EA Exec Explains PopCap Layoffs

[antipunt]

OK. Where are you! That guy who called out all the people who said "this smells of EA" and claimed we were biased and inaccurate

>_>

<_<

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

If you are bought by EA the company will be gutted like a fish and your IPs turned into unrecognisable zombies.

But Pop Cap's most recognizable IP was ALREADY a zombie!

OT: It's interesting that EA is pretty much giving up the pretense of niceness at this point and admitting that they exist only to kill developers. I mean, this quote is basically the PR equivalent of putting your pinkie to your mouth, stroking a cat, and demanding one million dollars in gold bars.

I'm glad someone caught that joke. Considering the rumours of a Plants vs Zombies FPS that appeared shortly before the squeal announcement, we now may have the first case of a Zombified Zombie.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Ah, I see the amorphous blob that is EA has just squatted out another loaf after slowly digesting its helpless victims.

I'm just waiting to see the violent chemical reaction that will, eventually, be the dissolution and implosion of EA.

 

[uncanny474]

Plants vs Zombies FPS

INB4 class-based TF2 ripoff. Hoovey is walnut, anyone? Medic is sunflower?

 

[weirdee]

Possibly, but folks like you need to recognize the difference between EA's crap and standard practice for corporations. When you acquire a new asset, you don't need things like a second legal team, so you get rid of it, MAYBE keep some and integrate them into your legal team if they're talented and so on.

Yeah, but do you think the loss of those staff members is what people are complaining about? I think they are more focused on the staff that were integral to PvZ. After all, that was the loudest part of the headlines.

 

[bafrali]

Murdering creativity since the dawn of time. EA because world is a cruel place where you will be buried without your dreams.

 

[weirdee]

There could be any number of reasons for that having occurred. I won't pretend like I know what's what over at EA HQ.

It's possible that EA are stupid and have no idea what they're doing. It is equally possible that Mr. Fan did something to compromise his own position. We just don't really know either way.

Benefit of the doubt or not, I'm still allowed to voice my concern that they are removing key developers of PvZ without any explanation beyond redundancy, which makes no sense without the context and is not satisfactory, unless we were to assume that doing so would somehow compromise their business standing while not telling the entire truth had an entirely justifiable reason, such as finding out that the released employees were in fact, extraterrestrials planning to use mind control through popular games.

Right now, what they have is a ticking bomb if PvZ2 does not retain the same level of satisfaction as the first game.

 

[unstabLized]

"Typically at EA what we do when we acquire a company is we make sure that we go slow initially and really understand the culture of the company that's now joining Electronic Arts, and then what we do is we look for where there's opportunities to integrate the companies - and then we accelerate."

Summarized, it means 5 mil unit sales or GTFO.

That kid from Malcolm in the middle is laying people off at popcap? What the hell?

(yeah yeah I know he... might not have or whatever, but damn does he look like Frankie Muniz or whatever)

I think he looks more like an ageing Harry Potter (it's the eyes!)

I agree. He does look like an old Harry Potter.

 

[hooksashands]

I don't know why Escapist bothers reporting on EA news anymore. The second the average forum goer sees the words Electronic and Arts they devolve into hate spewing regurgitators of the same few lines over and over, with no care at all for the actual contents and context of the report, but for the aforementioned words.

To be fair, they did just freaking lay off that guy who did the first PvZ so it's like, what logical reason would there be for that unless they somehow uploaded a copy of his brain into an android that was superior in every way to the original...

All they have to do is keep smiling while they slowly peel away the skin, then the muscles, and the bones and the organs, and by the time a valid complaint can be lodged, it's already hanging in the butcher's window. It's not as if they haven't already done it before. You act as if these concerns and yelling are completely unfounded.

Possibly, but folks like you need to recognize the difference between EA's crap and standard practice for corporations. When you acquire a new asset, you don't need things like a second legal team, so you get rid of it, MAYBE keep some and integrate them into your legal team if they're talented and so on.

That's like saying I should familiarize myself with the difference between loose stool and diarrhea. Massive layoffs or cutbacks due to a greedy publisher cannibalizing game studios left and right should not be standard practice. This is just one of the many reasons why EA was named Worst Company in America by The Consumerist. They even beat out Bank of America, who's mortgage people are some of the worst lot I've ever had to deal with. So no, "folks like me" don't need to go along with their crap and pretend they're doing anything positive for this industry by ripping apart jobs.

 

[hooksashands]

Corporate buyouts are actually fairly common in the corporate world regardless of industry.

Not until 10 years ago they weren't. Software/developer buyouts only started happening en masse when our economy hit the dirt.

As for cannibalizing studios left and right? Moot point, those studios were likely already on their last leg.

Um, no they aren't. Pandemic was doing fine until they were bought by EA. Then they release Mercenaries 3 and poof, goodbye.

If they wheren't then they wouldn't agree to sell themselves to EA and the like, because it would have been more financially beneficial to remain their own entity. Almost every studio EA buys up were in some type of financial trouble and would have probably died off far earlier if not for EA.

So this is what it's like to talk to somonee who's been brainwashed. The fact that EA tries to pass itself as the sole videogame savior is terrifying enough without you going merrily along with their developer holocaust. There should be plenty of other options available to companies besides letting the bigger one gobble them up, otherwise things like Kickstarter would not exist.

People like to demonize EA, Activision and so on for destroying developers, but really all they do is give these developers who were already in the process of sinking a second chance with strings attached.

No, they do a fine job of demonizing themselves. For fuck's sake, the evidence has been there all along. They don't give second chances, unless by "second chance" you mean "impossible deadlines" and "unfair workloads." Oh, and eventual "career deadends." Thanks to EA, we will never get to see another game from Hypnotix, NuFX, Phenomic, Bullfrog, Kesmai and Origin (now used as the name for their shitty delivery service). Kinda like if I killed one of your family members, stuffed their corpse, then asked you for money.

A chance nobody else is capable of giving them. You can argue the effects of this, or if they even do it well, but that is all they are guilty of.

Yea, whatever. If this is their idea of how to run a business, I'd rather just watch AAA games die right now. Fuck EA. And fuck any company that buys up as many IPs as it can only to let them stagnate.

 

[5t3v0]

That kid from Malcolm in the middle is laying people off at popcap? What the hell?

(yeah yeah I know he... might not have or whatever, but damn does he look like Frankie Muniz or whatever)

Cannot be unseen...

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Bile bile bile

Corporate buyouts are actually fairly common in the corporate world regardless of industry.

As for cannibalizing studios left and right? Moot point, those studios were likely already on their last leg.

Origin Systems weren't in any financial difficulty, and had no intention of being bought out by any company.
Then EA set their sights on them. They wanted Origin's IPs so they sued them with unfair lawsuits and bullied them into financial difficulty, until Origin were going under and needed someone to buy out the company to continue functioning, which EA did. And that's not just gamer speculation or gossip, EA admitted it. They admitted they destroyed the company because they wanted to buy it.

Of the other companies that were merged, Westwood held a 6% share of the total gaming market the year it was bought. In comparison the (much much larger) EA only had an 11% share. That's pretty much the definition of successful.

Bioware and Pandemic certainly were not on their 'last legs' (they were owned by the same company) Heck, Bioware were RPG gamers golden child with runaway successes of KOTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. There were no reports of financial difficulties, no layoffs, no announcements of delayed games/problems with funding.
If you want to know the reason for the merger, you just need to know one thing: EA CEO John Riccitiello had just relinquished control as Managing Director for the firm that controlled the company in charge of both studios. Because of that he got a $5 million handshake as a bonus for the merger. That's $5 million personal income, with no company ties or restrictions.

Now this wasn't always the case, I'm sure there were companies that were in dire straits until EA bought them, but it shows that at least once, EA manipulated and forced a company to merge, in another, it was pure personal gain for EA's head honcho.

Stuff 'em.

 

[Leroy Frederick]

The beginning of the end? Never understood why a company doing as well as Popcap felt the need accept a buyout (other than the payout of course), especially from EA!

 

[Callate]

I don't know if anyone will see this, but I chatted with a friend who has associates in Popcap, and she basically said that George Fan's departure was EA's doing. Take friend-of-a-friend sourcing for what it's worth, of course, but from where I stand, EA continues to degenerate. And in the process, make choosing to avoid their works into less of a whim and more of a sacred calling.