Tech giants such as Apple and Google buy up smaller companies to develop their product portfolio and ensure market dominance. The game industry is no exception. EA, unfortunately, has built up a bad reputation with its different acquisitions. BioWare is one of the most notable stories of a creative studio brought down by corporate governance. Years later it became clear this merger was detrimental for the former creators of the studio Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, who both left in , a major creative brain drain.
In vice president and creative director of Criterion Games Alex ward and studio director Fiona Sperry left the studio. Criterion was a smaller player, but it had a loyal fan base which was left disappointed by this move. Star Wars is one of the hottest franchises in the entertainment industry. It has a lot of lore and room for a lot of side stories. What it also has, is a loyal fan base. The Star Wars subreddit has over 1.
The fans are passionate about their franchise and want to make sure it stays true to the source material. But when it falls into the wrong hands, it can turn into a dumpster fire. Star Wars Battlefront II marked a new low for the franchise. During its preview through EA Access, it sparked the necessary controversy as it would take users about 40 hours of gaming to unlock their favorite characters such as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader.
EA games can spin the story of these microtransactions in many directions. We will now spend more time listening, adjusting, balancing and tuning. If the Star Wars franchise taught us anything, it was that they were here to stay. The Loot Box scandal which still plays today, is highly likely the peak of bad publicity for EA and the embodiment of corporate greed.
The company is a place where lust for profits turned into an unquenchable thirst for more. Non-gaming readers might wonder what loot boxes or loot crates are, but the mechanics are pretty straightforward and comparable to a slot machine with different types of prizes. You can play with your favorite football star and show him off during an online match. Go for another gamble and get a limited edition t-shirt. Which makes this whole ordeal even sadder. In Europe the lootboxes affair was turning into a government plaything.
The Belgian gambling commission considered loot boxes as a form of gambling, as it is purchased with real-life currency. Valve, Blizzard, and 2K games complied by removing the sale of loot boxes, but EA refused with a less than stellar response.
CEO Andrew Wilson, responded by defending the loot boxes saying they are not a form of gambling because players know exactly how many objects they are receiving. What items, nobody knows. However, unlike EA's offerings, most of these new games, like Fortnite, are free-to-play, with purchasable content. There are also multiple class-action lawsuits that the company has had to fight through the years.
These include former employees who filed suits against Electronic Arts for exploitation and overtime pay. All the above reasons have led to EA being considered an 'evil' company.
New User posted their first comment. Log in. Image Credits: CinemaBlend. Rishabh B. Modified 28 Sep Feature. To get a detailed view of some of the aspects mentioned above, take a look at the video below. Edited by Ravi Iyer. Game Review. Sort by: Most popular Recent Most upvotes. Game companies are not happy about us reselling games, and that's the primary reason why they are now all about digital sales. Always trying to maximize profits, EA was one of the first companies to implement the notorious Online Pass in its products, starting in In practice, this meant that you would receive a code to enable online play when you bought their games.
EA continued this unpopular practice for three more years before other companies stopped using it too. So while Ubisoft and even Sony were also promoting the system, EA had it the worst as they've already had a negative reputation. Large companies buy smaller ones, and while we may not like it, that's pure capitalism.
Electronic Arts started to acquire other studios back in , but many haven't survived for long. The problem was always the same, as EA would be pushing them to produce numerous sequels in a short time. That resulted in poor games that sold miserably, so the company had an excuse to shut down studios. Again, other companies are doing it too, but not at the same rate as EA.
Well, we'll see what happens to Codemasters after EA acquired it. By now, you know that working in EA is not the most pleasant experience, especially when a new title is about to be published. In the so-called " crunch time ," employees were sometimes forced to work up to hours per week while not compensated for it. Soon after, programmers sued the company and were also compensated.
Since then, conditions have gotten better, but a "crunch time" practice is still present. Unfortunately, the direct result of this are half-finished games. There's no doubt that online multiplayer games are incredibly popular and fun, but single-player experiences are still critical for many gamers. However, in EA shocked the world with its ignorance. That year the company presented its new business model expressing that single-player experiences are becoming obsolete.
That was followed by an incredibly stupid narrative that only online games can offer innovation and action. Even though they were proved wrong numerous times, the company stood their ground. In , they decided to close Visceral Games studio, known for the excellent single-player Dead Space series. EA CEO Andrew Wilson pointed out that people do not care about single-player , but also suggested that he doesn't like them because they lack microtransaction.
0コメント