EA: Battlefield 4's Problematic Launch Didn't "Damage" the Franchise

[Alex Co]

EA: Battlefield 4's Problematic Launch Didn't "Damage" the Franchise

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen claims EA hasn't "seen any damage" due to Battlefield 4's problematic launch, and mentions the franchise will be critical to EA's fiscal year 2015.

Early this year, EA execs states that he thinks the shooter's launch wasn't that bad [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131770-EA-Speaks-Out-on-Battlefield-4-Post-Launch-Issues] -- a notion that some FPS fans might take umbrage with given the game's host of bugs and server issues that some are even present to this day. Regardless of what consumers think, it seems the problematic launch for EA's premiere shooter franchise hasn't damaged the brand at all, according to EA. Speaking during the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen claims BF4's patchy launch did not "damage" the Battlefield franchise overall. "We haven't seen any damage," claims Jorgensen and adds, "Clearly we're very focused on protecting that brand...The game has sold well and continues to sell well."

Jorgensen also mentions that players have been "very responsive" to some of the title updates developer DICE has released for the shooter so far, and mentions "extra content" they've provided to fans -- such as last month's "Player Appreciation Month" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131765-DICE-Declares-February-Battlefield-4-Player-Appreciation-Month] -- is "working very well."

"We've also tried to provide extra content to the consumers to make sure they keep coming back and playing the game and we're finding that it's working very well...I don't see that there's a damage issue. I think for us it's making sure that we're providing great gameplay for the consumer and we'll continue to do that," Jorgensen states.

Lastly, the exec comments that Battlefield will be "critical" to EA's fiscal year 2015, which begins next month. However, it's important to note that a Battlefield game for 2014 has not been announced, but there are rumors floating about that a "police-themed" entry in the shooter series is being developed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131902-Update-Layoffs-Hit-Need-for-Speed-Studio-Ghost-Games-UK-Branch] by Visceral Games (Dead Space franchise), instead of DICE, and is set to be released later this year.

With tons of people still playing BF4 even with its problematic launch -- at least from what I've seen on the PS4 version's server browser -- is Jorgensen correct? Did the franchise not take any "damage" even with its laundry list of post-launch issues that has taken months to fix? Most important of all, are shooter fans willing to drop money on a Battlefield game on day one even with what they've experienced with Battlefield 4?

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-battlefield-s-rocky-launch-did-not-damage-the-franchise/1100-6418131/]

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[Amaror]

Well i think that there will be some people that wait rather then preorder another time now, but i also know that there are enough people out there that just preorder games blind even if a publisher or developer has proven with past releases that they can't be trusted with preorders.
There are still a lot of people preordering DAI after DA 2 for example and i bet there will be a lot of people still preordering Battlefield 2015.

 

[NLS]

To be honest. Battlefield 4 worked mostly fine for me. The additions and changes were nice, and it overall felt more like what BF3 should have been(re-adding commander mode etc.). Sure, the game would occasionally crash about every 3-4 hours of gameplay during new map load(meaning nothing was lost), but in its current state I haven't encountered a single problem.

As for 2014-2015: DLC releases are ongoing. With the current model, we seem to get a new BF title every 2nd year, followed by a year of DLC. All in all this sums up into pretty much DLC or Premium being equivalent to an expansion pack. I'd say this aproach is much better than what it could have been (yearly release).
Anywyas. Looking forward to BF2015(whatever the final game ends up being named), I certainly hope they're bringing the future setting of BF2142 back, especially now that they're bringing back Titan mode with BF4.

 

[JoshGod]

After all those lawsuits over Battlefield 4 I'm not surprised they are taking this line, they can hardly admit that its rushed buggy release was an issue or the lawsuits would have stronger merit to them.

That said.
I mean seriously, releasing your game in a state that effects many of its players enjoyment hasn't affected the franchise? People will think a bit less of it will be a bit wary of it, and even if it doesn't affect sales of the next battlefield if they continue to do the same crap people will see the pattern and give up. Eventually.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It's hard to see the damage caused by the game on the car wreck that is America's two-time worst company award winner.

 

[Scorpid]

I wish people would stop buying these stupid games. They are really abhorrent by fetishizing guns and turning "modern war" into something that it resembles as much as it does gardening*. For alot of people I think games like this will be the frame by which they'll see all war by and that to me would be disturbing as hell.

*EDIT: Actually on second thought gardening has more to do with actual modern combat then BF series or god forbid CoD.

 

[blackrave]

*EDIT: Actually on second thought gardening has more to do with actual modern combat then BF series or god forbid CoD.

Chemical weapons? Check!
Hazmat equipment? Check!
Mass extermination? Check!
Enduring exhaustion and pain? Check!
Fighting adapting enemy? Check!
Most of the time it is boring? Check!

You're right gardening is closer to real warfare than BF or CoD

 

[CriticalMiss]

Taking a quick glance at the metacritic scores of BF3 compared to BF4 it looks like the recent version did at least some damage, all of the BF4 scores are lower than the BF3 scores for the same platform (buggered up a bit because of the PS4). Though whether that is lasting going to be a lasting thing is another matter and review scores don't always reflect what we sheeple end up buying. People will still end up buying the game regardless but there are undoubtedly some who won't touch it at least until a few weeks after release.

I think it's still a bit silly to say it didn't damage the franchise though.

 

[Dectomax]

Well, it damaged the series to me - and the group of friends that I usually play with. I played for about a week at launch, uninstalled and then reinstalled for 'Player Appreciation' month...played for an hour and uninstalled. I just don't feel the same pull to spend 500+ hours playing this title, like I did with BF3.

 

[The Lunatic]

Abysmal releases - Doesn't damage franchise.

Sales - Damages franchise.


Seems legit.

 

[Wandrecanada]

You never see franchise damage until the release AFTER the disaster. There were too many game sales (which likely half caused the problem) for the losses to be considered damaging. I strongly doubt you will see such strong sales from the next BF product. At least not right away until consumers can get a handle on if the game is unbroken.

 

[rofltehcat]

So how are they so sure about that?
People already paid for it, so of course they'll play it now that it has been fixed.

The question they should ask themselves instead is this:
Will a large portion of the people burned by BF4 still preorder/early buy BF5? Chances are most will still but I still hope at least a few people learned which companies to trust and which not to.

 

[octafish]

Well BF4 has given me no real issues other than very intermittent server stability early on and it is an improvement over BF3 in most ways. That said it will be a while before I buy another BF game unless in has a lot of ice and snow and mechs and TITANS. Just too much of the same now. There needs to be at least a three to four year break, and I don't see EA allowing that.

 

[octafish]

Aargh double post!

 

[Objectable]

Up next, EA goes to prove that black is white and gets killed at the next zebra crossing.

 

[Barbas]

In other news, a car crash doesn't look all that bad when you view it from a train wreck.

 

[Metalrocks]

HA, good joke.
i have deleted this crap because i have only problems with it. last patch made things even worse. no enjoyment what so ever. buggy as hell, netcode hasnt been fixed at all, crashes.

appreciation month was a success? seriously?
all i read there was:
"FIX THE GAME".

and many other lovely comments how much they enjoy the game (sarcasm).

 

[fix-the-spade]

BF5 will pay for the sins of BF4.

BF3 was buggy as hell to begin with but has grown into one of the best BF games, it's up with BF2 to me, BF4 is six months in and only marginally improved over release day, the two expansions in particular aren't adding anything worthwhile to the game the way Close Quarters and Armoured Kill did (we'll see about Naval Strike).

BF4 is fun, but it's left me uninterested in BF5, which if the rapid DLC release schedule is anything to go by could be out this November.

 

[rasputin0009]

Long-time Battlefield fan, here: Fuck you, EA executives.

"Not that bad"? I couldn't play the game as advertised for 5 months so far. The latest patch has actually made it worse for crashes. The "netcode" issues are some of the most frustrating bugs I've ever dealt with. It's only recently that DICE has laid out a plan for what they were going to "fix". If the core game mechanics of an FPS don't work as intended, then how can that be "not that bad"?

"Extra content"? What extra content? There was extra XP which only helps raise your imaginary rank and has nothing to do with gameplay. There was extra Battlepacks which only give out unlocks that are already in the game. "Player Appreciation Month" was absolute bullshit and an insult.

Fuck BF4, fuck EA, fuck DICE, and fuck BF5. I wouldn't be upset if I didn't love the franchise, but I might have take a break from it for a couple years until they come out with one worth buying again.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Did you catch that?

EA is all but flat out telling you to expect more half-assed launches in the future, because they're convinced that you didn't care. They might as well have said "We know you complained, but we think you're such gullible spineless sheeple, that you'll continue buying our shitty, buggy, derivative games anyway."

So, they're either so out of touch with their audience that they have no idea, or they just have contempt for gamers in general. Given the overwhelmingly negative responses I've seen to BF4, I'm leaning towards the latter.