EA CCO Says SimCity, Battlefield 4 Launches Weren't That Bad

[TiberiusEsuriens]

EA CEO:
"Shit, guys, the awards for the golden poop are this year again and we haven't had a controversy in weeks!
Quick! Get a beloved franchise and make a shitty remake with crappy business practices! What were our most recent controversies? Sim City and Battlefield 4? Great! Arrange a few Interviews denying that these were actually bad, that will bring back the memory and make everyone nice and angry again!"

To be fair to your last comment, this wasn't a planned interview: RPS essentially chased the guy down during the D.I.C.E. red carpet event and demanded answers. That doesn't make the responses any better at all, but he wasn't looking or going out of his way to spit on everyone again.

My guess is in a week or two PR will take this unplanned negative event and host a press statement, this time officially spitting on everyone by denying that they released broken games, because they still haven't learned to not screw the pooch. You know, disregarding the fact that the actual DICE devs have already publicly apologized for releasing a broken game or detailed how the executives (i.e. this CCO) told the devs to skip game testing.

 

[ClanCrusher]

You know, between this, Dungeon Keeper, the sudden backpedaling on Sim City, the disastrous Battlefield 3 launch, and their willing obliviousness to criticism, it's probably only going to take a horrendous Titanfall launch for EA to be in line to win worst company of America for the third year running. Yes, other companies probably deserve it more, but while those companies at least try to lie convincingly, EA just seems to revel in how awful it is and how little they care about their consumers.

 

[oldtaku]

'We make lots of money whether it works or not. Not bad? That's awesome!'

 

[Covarr]

"But I'm not willing to accept - and I don't think most of my customers are willing to say - 'It's a bad product, I wish I didn't buy it'," he added. "That's not the conversation we're having now. I think what we're hearing is, 'You made a game we really liked. We would've liked it a little better if it didn't have these problems'."

No. It was a bad product. Once the massive server problems were dealt with I enjoyed SimCity for about an hour. Then I ran into the city size limit. The game was never fun again. Say what you want about regions being big enough to compensate, but it's not the same by a long shot. The only reason I'm okay with my purchase is because I got Need for Speed: Most Wanted out of it, which itself was worth the $60 I spent. SimCity sure as hell wasn't.

P.S. No. I'm not going to end this one with "thanks". Not for EA.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

You know, between this, Dungeon Keeper, the sudden backpedaling on Sim City, the disastrous Battlefield 3 launch, and their willing obliviousness to criticism, it's probably only going to take a horrendous Titanfall launch for EA to be in line to win worst company of America for the third year running. Yes, other companies probably deserve it more, but while those companies at least try to lie convincingly, EA just seems to revel in how awful it is and how little they care about their consumers.

Hilleman does actually have a valid point with Titanfall, though. This time around they are strictly the publisher, as Respawn is working VERY closely with Microsoft and it's Azure cloud service. It doesn't mean the game can't get screwed over, but Microsoft and its online/multiplayer actually has a solid track record.

 

[snekadid]

Simcity: The Biggest DRM Failure since Diablo 3 and a public example of how unprepared EA's servers were.

Battlefield 4: Arguably most bugged Battlefield game in the series and the cause of several class action suits by shareholders.

If these are "Decent" launches, what's a bad one?

Spore, Most pirated game in history at the time and buggy and unenjoyable to boot.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Stop complaining people, he is totally right. Anyone who experienced a bug in SimCity or Battlefield 4 was just playing the game wrong. Plus they are a vocal minority anyway!

I get the feeling that EA won't get nominated for a golden poo this year as they will complain to the site running it that they don't deserve to be on there. If they do get nominated then they'll just pay some interns to put in fake votes for another company rather than face the shame of getting it three years running. They certainly don't want to actually change their ways, just look like they are doing so.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I don't even...what? Why? How can you say that? I never touched either game (not interested), but even I saw that they had some serious issues. This is not a healthy mindset to have.

"Sir, there's a gaping hole in our hull. We're taking on water!"
"The ship has not sunk. Stop panicking."
"But, uh, sir...the water? We're sinking."
"I said stop panicking!"

 

[suitepee7]

wow, what a prick...

i don't think i have much to add really, but the man is fucking deluded if he doesn't think that BF4 and SC launches were anything better than garbage...

here's a tip to figuring out if your game release was any good, ask just one question to the people who bought it, "can you actually play it?" if the answer isn't a confused look and "yeah, why?", you dun fucked up

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

I can't wait to check out this guy's seminar on how to fit as many PR buzzwords as possible into one statement.

Seriously, who uses "conversation" in that context anymore? Though that's not as hilarious as "Function of surface area," I thought I'd heard "vocal minority" said every way possible until that gem.

 

[direkiller]

Amazon physically removed your product from their inventory for a time because they felt selling simcity amounted to possible FRAUD, how much worse does your launch have to go before it's considered 'bad'.

Really, the message we should take away from this is "EA: We now openly admit we don't have standards"

There is also the issue of refusal to refund digital copys of SimCity.&

blanket disabling keys given to amazon due to the sheer number of chargebacks.
http://consumerist.com/2013/03/18/ea-disabling-user-accounts-because-it-thinks-any-contact-with-amazon-must-be-a-refund-request/


That is up there with War Z in terms of bad launches that did not quite kill a company.

 

[Vigormortis]

I hate to agree with an EA bigwig, but....I have to. He's spoken the truth here.

I know, I know! I'm committing a travesty to gamers everywhere. But it's just one small instance, if it helps.

What I mean is, when he made this statement:
"Titanfall is made by a different organization. Respawn has very firm control of their project," he said. "Best I can do for you."

...he was technically right. Respawn has control over virtually every aspect of Titanfalls production. EA, in this instance, is only really handling distribution.

So really, save for perhaps the 360 build of the game, the success or failure of the launch of Titanfall rests squarely on the shoulders of Respawn and Microsoft[footnote]In the sense that the launch is predicated on the reliability of the Azure servers.[/footnote]

As for the rest of the mans shpeel, well....

I really don't think I need to clarify to everyone here how utterly idiotic it is.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Holy shit! What the hell happened? After E3 it really seemed like EA was trying to turn it around and were kind of sort of pulling it off (with baby steps) but god damn have they ever just thrown all that progress right out the fucking window.

Good to see you are back to you old self again EA. It wouldn't have been the same without you...such a shame things didn't have to change.

Can we get on with giving them their shitty company trophy for the third year?

 

[Adam Locking]

The Titanfall launch is going to be a disaster. Between EA's involvement (which you can bet is more than they are letting on) to pressure from Microsoft for the game to ship on time, there are going to be issues. I was actually thinking of picking this up at some stage, and maybe still will (my first EA game in years) but these last few months have really put a sour taste in my mouth.

Anyway, to everyone sick to the back teeth with EA, I offer the following two-step plan:

1) Wait 24 hours before buying the game. Because seriously, how little will-power does it take to wait ONE STINKING DAY to find out if the game is a buggy, unplayable mess?

2)Shame people you know who are pre-ordering the game. Tell them exactly why you think it's a bad idea, and if (when?) the shit goes down, give them the full "I told you so" routine. When people go onto forums to complain, give no sympathy. It's not as if they weren't warned a thousand times, by you, the internet, and EA's track record.

I get the feeling that EA won't get nominated for a golden poo this year as they will complain to the site running it that they don't deserve to be on there. If they do get nominated then they'll just pay some interns to put in fake votes for another company rather than face the shame of getting it three years running. They certainly don't want to actually change their ways, just look like they are doing so.

I was thinking this last year; how many of those voting against EA were actually working for them? I'd wager more than a few.

 

[Kmadden2004]

In what universe is bringing out two games that are literally (LITERALLY) unplayable for months after their release date considered "not a bad launch"?

I mean, jesus, they've only just turned 'cheetah speed' back on for SimCity, six whole months after turning it off. Both games were built around features that have crippled both titles, almost irreparably in one case, so yes, Mr Hilleman, categorically speaking they are bad products.

I don't... I genuinely don't know if this guy is just insultingly delusional or a very effective parody of clueless, ivory tower residing corporate executives... or both.

 

[SecondPrize]

I understand that it takes a different type of person to get up there in the corporate structure than many expect to see in game development, but is it so hard for the people you have doing PR to be in touch with your customers?

 

[Sassafrass]

Two questions, what version of BF4 is he looking at here, the one that's broken on all platforms or...wait...that's the only version.
Also, I wonder if he managed to say this with a straight face?

 

[KungFuJazzHands]

The Titanfall launch is going to be a disaster. Between EA's involvement (which you can bet is more than they are letting on) to pressure from Microsoft for the game to ship on time, there are going to be issues. I was actually thinking of picking this up at some stage, and maybe still will (my first EA game in years) but these last few months have really put a sour taste in my mouth.

Anyway, to everyone sick to the back teeth with EA, I offer the following two-step plan:

1) Wait 24 hours before buying the game. Because seriously, how little will-power does it take to wait ONE STINKING DAY to find out if the game is a buggy, unplayable mess?

2)Shame people you know who are pre-ordering the game. Tell them exactly why you think it's a bad idea, and if (when?) the shit goes down, give them the full "I told you so" routine. When people go onto forums to complain, give no sympathy. It's not as if they weren't warned a thousand times, by you, the internet, and EA's track record.

I want Titanfall to fail, and fail spectacularly. I want the idiots who preordered it to feel like they were ripped off. That's they only way we're finally going to see any kind of effective backlash against the massive soul-sucking corporations involved with its production.

Nothing personal against the game or its developers on my part, but the industry won't change their bad habits until they see failure on a massive scale like they've never encountered before, and Titanfall - with all its hype - may finally be the 10-ton straw that breaks the camel's back. To be more specific, I can't wait for the day when EA crashes and burns into oblivion; I really don't care who they take with them at this point.

 

[Tradjus]

If E.A wants too avoid being voted worst company in the U.S for the third time in a row this year, they -need- too purge their entire upper management. It's clearly the issue, their executives are universally dismissive of all criticism and willingly ignore all evidence that they are running the company into the ground. The only -possible- solution is too cut the head off of the snake and replace it with a new head that is a little less condescending too it's customers, that means everyone who makes over a million dollars a year there needs too be kicked out and blackbooked in the industry permanently.