31 réponses à ce sujet

[bEVEsthda]

Either any way you look at this (all the contents in the articles, poor results for BF3, TOR, ME3 (and previously DA2), exposing those 560 viral marketeers who have posted defense for some later, critized games on the forums, and the 5 top executives who have left) I think one can be optimistic about it. This may all be for good.

Considering how EA have operated, it doesn't really seem to me as if those 5 lost executives really represent a loss for the company at all. There have been a long-lasting sickness inside the company (if anything, the situation has improved slightly lately, despite the Bioware debacles). These executives have obviously not been part of any solution. So it may very well be good riddance.

Firing +500 stealth EA posters means that those developers who are listening to feedback on forums, now will get less false feedback and can appreciate the situation more clearly. At least for a period. But stealth posters from SE-Asia should be easier to spot.

It also appears as if job cuts will be mainly in marketing. Not only should this affect EA minimally (since their marketing is so poor anyway), but it also seem to mainly be hitting the viral marketing (which is just good. Completely disbanding this activity would actually increase the brand value of EA).

Nothing of this says that EA would start to play their cards right, but hey, what other conclusions can they arrive to? BF3 is pretty much just fine, the sales just will not go above a certain level because there are so many who will refuse to buy anything EA. I suspect TOR has partially the same problem. Plus it's too much like WoW. Quit treating customers as morons who can be screwed should now appear as a good long term business idea.

+4 million potential customers where screwed by changing the contents under a previously loved and successful label to something completely different, DA2. How many potential customers were blown away by the scandal of the ME3 ending? I have this creeping feeling it might be a lot. I mean REALLY a lot. Many already burnt by DA2 took their time and then got a strong negative indication. And then all the extra sales of the older games, if ME3 had a successful conclusion, also lost. And then the very poorly received Origin "service" hardly help things.

And why did all this happen? We don't know. But one could guess it's poor decisions which were motivated more by marketing shedules and marketing compulsive issues, than game satisfaction. Is it entirely impossible that they have learnt something now?

I'm maybe naive, but there seem to be three different ways this plays out:

1: EA manages to plod on as before.
2: EA continues to implode and becomes progressively more and more irrelevant.
3: EA finally manages to revamp itself, and gets its game developing/publishing act together.

And only one of those is really bad.

Modifié par bEVEsthda, 19 avril 2012 - 06:02 .

[Kaiser Arian XVII]

There is only three possibilities:

- EA in the process of mutating
- EA seeks heresy
- EA is collapsing

[C9316]

EA has terrible management, this is news? I think it's obvious when their CEO talks about how invested gamers are and won't mind paying a buck to reload their gun...

[EricHVela]

From how EA is treating games, I'm left with the feeling that EA feels that gamers are stupid and will buy anything. EA doesn't seem to understand that there are niche markets in gaming and trying to appeal to them all at once loses all of them.

[PuppiesOfDeath2]

deuce985 wrote...

www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Laying-Off-Up-1-000-Employees-Due-Over-Spending-Marketing-41450.html

Basically what this is saying is EA has terrible management. They're over-spending(especially on marketing) and their sales expecations for games is unrealistic. Mainly on Battlefield 3, SWTOR and ME3. Technically, none of those games are selling bad at all. It's their budget management that sucks. So it's not that Bioware or DICE are at fault, it's on EA. But does that mean they'll start applying more pressure on Bioware to create revenue streams for them?

Seems like the layoffs will hit the marketing for EA.

I haven't looked at their revenue, operating income, etc. lately but it can't be good with layoffs coming. Their stock isn't looking good either.

Looks like they need a restructure on their image. Usually great marketing can cram games down a bunch of consumer throats...looks like they really are fighting them with their wallets. Bad economy certainly isn't helping either.

Now if only everyone would do this to Activision and the 400+ shooters that come out on the market every year....maybe we'd see more variety in gaming instead of so many games feeling similar these days...

But..."Art!"   Who can put a pricetag on it?  Oh....shareholders. 

Why not trying making things the players want instead of pandering to the egos of your writers?  After all, their job is to make content players want...not self-indulgent "art."

Modifié par PuppiesOfDeath2, 07 septembre 2012 - 06:08 .

[Endurium]

With the exception of a few studios, I wouldn't mind seeing today's commercial game development system fall flat on its face.
 
The 80s were rich because of all the Indie developers providing unique titles for people to play. The popular Ultima series (and MMO) started with Richard Garriott writing code in his personal residence and mailing out copies of his first game, Akalabeth. I'm glad to see Indie developers becoming more numerous today.

Modifié par Endurium, 07 septembre 2012 - 06:06 .

[Ninja Stan]

Please don't resurrect a 5-month-old thread if you're not going to add to the discussion.

End of line.