149 réponses à ce sujet

[Lunch Box1912]

I worry EA dumps all their games and just produces pro sport games which they release every year.

We could wake up one morning and this forum could be closed and Bioware liquidated. Until there is a sign of which direction EA is heading in, this concerns me.

Modifié par Lunch Box1912, 21 mars 2013 - 02:50 .

[Korusus]

LPPrince wrote...

I doubt one man leaving is gonna suddenly flip the switch on the company

To be fair, when John Riccitiello became CEO there was a lot of excitement surrounding his pick and for a while there EA made a genuine effort at reforming their image.  But now with the guy that ran the company from 1991 to 2007 back in the CEO seat, I'm starting to think that all of the formerly independent development studios EA bought out and drove into the ground in that time period are starting to appear very relevant.

[LPPrince]

I thought he was only gonna be there in the interim until a permanent replacement was found

[bussinrounds]

LPPrince wrote...

I doubt one man leaving is gonna suddenly flip the switch on the company

 Yea, the entire buisness model for them is screwed up and it's gonna take alot more than 1 man leaving to change that.

[felipejiraya]

EA won't change, y'all know that right?

It's the vision of the shareholders that matter most and not the CEO who is just an employee of them.

And I don't see any indication their vision changed just that Riccitiello doesn't put it to it's full fruition.

[Korusus]

LPPrince wrote...

I thought he was only gonna be there in the interim until a permanent replacement was found

That doesn't mean he isn't up for the job.  Probst is EA.  If he wanted to remain CEO I doubt many people would resist him.  He may have decided a 6 year break was just the relaxing vacation he needed.

[TheRealJayDee]

Interesting...

[Gatt9]

LPPrince wrote...

I doubt one man leaving is gonna suddenly flip the switch on the company

I think you'll be surprised.

If you read between the lines,  you can see this was a move made due to very serious concerns about the company and it's future.  You'll also find references to not just impending losses,  but also high turnover at the company.

Generally speaking,  whoever they hire will be hired with the intention of turning around the company's image for not just investors and gamers,  but also developers.  They've lost alot of talent.

When that kind of thing happens,  you tend to see a culture change.  You won't see it,  but middle management will be quickly replaced.  You will see people in high up positions "resign" in the next 6-12 months.

You'll see key moves made to improve image:  It's highly likely EA will give Brian Fargo the Bard's Tale property dirt cheap that he's expressed interest in.  They'll step away from the Day 1 DLC and Microtransactions things,  and quit making multiplayer an impediment to single player like ME3 and SimCity.  They'll likely farm out a couple key properties to stronger studios like Obsidian,  possibly Ultima.  Mass Effect 4 will likely be delayed and redesigned to be a stronger game.

They may also try to pull in a KotOR 3 done by Bioware,  and may attempt to talk Hasbro into letting them have Bioware develop a new D&D game. 

They'll also quit shafting the PC market,  as the rumor is that a significant amount of their revenue is PC,  and it's kind of a gimmie since the PS4 and 720 are both PC's anyways.

There's alot of things that are going to change in the next 2-3 months,  this was a move made by people who are envisioning a really ugly swan dive to bankruptcy.  This won't be like when Frank took over,  the situation is much more grim.

Modifié par Gatt9, 19 mars 2013 - 12:48 .

[LPPrince]

^Way too optimistic for me but hey more power to you

[slimgrin]

I don't think it will change a thing. EA has corporate culture running through every bit of its DNA as far as I'm concerned.

[AshedMan]

Gatt9 wrote...
... There's alot of things that are going to change in the next 2-3 months,  this was a move made by people who are envisioning a really ugly swan dive to bankruptcy.  This won't be like when Frank took over,  the situation is much more grim.

That would be a best case scenario.  No way it'll happen.  

Modifié par AshedMan, 19 mars 2013 - 12:58 .

[LinksOcarina]

I am actually a bit saddened to see him go. He was not the best CEO out there, but he had a few good ideas that probably would have benefited the company in the long run if they weren't mired in so many issues at the same time.

I am curious as to who will replace him though.

[LPPrince]

LinksOcarina wrote...

I am actually a bit saddened to see him go. He was not the best CEO out there, but he had a few good ideas that probably would have benefited the company in the long run if they weren't mired in so many issues at the same time.

I am curious as to who will replace him though.

Jessica Merizan so she can Merizan ALL THE THINGS

Edit- don't know why I keep using Merizan as a verb but hey whatever works

Modifié par LPPrince, 19 mars 2013 - 02:03 .

[Homebound]

i just hope they learn from their mistakes and drop DRM. Im starting to think DRM isnt even about Piracy anymore. It gives me that dataminer vibe.

[flem1]

Korusus wrote...

LPPrince wrote...

I doubt one man leaving is gonna suddenly flip the switch on the company

To be fair, when John Riccitiello became CEO there was a lot of excitement surrounding his pick and for a while there EA made a genuine effort at reforming their image.  But now with the guy that ran the company from 1991 to 2007 back in the CEO seat, I'm starting to think that all of the formerly independent development studios EA bought out and drove into the ground in that time period are starting to appear very relevant.

Basically this.

I can't believe the overall feeling on Riccitello leaving is positive/hopeful.  The "old" EA was much worse, and now all the high-ups that understood Bioware, came in to EA with it, and were (relatively) shielding Bio to do its thing are gone.  The odds of things getting much, much worse for us are much, much higher than the odds of things getting better.

[Homebound]

ea worked long n hard for this rep. at least they got what they worked for.

[TheBlackBaron]

wiggles89 wrote...

[inappropriate image removed]

What the **** am I reading?

Also great post Gatt.

They're actually correct, to some degree. For a few years EA was making serious strides in rehabilitating its image (and the "Evil Empire" title had passed to Activision). Riccitiello's arrival and the publishing agreements for game's like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space are part of that.

Somewhere along the way, though, they drove off the rails and over the cliff. I'd attribute this to the rise of the "games as service" model, with the associated elements like microtransactions, social networking, and multiplayer, along with the rapid pace for putting out new titles and sequels. It angered a lot of people, and a lot of games failed to meet their sales quotas for one reason or another. 

Despite what many will want to think, ME3's ending probably had little bearing on this. SimCity's backlash might just be the proverbial straw. It's the financial underformings that led to this. 

Also, the "Worst Company In America" thing is about the most petulant and pouty display I've ever seen from a group of people. Yes, because EA is definitely worse than the finanical giants like Bernie Madoff, or auto makers like Detroit's Big Three. Idiots. 

Modifié par Ninja Stan, 19 mars 2013 - 07:26 .

[ObserverStatus]

TheBlackBaron wrote...
Also, the "Worst Company In America" thing is about the most petulant and pouty display I've ever seen from a group of people. Yes, because EA is definitely worse than the finanical giants like Bernie Madoff, or auto makers like Detroit's Big Three. Idiots. 

I'm surprised HSBC isn't a contestant for that award this year. EA may have made a lot of design choices that I disagree with, but as I know they don't launder money for terrorists.

Modifié par bobobo878, 19 mars 2013 - 04:12 .

[sympathy4sarenreturns]

So he said he resigned because of underperforming sales. We told you...Origin, day-one dlc, microtransactions and dumbing down franchises is a no. Didn't listen. Probably will keep ignoring this, too. Did turning Dead Space 3 into Gears of Lost Planet work out for ya?

I don't care what EA does in its new direction, as they won't be seeing any of my money. It'll no doubt be funny to see, though. Just like changing IPs into dumbed-down shooters and gutting features while attempting to milk dry, and witnessing simple consumer demand reject it, was.

[Megaton_Hope]

Ah, good, the one person solely responsible for SimCity has stepped down, it's clear sailing from here.

[MassStorm]

Will see but it's actually Frank Gibenau who was really annoying with the online component of EA games.

[billy the squid]

Gatt9 wrote...

LPPrince wrote...

I doubt one man leaving is gonna suddenly flip the switch on the company

I think you'll be surprised.

If you read between the lines,  you can see this was a move made due to very serious concerns about the company and it's future.  You'll also find references to not just impending losses,  but also high turnover at the company.

Generally speaking,  whoever they hire will be hired with the intention of turning around the company's image for not just investors and gamers,  but also developers.  They've lost alot of talent.

When that kind of thing happens,  you tend to see a culture change.  You won't see it,  but middle management will be quickly replaced.  You will see people in high up positions "resign" in the next 6-12 months.

You'll see key moves made to improve image:  It's highly likely EA will give Brian Fargo the Bard's Tale property dirt cheap that he's expressed interest in.  They'll step away from the Day 1 DLC and Microtransactions things,  and quit making multiplayer an impediment to single player like ME3 and SimCity.  They'll likely farm out a couple key properties to stronger studios like Obsidian,  possibly Ultima.  Mass Effect 4 will likely be delayed and redesigned to be a stronger game.

They may also try to pull in a KotOR 3 done by Bioware,  and may attempt to talk Hasbro into letting them have Bioware develop a new D&D game. 

They'll also quit shafting the PC market,  as the rumor is that a significant amount of their revenue is PC,  and it's kind of a gimmie since the PS4 and 720 are both PC's anyways.

There's alot of things that are going to change in the next 2-3 months,  this was a move made by people who are envisioning a really ugly swan dive to bankruptcy.  This won't be like when Frank took over,  the situation is much more grim.

Those things will happen when Hell freezes over.

At no point will EA ever step away from Day 1 DLC if they can avoid it nor from microtransactions. It's far too lucrative. They already have numerous IPs which they can turn out, so stuffing micro transactions into each one and cutting out content to re sell as DLC is a given considering their year on year operating loses and increasingly leveraged fiscal state. 

It's insane to think they would ever stop doing that. Why the hell would they? They have part of the market cornered, so no doubt intend to squeeze it as much as possible. Considering their interim CEO's track record, I'd say it'd be more a return to form than the changes John R. had attempted to make.

Secondly it's doubtful that they'd sell IPs into an increasingly competative market given their own financial position, why would they ever give competitors IPs which they then find themselves in competition. More likely they'll attempt to consolidate their holdings and make massive cutbacks in studio locations trying not to affect productivity, while burying any IP which doesn't turn a significant cost to profit ratio. Combined with scaling down development teams in areas, and centralising their business in the regions. AKA California, Canada, Europe, rather than retain the independent studio locations. It's already happening with the Deadspace 3 developer studio offices I believe.

As to the PC market they'll shaft them as always, because they can't control them. Or was always online connection drive with Origin and the rubbish coming from the general manager about the requiremnt of servers for Simcity not shown to be a pack of lies.

The new PS and Xbox are not PCs they're are a closed system. PC's aren't. As to the Hasbro issue when you say "talk" I expect you mean "pay" in which case, why given EA's well known poor performance would they ever, pay Hasbro when they already have a stack of IPs they own.

More likely we'll see consolidation, restructuring and cutting costs within the company. Driving the standard year on year IPs into overdrive to recoup loses, while retaining certain development studios on a smaller scale, while squeezing them harder to return to profitability aka Dead Space 3 style.  While ME4 will be heavily reliant on microtransactions, due to it's success in the latest instalment, as will Day 1 DLC become more prelevant in releases, along with an extension of the online pass systems to garner further income from the brick and mortar sector as Xbox have already said they are not going to move to digital only.

On the Origin front, I'd anticipate another duff up with Steam and Valve, in an attempt to establish itself as a competitor. Either by removing all boxed PC sales, to origin, removing the whole second hand market and intermediary entirely or a move to absorb and drive out new Dev studios like CDPR or the Wasteland dev. and others to aquire the Witcher franchise etc. and turn it into their equivalent of Arkham asylum and remove the spectre of GOG, as Origin doesn't have the muscle to take on Steam. ie: a return to form for EA, eliminate the competition in the digital market. 

Modifié par billy the squid, 19 mars 2013 - 12:36 .