EA Explains Warhammer 40K Tanks in C&C Concept Art

[GamemasterAnthony]

EA and GW work together, eh? That explains much.

Still...show of hands, people. Who here thinks that "strong" relationship is going to fade over this?

 

[Nargleblarg]

Foiled Again...

Back at the EA Headquarters.

Spoiler

I'll get you next time Gadget! Next time!

 

[Monsterfurby]

As a general rule i never trust a damn thing EA says. They may very well have said "copy 40k tanks that shit is awesome" and some peon took it 100% literal. May have been a peon wanting to make EA look bad, may have been a higher ranking Peon ordered it and hoped it would stay until release. In any case they have on their hands a rivet for rivet copy of several WH40k tanks. I don't care how it came about as its dead, don't care who doesn't give a shit, but i hope GW gets this "im watchin you" thing going with EA.

Considering the "explanation" was not one at all, and considering EA is, well, EA, I think that's pretty much exactly what happened.

 

[kickyourass]

Well the guy said the image was never meant to go public and wasn't going to be actually used in the game. So what I think happened is, a guy makes the concept art (Probably someone unfamiliar with 40K), the guy in charge of the art notices the similarities and rejects it, the guy forgot to delete it off his computer and it got leaked. Or some variation of that scenario.

Really doesn't seem that there's all that much to this.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I especially like how Games Workshop and EA's "Strong Working Relationship" ended with EA disintegrating Mythic Entertainment and slapping the Bioware Logo on the front of it.

 

[Setch Dreskar]

Well the guy said the image was never meant to go public and wasn't going to be actually used in the game. So what I think happened is, a guy makes the concept art (Probably someone unfamiliar with 40K), the guy in charge of the art notices the similarities and rejects it, the guy forgot to delete it off his computer and it got leaked. Or some variation of that scenario.

Really doesn't seem that there's all that much to this.

Seems less likely when it is such a close copy of the tank.

I still think that a C&C and WH40k cross-over (as in: the GDI fighting Chaos Space Marines/Orcs/Tyranids) would be a MUCH better idea than a straight-up C&C sequel.

Try and sell that to Games Workshop and see how fast the British can laugh you out of the building. If they weren't under contract with EA they would not be working with them after the crap the pulled with the MMO. Games Workshop takes defense of the IP to levels that would make the US military budget wet itself. They do not fuck around, they do not cross IPs, they do not allow copying, and they certainly won't make the same mistake they made with Warhammer.

As a general rule i never trust a damn thing EA says. They may very well have said "copy 40k tanks that shit is awesome" and some peon took it 100% literal. May have been a peon wanting to make EA look bad, may have been a higher ranking Peon ordered it and hoped it would stay until release. In any case they have on their hands a rivet for rivet copy of several WH40k tanks. I don't care how it came about as its dead, don't care who doesn't give a shit, but i hope GW gets this "im watchin you" thing going with EA.

Also this, a thousand times this, people that are invested within the Warhammer universe and know the contract that Games Workshop has with EA know that GW is trying to get out of it because EA is destroying its brand. People think Bethesda goes to an extreme to protect its license and IP (Though really they didn't have a choice.), but GW puts that to shame to where you can't even have Games Workshop pictures of products online if you intend to sell them in your online store.

GW would never do a cross-over, especially not with EA after how bad EA ruined the Warhammer Fantasy license they got from consuming Mythic Entertainment and destroying that company as well. I actually hope GW can break the contract soon and WAR can finally be laid to rest and WoH can be put down.

 

[kickyourass]

Well the guy said the image was never meant to go public and wasn't going to be actually used in the game. So what I think happened is, a guy makes the concept art (Probably someone unfamiliar with 40K), the guy in charge of the art notices the similarities and rejects it, the guy forgot to delete it off his computer and it got leaked. Or some variation of that scenario.

Really doesn't seem that there's all that much to this.

Seems less likely when it is such a close copy of the tank.

Even if it WAS an intentional copy (which now that I look more closely is pretty likely) it was still not actually going to be used, which means it was probably cought.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

It seems like every week EA does something insane and/or offensive and every week they tell me I'm the one being unfair to EA. It plays into my theory that gamers are the most self loathing lifeforms in the universe.

 

[Setch Dreskar]

Even if it WAS an intentional copy (which now that I look more closely is pretty likely) it was still not actually going to be used, which means it was probably cought.

Eh they probably had ever intention of using it, but quickly spun it when people pointed out how much of a copy it was. I may be cynical but its how EA has operated alot especially with Warhammer =/

 

[Alssadar]

"It's almost like a shipment of 10,000 Baneblades just went out the other day, and now they suddenly appear in a commonplace game, as if out of nowhere---CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
-Vance "Motherf**king" Stubbs

 

[IndianaJonny]

Snip

Hell, I fracking knew you'd be the one to put something like that up.

OT: EA must one heck of a tactical genius on their design team to come up with those models.

 

[LorienvArden]

Woe now! Dr. Insano is just insane and evil, not incompetent!

QFT
EA is run by El Senior Corporate Comander, as depicted by the splendid Angry Joe:
http://angryjoeshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Backbreaker_thumb_05_SITE.jpg

 

[mooncalf]

"Hey EA, how's it going?"
"Pretty Good."
"What's that you're holding?"
"Oh just an idea."
"...It looks like a bad idea, is it yours?"
"What? No no, it's... Nobody was supposed to SEE it."
"I'd get rid of it if I were you..."

 

[Therumancer]

In general you can't expect companies to actually admit that they did things wrong. If there were words exchanged between EA and GW on this we'd never hear about them, and given their business relationship, and the money to be made through it, it's not surprising that we didn't see anything happen over this or much in the way of acknowlegement. Still, I'd imagine it's going to have some effect behind closed doors and how GW thinks when it does further business with EA.

I'd guess the internal artwork also might have been intended as a suggestion that they buy the right to the designs from GW. It wouldn't be the first time the same models have been used for more than one property in differant contexts. Like say Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, or the recurring models between Robotech and Battletech. The general idea being that the typical rube playing these games wouldn't notice.

 

[Nouw]

"It's almost like a shipment of 10,000 Baneblades just went out the other day, and now they suddenly appear in a commonplace game, as if out of nowhere---CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
-Vance "Motherf**king" Stubbs

Tactical Genius man, tactical genius.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I especially like how Games Workshop and EA's "Strong Working Relationship" ended with EA disintegrating Mythic Entertainment and slapping the Bioware Logo on the front of it.

Yeah, but Games Workshop knows how popular their franchises are. One of the licensing terms is that they have complete creative control, if they don't like it then it wont be in the game.

If that tank is the final design you can bet G.W wont be too happy about their designs being stolen like that.