EA purchases Titanfall developer, Respawn Entertainment and their IP for 455 million currencies

[Canadamus Prime]

Ok place your bets. How long before EA shuts 'em down?

 

[FalloutJack]

Ok place your bets. How long before EA shuts 'em down?

One year. It needs time to produce a AAA snore-fest, and then it needs to be shunted over to something that won't be completed, and then it will be dead.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Ya know, I wonder if Sir-Tech (my favorite developers of all time and the greatest in gaming history IMO) had a scrying mirror into the future and bowed out. They did close doors not long before the EA serial killing began.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Ok place your bets. How long before EA shuts 'em down?

One year. It needs time to produce a AAA snore-fest, and then it needs to be shunted over to something that won't be completed, and then it will be dead.

>We bought you because we like what you do.
>NOW DO IT THIS WAY!
>Wait, it was a failure? It's your fault! You're fired!

 

[Tanis]

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust, yeah
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

I don't know how that $455 mil. is split but even if each team member only got $1,000,000 each... Seriously, that's a million dollars. It's not THAT hard to see why Respawn let themselves get bought.

You know what, the way I see it though, we deserve EA because we keep giving them money. SOMEONE is paying for their crap games even if it's not you or me specifically. And if us gamers in general really want to pay EA for them then so be it. Let them get loot-boxed to death. They chose their fate.

At some point, that masochism is jsut not going to be enough to keep this up.

At some point...

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Well hey, at least this time EA is using their unholy powers for good. Nothing of real value be lost with the fall of Respawn.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I'm sure they will be safe up until the moment Bioware is killed off.

*Anthem bombs
*Bioware murdered
*Star Wars game released, fails to sell 10billion copies(EA "Disappointed")
*Titanfall 3 released, fails to sell billion copies(EA "Disappointed")(Steps 3 and 4 can be swapped)
*Respawn murdered while in the middle of next project.

Actual critical/financial success won't save them from EA's absurd expectations.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Ok place your bets. How long before EA shuts 'em down?

One year. It needs time to produce a AAA snore-fest, and then it needs to be shunted over to something that won't be completed, and then it will be dead.

That is usually how it goes.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Why?

Seriously why do companies let themselves get bought up like this? The track record is written on the wall. Their fate is all but assured.

I just don't understand why this still happens?

I think you missed an important part of the text:

EA said in a press release that the deal is worth $455 million

Artistic integrity doesn't mean much when that kind of money is on the table, unfortunately. Especially not since most of the people who actually do the work probably didn't even see a dime of that money.

The world is just broken.

 

[Pyrian]

A lot of the time these sales aren't killing anything that isn't already dead. Didn't Titanfall 2 not do very well? Maybe they would've folded if they didn't find a buyer. 'Course, $455 million kind of suggests otherwise, but still.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Why?

Seriously why do companies let themselves get bought up like this? The track record is written on the wall. Their fate is all but assured.

I just don't understand why this still happens?

I often wonder the same thing. There's no law that says anyone has to sell themselves to whatever megacorporation wants to buy them. They have to know what EA does to publishers. Which makes me believe that for them, it was never about making video games, it was about making money. Video games were just the platform they chose to get that money.

And of course there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but in this case, if another company was offering to buy them, they could have at least had the decency to sell for a little less to a company that wasn't pure evil and guaranteed to fire all their hard working employees within 5 years. But, whatta ya know, greed makes the world go round.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

I want Titanfall 3 to be complete SP focus game but sadly EA will not allow them.

SP was best thing about Titanfall 2.

 

[Saelune]

You guys act like Titanfall wasnt already wholly published by EA.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

You guys act like Titanfall wasnt already wholly published by EA.

Published, yes. But not owned or controlled. There is a huge difference worth knowing.

 

[Saelune]

You guys act like Titanfall wasnt already wholly published by EA.

Published, yes. But not owned or controlled. There is a huge difference worth knowing.

Not really, certainly not for a developer like Respawn which is too small to stand alone. People are acting like they were snatched away from some better publisher, but EA has had their hooks in them since the start.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Not really, certainly not for a developer like Respawn which is too small to stand alone. People are acting like they were snatched away from some better publisher, but EA has had their hooks in them since the start.

Not snatched. More like groomed. That doesn't make it ok. It basically garuntees their future work will have a lot more strings attached to corporate meddling, bonus pay based on metacritic scores and general anti-consumer practices added to anything they now make. Whatever you thought of them before, they're only going to get worse from now on.

 

[Saelune]

Not really, certainly not for a developer like Respawn which is too small to stand alone. People are acting like they were snatched away from some better publisher, but EA has had their hooks in them since the start.

Not snatched. More like groomed. That doesn't make it ok. It basically garuntees their future work will have a lot more strings attached to corporate meddling, bonus pay based on metacritic scores and general anti-consumer practices added to anything they now make. Whatever you thought of them before, they're only going to get worse from now on.

As if they would not have those put upon them regardless. Who would they go to instead? Activision?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

As if they would not have those put upon them regardless. Who would they go to instead? Activision?

You assume exactly what such a large publisher would want them to assume; well if we won't take you...who will? This is precisely what traps so many artists in all media. It's financial control for assets. Only really something that matters further down the line, so I can understand why it doesn't seem that bad currently. EA has a long history of forcing developers to make market-based changes to their IPs and when they fail enough in launch sales, the developer gets axed. Is this not common knowledge yet?

 

[Saelune]

As if they would not have those put upon them regardless. Who would they go to instead? Activision?

You assume exactly what such a large publisher would want them to assume; well if we won't take you...who will? This is precisely what traps so many artists in all media. It's financial control for assets. Only really something that matters further down the line, so I can understand why it doesn't seem that bad currently. EA has a long history of forcing developers to make market-based changes to their IPs and when they fail enough in launch sales, the developer gets axed. Is this not common knowledge yet?

My point was more that the alternative would do the same, except because Titanfall is one of EA's Activision competitors, why would Activision want them?

If they didnt want to fall into EA's clutches, well, its two Titanfalls too late.