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[Mael]

It wasn't a total waste of time. Eurocom developed a decent engine out of the deal that was later used in Goldeneye.

Good point.

ToR was a much larger risk than it needed to be due to poor management of the budget and the project in general.

I still can't fathom whose idea it was to make a MMO with voice acting and make THAT the selling point.
I mean it's so incredibly stupid and short sighted I think even George freaking Lucas wouldn't have come up with something so stupid.

 

[sangreal]

I guess financially it was a huge risk but to me taking the star wars IP and making a WoW clone wasn't a risk at all. I think the only thing that went wrong is it came out when people were done with WoW clones and pay to play MMOs. They simply took too long to release it.

Well, it was also a terrible WoW clone. It did have a pretty good launch. I think their biggest problem was spending shitloads of money voice acting the stories which the vast majority of MMO players generally skip anyway. This did make for a great leveling experience but did nothing to keep people in the game and made updates slow and expensive. Finally, they inexplicably chose to use a crappy game engine made by a crappy company in the 90s (TES:O too).

 

[Solidino]

And now EA will rise from his ashes.

maybe.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Well, it was also a terrible WoW clone. It did have a pretty good launch. I think their biggest problem was spending shitloads of money voice acting the stories which the vast majority of MMO players generally skip anyway. This did make for a great leveling experience but did nothing to keep people in the game and made updates slow and expensive. Finally, they inexplicably chose to use a crappy game engine made by a crappy company in the 90s (TES:O too).

Yeah from a CEO high level view, making a new Star Wars MMO probably was a good decision. It was the execution that was terrible.

 

[Tarin02543]

i always read ricitolla as ricotta

as in john ricotta

 

[speculawyer]

Yeah from a CEO high level view, making a new Star Wars MMO probably was a good decision. It was the execution that was terrible.

And a Heavy Metal game with Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemme, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, etc. would also seem like a good bet.

Well, I enjoyed Brutal Legend but I guess it didn't sell as well as they hoped.

 

[Yoda]

This is a good post... In this industry that is continuously consolidating around only a few big games, EA is at risk at becoming just the Sports game company, like how Sega has become the Sonic, Total War, and Football Manager company.

I could easily see franchises like Deadspace 3 and Crysis 3 getting canned because of their mediocre sales. The heavy consolidated approach is what Activision already does. If you will recall when Prototype 2 launched, it received decent reviews and better than average sales. These facts weren't enough for Activision to want to continue investing in it because A) it couldn't be annualized and B) it being non annualized w/its sales meant it was simply a waste of time to develop.

Another game that is probably going to be on the chopping block is Dragon Age 3. Bioware has been treading shaky ground on its last three launches (DA2, SWTOR, and ME3). Whether it be for launched in rushed/incomplete game or disappointing fans w/a bad ending, there is a high probability DA 3 will be kept at arms length by most gamers initially, which will hurt sales if the game launches with any issues. It hasn't been unveiled in a significant form, so it may not be too late for them to walk away.

 

[Haunted]

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Another game that is probably going to be on the chopping block is Dragon Age 3. Bioware has been treading shaky ground on its last three launches (DA2, SWTOR, and ME3). Whether it be for launched in rushed/incomplete game or disappointing fans w/a bad ending, there is a high probability DA 3 will be kept at arms length by most gamers initially, which will hurt sales if the game launches with any issues. It hasn't been unveiled in a significant form, so it may not be too late for them to walk away.

I don't doubt that BioWare is maybe under greater scrutiny now regardless of whoever they bring to replace Riccitiello. My impression with BioWare under EA was that Riccitiello sort of coddled them quite a bit since he was the guy that brought them into EA in the first place. Hence, why you had gobs of money being shoved at TOR to no avail. BioWare was JR's big acquisition and so I think he had more of a sense of ownership over them while whoever comes in new might be a little more harsh on them, especially with Ray and Greg gone as well.


I can't see DA3 being cut or cancelled at this stage in the game though. By most accounts its pretty far along. Especially considering all of the time they've put into it so far. If they were going to cut DA3 I'd think it would be more that the game is horribly over budget or overdue.

It is entirely possible that if DA3 doesn't sell a ton then I could see Dragon Age as a brand getting shuttered and sent to pasture for a while, if not permanently.

 

[AlimNassor]

Shamelessly stolen from reddit...

 

[TalesOfWin]

now now, who started this whole DLC debacle? I dont think it was EA.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Shamelessly stolen from reddit...

Also shamelessly stolen from earlier in this thread, I think.

 

[Metal Gear?!]

So now even his statements are wrong? Not just his predictions?

Twitter is an effective tool for stock market "analysts" to fuel their pump n' dump schemes

 

[Anticitizen One]

I guess financially it was a huge risk but to me taking the star wars IP and making a WoW clone wasn't a risk at all. I think the only thing that went wrong is it came out when people were done with WoW clones and pay to play MMOs. They simply took too long to release it.

I agree. On paper a Star Wars MMO by Bioware that takes place in the KOTOR era made a ton of sense for a business executive to greenlight back in 2008.

 

[Game Guru]

Unfortunately for EA, most of their sports franchises have seen diminishing returns over the years. While FIFA continues to sell incredible numbers, and Madden is trending back upwards a bit, most of their their other annual releases (Tiger, NHL, NCAA) are stagnant at best or declining at worst. Probably doesn't help that they haven't released a NBA game for the past 3 years either which btw is probably one of his biggest, most overlooked, mistakes imo when you consider the company was essentially built on the backs of these titles.

Non-annual releases are another problem entirely... Fight Night has never been a huge selling franchise despite receiving a modest budget and MMA was a flop.

Retreating into a sports only company means EA looks very different. They're much smaller and much less profitable due to the costs of licensing and they become less attractive to potential investors. Almost like a blue chip stock with no growth. I don't see that as a viable option.

Well, that's the problem... Retreating to being a sports game company is going lead to a much smaller EA, but I don't see how EA can avoid that fate if they can't get their non-sports franchises on the right track again.

 

[Yoda]

Well, that's the problem... Retreating to being a sports game company is going lead to a much smaller EA, but I don't see how EA can avoid that fate if they can't get their non-sports franchises on the right track again.

I think pure sporting might be a bit too little for EA, but I can see sporting being their "focus" so to speak. Franchises like the Sims are too much of cash cows to ever fully abandon, even if they don't have growing consumer bases. Also they are still #2 in the FPS market w/Battlefield. Unfortunately for them, I think the bar for a Battlefield game is much higher than a CoD game and as it surely won't sell as well as CoD, this means a larger budget and less profit.

I still don't buy the mobile market will impede with big-budget core games. While some of them do have nice development dollars to net profit ratios, they are not "peeling" consumers from other areas. If they were to focus on mobile it would be smart to seperate it completely from their core business, almost to the point where it shouldn't even be managed by the same company, as the bushiness structure is radically different for mobile.

 

[DocSeuss]

now now, who started this whole DLC debacle? I dont think it was EA.

It was Bioware, who invented Project $10 when PS3 development delayed the game, allowing them to bring Shale back into the game.

Bioware corrupted EA.

 

[Off-Kilter]

Would Riccitiello's resignation really change anything at EA? Why is this being celebrated as a revolution?

EA's questionable policies and business decisions are the product of it's board and dozens of execs. They will merely elect someone else to continue their practices.

 

[Nirolak]

now now, who started this whole DLC debacle? I dont think it was EA.

It was Bioware, who invented Project $10 when PS3 development delayed the game, allowing them to bring Shale back into the game.

Bioware corrupted EA.

Well actually, with Neverwinter Nights, BioWare had a lot of what could be considered some of the first DLC with their downloadable add-on campaigns.

 

[subversus]

DLC has always existed in the form of exp. packs but everybody knows that. They were big because they needed to hit retail. Now they don't need that.

 

[Aaron]

And a Heavy Metal game with Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemme, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, etc. would also seem like a good bet.

Well, I enjoyed Brutal Legend but I guess it didn't sell as well as they hoped.

Brutal Legend was started under and mostly paid for by Vivendi. It couldn't have been a major investment for EA when they don't even own the rights to it.

 

[HolyBaikal]

This isn't going to make EA a nice company again. Not that EA was a company I ever liked.

But hey, I'm sure it is fun to see someone who had such an adamant disdain for gamers leave.

I like how the first post was "ding dong", and the first thought that came to my mind when seeing the thread was "the wicked witch is dead."

I doubt I'll ever consider EA a company other than "that one American company that makes games for the masses I don't like." But hey, I do kind of like American McGee's Alice and MySims. So I cannot rule out the possibility of this helping me somehow.

 

[Jac_Solar]

I don't doubt that BioWare is maybe under greater scrutiny now regardless of whoever they bring to replace Riccitiello. My impression with BioWare under EA was that Riccitiello sort of coddled them quite a bit since he was the guy that brought them into EA in the first place. Hence, why you had gobs of money being shoved at TOR to no avail. BioWare was JR's big acquisition and so I think he had more of a sense of ownership over them while whoever comes in new might be a little more harsh on them, especially with Ray and Greg gone as well.


I can't see DA3 being cut or cancelled at this stage in the game though. By most accounts its pretty far along. Especially considering all of the time they've put into it so far. If they were going to cut DA3 I'd think it would be more that the game is horribly over budget or overdue.

It is entirely possible that if DA3 doesn't sell a ton then I could see Dragon Age as a brand getting shuttered and sent to pasture for a while, if not permanently.

Wouldn't be that surprised if it turns out to be an online only single player focused game.

 

[Boss Doggie]

DLC has always existed in the form of exp. packs but everybody knows that. They were big because they needed to hit retail. Now they don't need that.

Technically speaking they're different from expansion packs since they have existed as well back then, but they were generally free. Expansion packs you expect to be full of content. Downloaded content back then were just tidbits, but they were free.