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[IbizaPocholo]

https://seekingalpha.com/article/42...eductions-battlefield-v-sales-disappoint?dr=1

Summary:

• Battlefield V suffered from consumer backlash as a less authentic portrayal of WWII was revealed.

• EA formally revised FY 2019 net bookings guidance; the outlook was revised from $5.55 billion to $5.20 billion.

• The limited nature of Battlefield V’s single player campaign at launch, unimplemented cooperative missions and the delay for the battle royale mode frustrated players.

• All the major retailers currently have the title on sale for 33% to 50% off.

• As hard sales data comes forward in January, look for additional downward revenue revisions from analysts and corresponding pressure on the stock price.

Since peaking in July, shares of Electronics Arts (EA) have fallen over 45% and set a fresh 52 week low on Monday. Though the broader technology market has suffered in recent months, EA’s outsized declines are caused by concerns over unit sales of the company’s tent-pole Battlefield franchise. This year’s release, titled Battlefield V, suffered from consumer backlash as a less authentic portrayal of WWII was revealed over the summer. At the end of August, the company announced they were pushing back the game’s release date from October until November “to deliver the best possible experience for gamers”. Alongside this announcement, full-year net bookings guidance was cut by $350 million dollars.

Check the link for the full story.

 

[GenericUser]

And so, the events begin to unfold.

I'd wet my pants if I'd work for Dice.

 

[brian0057]

What's this? The free market working as intended?
But I was told it was impossible! People told me we need to surrender our rights to the government in order to teach EA a lesson!
No, that couldn't possibly be the case.

 

[Iggzy]

That other forum already blamed the Alt-Right for this, and not developers or PR department of EA.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

It seems like going to war with your customers doesn't really improve your sales. Who knew.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

That other forum already blamed the Alt-Right for this, and not developers or PR department of EA.

They blame the 'alt right' for everything. At this point, I have no fucking idea what the 'alt right' even is.

 

[GenericUser]

That other forum already blamed the Alt-Right for this, and not developers or PR department of EA.

I gotta see that, thanks.

 

[TheUsual]

Good Luck, Anthem. EA will be having all eyes on you now.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

They blame the 'alt right' for everything. At this point, I have no fucking idea what the 'alt right' even is.

This is how it works essentially:

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

That's accurate.

 

[JORMBO]

It also doesn’t help that the game sucks and is unfinished. I love the franchise, but this one is a dud.

 

[LegendOfKage]

They blame the 'alt right' for everything. At this point, I have no fucking idea what the 'alt right' even is.

I see it as conservatives who are genuinely racist (as in supremacist), or who are nationalists to the point where they oppose even legal immigration. AKA, almost no one who is being called alt-right these days fits the description. It's a pejorative smear.

Remember when the people who hated the Mass Effect 3 ending were dismissed by EA as "a lot of the same people who hate gay people in our game" or however they worded it?

 

[Shmunter]

What do you mean less than authentic representation of ww2? As consumers we were uneducated about ww2 till Dice showed us the real deal.

Jokes aside, consumer backlash was two fold. The whimsical representation of ww2 was just the beginning, the bile spat at the consumers by Dice was the cherry on top. I would say, the latter was the bigger deal.

 

[HeresJohnny]

They blame the 'alt right' for everything. At this point, I have no fucking idea what the 'alt right' even is.

Anyone who disagrees with them apparently, even on tiny issues.

 

[Threeshotgamer]

Get woke and Go broke. Attacking and Ridiculing consumers is never going to end well especially when the product you then deliver is half finished but full priced.

 

[HeresJohnny]

What do you mean less than authentic representation of ww2? As consumers we were uneducated about ww2 till Dice showed us the real deal.

Jokes aside, consumer backlash was two fold. The whimsical representation of ww2 was just the beginning, the bile spat at the consumers by Dice was the cherry on top. I would say, the latter was the bigger deal.

No one except crazy fucking wackadoo Leftists want to have woke politics in their games. Hell I don’t want any in my games; I play video games to step out of the real world for just a bit each day. The last thing I need is some self righteous fuck yammering their political point home at me while I’m attempting to entertain myself.

But yeah, you go up against the customer and you’re gonna lose, especially in a super competitive environment like video games and entertainment in general. Spouting off politics potentially alienates half your buying base, you have to be the world’s biggest fucking idiot to do that.

 

[DreamsiclesPlz]

It's a shame because I know people that have bought it that are having a lot of fun with it. I'm just glad BF4 still has people playing, that was my favorite by far.

 

[ExpandKong]

Who could have predicted that the bold marketing strategy of “calling your audience bigots while telling them to not buy your game” would produce less than ideal results?

 

[888]

That other forum already blamed the Alt-Right for this, and not developers or PR department of EA.

Every time they talk about Bf or the subreddits they always toss out Alt Right this and that. It’s quite comical to watch they be scared of the boogeyman.

 

[wildstrike]

It's fun listening to game Journos speculate why this game is doing so poorly without mentioning the real reason.

 

[wildstrike]

Every time they talk about Bf or the subreddits they always toss out Alt Right this and that. It’s quite comical to watch they be scared of the boogeyman.

I had to go read their views after you posted this. It's funny how they are so quick to blame EA for not learning from their mistakes as the "reason" why this game is doing so bad. EA and Dice have done everything opposite of what Battlefront 2 set out to do. Free content, free DLC, no loot boxes. People also keep saying that EA hasn't had enough marketing and it was pointed out EA doesn't do marketing for BF because the community is what sells it. What a bunch of idiots.

 

[PSlayer]

And if Anthem dissapoint as much as i'm expecting, 2019 will be really fun.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I have a crazy idea that will fix some of these issues EA. It requires a lot of mental stretching, but bear with me:
How about actually FINISHING developing a game BEFORE releasing it?
I'll explain better because I know you are a bit... "slow". Like releasing the MP and the SP and all modes at the same time! Mind-blowing isn't it?

 

[Dunki]

If you Do not like IT dont buy IT. Guess people did exactly that.

 

[MDSLKTR]

I have a crazy idea that will fix some of these issues EA. It requires a lot of mental stretching, but bear with me:
How about actually FINISHING developing a game BEFORE releasing it?
I'll explain better because I know you are a bit... "slow". Like releasing the MP and the SP and all modes at the same time! Mind-blowing isn't it?

I started playing it yesterday. Game feels as complete as this gun model:

 

[a multicultural team of v]

To be fair regarding the source in the OP, Seeking Alpha is basically a glorified blog, so take any analysis read there with a grain of salt.

That said, EA and DICE fucked this up so, so, so badly, and frankly this outcome is deserved.

 

[wildstrike]

To be fair regarding the source in the OP, Seeking Alpha is basically a glorified blog, so take any analysis read there with a grain of salt.

That said, EA and DICE fucked this up so, so, so badly, and frankly this outcome is deserved.

When the launch party of your game is focused on making fun of your customers you know the development team is going to be off the mark badly. All their focus in the wrong areas.

 

[AlanAwake]

It seems gamers are getting tired of EA's BS. They are getting what they deserved.

 

[kraspkibble]

i love that BF1 + BFV have disappointed.

that's what you get for making World War games.

i want a modern/futuristic Battlefield. Until then I'll just keep playing BF4.

 

[jaxpunk]

I have bought every game since 1942. They told me not to buy this one, so I didn't. No shit sales are down.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

i love that BF1 + BFV have disappointed.

that's what you get for making World War games.

i want a modern/futuristic Battlefield. Until then I'll just keep playing BF4.

What do you play BF4 on?

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Take this hit in the face Dice and EA !

Next ? Anthem.

 

[mckmas8808]

Get woke and Go broke. Attacking and Ridiculing consumers is never going to end well especially when the product you then deliver is half finished but full priced.

They could have gotten away with it, had the game been great.

 

[Threeshotgamer]

They could have gotten away with it, had the game been great.

Sadly you are correct although here recently some of these big companies have been held to a bit of a standard and i'm loving it. The trend needs to continue and maybe we can get back to video games being fun again and not just a political tool.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I started playing it yesterday. Game feels as complete as this gun model:

The ultimate sawed-off shotgun.

 

[Thiagosc777]

Apparently the "small minority" of hardcore gamers made a difference.

 

[Fbh]

Wait so releasing an unfinished game with crappy "woke" marketing while simultaneously telling a large part of your audience to not buy it can affect sales ?

Who could have told?!?!?!?

 

[Spukc]

i love that BF1 + BFV have disappointed.

that's what you get for making World War games.

i want a modern/futuristic Battlefield. Until then I'll just keep playing BF4.

Word it's like people forgot about these boring af ww2 games years ago. All we got was ww2 snorefest crap

 

[kraspkibble]

What do you play BF4 on?

PC and sometimes PS4.

Word it's like people forgot about these boring af ww2 games years ago. All we got was ww2 snorefest crap

right? i was sick and tired of them in 2006 and still am.

everyone lost their shit when BF1 was announced but i skipped it and V too. the last good BF game was 4 imo. i have no time for World War games.

 

[danielberg]

Unfinished game, consumer backlash and releasing it on the heels of RDR2 wasnt particular smart either.. maybe they should have delayed it to early next year.

 

[Fake]

I started playing it yesterday. Game feels as complete as this gun model:

I almost gave this game a try, but after DF about 'rush' dev, bugs and less content I don't jump. Even being a great fan of BF3.

 

[Blam]

It also doesn’t help that the game sucks and is unfinished. I love the franchise, but this one is a dud.

I mean unfinished is one thing but it don't suck.

 

[wildstrike]

They could have gotten away with it, had the game been great.

I feel like their mindset shows they were more worried about spending time, marketing and recources to focus on "being woke" as opposed to making improvements. Just imagine if none of that was even a concern and they just focused on making a game. I bet they had many meetings and wasted development hours on this stuff.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

PC and sometimes PS4.

Are the numbers sufficient to make it worth picking up on PC today?

 

[InterMusketeer]

Are the numbers sufficient to make it worth picking up on PC today?

I purchased BF4 on PC not too long ago, and was really disappointed with all the hackers going around. Maybe there's servers where this isn't an issue, but I didn't stumble upon them.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

AAA devs were a mistake.

Games were once passion projects. Sid Meier was an upstart college grad from Michigan. He was a huge boardgame nerd and felt that he could make better strategy games than anyone else.

Then games became corporate products. Not itself bad, because this meant many more developers could make bigger games as long as the games were profitable enough.

But then once the profit became "guaranteed" for holders of annual franchises like EA and Ubisoft, they turned their sights on the "betterment" of society by leveraging their products to push political/ideological standpoints.

I hate to say this, but I almost miss the days of Sony and Microsoft leveraging their gaming brands merely for multimedia victories (DVD, Blu-Ray, TV TV SPORTS, etc).

 

[Codes 208]

-create controversial ad
-double down on controversial ad
-get mad at fans who are mad at controversial ad
-???
-WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!?

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

I purchased BF4 on PC not too long ago, and was really disappointed with all the hackers going around. Maybe there's servers where this isn't an issue, but I didn't stumble upon them.

That's disappointing. I enjoyed it back on PS4 after they fixed the launch issues.

 

[Starfield]

As someone who has put over 50hrs now into this game I can say that Battlefield V is the most unfinished, uninspired and content lacking Battlefield I have ever played.

The game just isn't fun...or atleast only in parts but not the overall experience.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I wonder if DICE went with the man baby angle because they knew they were going to release an unfinished and content starved product.