
seriously who would have bet 2 cents on the Spyro licence 3 years ago?
That's why I never got the Kotick hate here, ATVI clearly know what they're doing.
Unlike EA.
Glass Rebel
Member
So for EA that means dropping Wii U, Vita and 3DS and killing off Dead Space, Army of Two and... what else do they even have?
The Kotick hate is from screwing over the Infinity Ward heads, running the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground and generally being anti-consumer.
EA partners program as well
alexandros
Banned
They are both at fault. Crysis 1 was PC-led, Crysis 2-3 were console-led and it shows. Oh God it shows. They both wanted the series to go this way so they're both responsible for killing it.
Well maybe just pass on what EA is bringing to the table.
Neuromancer
Member
I wish EA would sell off some of their old IP (Road Rash, Mutant League Football) so a better publisher could make use of them. When I think of all the great games that lay fallow in their care it brings a tear to this old gamer's eye.
Why would a company do something that makes them less profit?
Great, so that basically means that if a title overperforms a bit it's a Death Sentence for it's future, because it will never sell more than that.
So what should we do when a title that we love comes out EA? Look up if it not already sold more than the previous one, an if so go for a used copy because it would otherwise hurt the series in the long run? Tell me EA?
So what should we do when a title that we love comes out EA? Look up if it not already sold more than the previous one, an if so go for a used copy because it would otherwise hurt the series in the long run? Tell me EA?
I know that this is a huge oversimplification, but it always strikes me as crazy that publishers don't have a small division dedicated to experimental indie-esque games. Games like Minecraft, Terraria, Fez, FTL, The Binding of Isaac, etc., all have the potential to hit the kinds of profitability of something like a Dead Space or a Crysis, without nearly as much risk. They cost a fraction of a AAA to develop and aren't jumping into a market that's already overcrowded and has its marketshares essentially defined.
MOH, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3... each of their budgets could fund 50 solid games with a lesser scope. Shit, EA could've gotten their hands on pretty much every Kickstarter game that looks destined for success with half of one of those budgets and a more developer-friendly agreement, and still would've gotten a better ROI than what they got with those games.
I'm not saying that they should make 150 smaller games, but they could determine a really spectacular top 20-30 and spread out their platforms (from iOS to next-gen) and release dates and end up with a huge boost to their market presence and consumer goodwill while simultaneously cutting costs and maintaining, if not increasing, their profitability and ROI. Half those games breaking even and 1 or 2 big hits would easily have a better ROI than any of these games that they're failing to pass off as game-changing market-buster AAAs.
I'm glad they're cutting the fat because it probably means less in-our-faces marketing for these games that people don't want to buy, but they're still way too focused on brute-forcing their way to having the highest-selling games when it would be so much more efficient for them to take advantage of an unsaturated section of the market and to make games that don't need $50 million budgets before marketing costs.
But that would take creativity in upper management.
MOH, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3... each of their budgets could fund 50 solid games with a lesser scope. Shit, EA could've gotten their hands on pretty much every Kickstarter game that looks destined for success with half of one of those budgets and a more developer-friendly agreement, and still would've gotten a better ROI than what they got with those games.
I'm not saying that they should make 150 smaller games, but they could determine a really spectacular top 20-30 and spread out their platforms (from iOS to next-gen) and release dates and end up with a huge boost to their market presence and consumer goodwill while simultaneously cutting costs and maintaining, if not increasing, their profitability and ROI. Half those games breaking even and 1 or 2 big hits would easily have a better ROI than any of these games that they're failing to pass off as game-changing market-buster AAAs.
I'm glad they're cutting the fat because it probably means less in-our-faces marketing for these games that people don't want to buy, but they're still way too focused on brute-forcing their way to having the highest-selling games when it would be so much more efficient for them to take advantage of an unsaturated section of the market and to make games that don't need $50 million budgets before marketing costs.
But that would take creativity in upper management.
Monty Mole
Member
People were saying that about EA 10 years ago though.
They've hinted at the franchise continuing in other forms besides shooters already. Probably a F2P browser game or something.
BibiMaghoo
Member
Vita??
Father_Brain
Banned
Probably FIFA for all three, but that's apparently a contractual obligation. Beyond that, I would assume they're completely done with those platforms unless proven otherwise.
Glass Rebel
Member
I thought that was written into the Madden contract as well and that's skipping the Wii U and 3DS.
Then again maybe it's not. It doesn't seem to be in the NHL contract.
It is, and the last few levels of Crysis 3 show that, but for some reason -- no idea if it was due to console limitations or not -- they were completely empty and devoid of pretty much anything. So much missed potential in those levels.
Baconsammy
Banned
They are investing in platforms this gen. The next PS and Xbox. They're not alone in not investing in the Wii U or Vita, for very good reason. And as each month of shitty sales go by, their decision looks wiser and wiser. If Xbox and PS4 flop as hard as those 2, EA and the other biggies are in real trouble. They need the PS4/Xbox to be as successful as MS and Sony want them to be.
Sure, if you want to willfully ignore the fact that EA isn't the entire industry or the fact that Sony is making their next gen console incredibly indie-friendly.
They will do what EA has always done. Release sequels, every now and then create a franchise, but get most of the new to EA franchises through acquisitions.
Even if it is creatively bankrupt, being internally risk averse but acquiring franchises through acquisition is a pretty common business model in entertainment industries.
Diablohead
Member
So I guess that would only mean:
Battlefield series
Need for Speed series
Madden
FIFA football
and um...? maybe a mass effect or something.
Battlefield series
Need for Speed series
Madden
FIFA football
and um...? maybe a mass effect or something.
Little Green Yoda
Member
One might think they would have learned something about diversification in the past 6-7 years though. Were they not the ones who admitted to backing the wrong horse last gen?