When did EA start to go bad?

[briankoontz]

One problem is that games "journalism" has always been about hyping the game industry - hence previews which are little more than corporate marketing.

Journalism in it's conception of informing the people is greatly disregarded within gaming. An informed gaming populace would already know the entire history of EA - as one of the largest publishers and longtime developers we can't argue that it's too inconsequential to care about.

Some gamers like to hold the concept that games pop up out of nowhere - that business is corrupt and therefore all knowledge of where games come from would make them worse *people*. So they celebrate games while maintaining ignorance of all things corrupt (for them, mostly corporations and politics), in the same way that people shopping at a supermarket don't want to know where the food comes from. They just want to consume.

For gamers this ideology can be summed up as "Shut up and play".

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I'm sure the fall of EA was a steady slope pretty much. But if I had to pick the last game they released where they were actually workable still, I'd say it would be the first Crysis. After that, I can distinctly remember them pulling off douche move after douche move.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

They were good in the 80's. Scrappy little company. Everything went to shit after that.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Hm. First thing I can remember was when they incorporated that "Cerberus Network" crap into Mass Effect 2, to basically screw over used versions of the game. For me at least, that was when it started going downhill.

 

[Neverhoodian]

EA was probably the first triple-A game company I came to actively despise back in the early 2000's.[footnote]Yes, I realize the hypocrisy of saying that while having an avatar from Cel Damage, a game published by EA from 2001. I claim ignorance on that, as I was an adolescent that knew nothing about the company yet.[/footnote] I didn't have the internet until then, but when I got it I soon became privy to its sordid business practices. Learning about the buyout and dissolution of Westwood was the big turning point for me. I adored the Command & Conquer series, and watching it die a slow, painful death under their watch was infuriating.

"Mr. Internet, How did Electronic Arts die?"

"A young company named EA helped the Corporation hunt down and destroy Gaming Companies. He betrayed and murdered Electronic Arts. Now good gaming companies are all but extinct. EA was seduced by the dark side of the Market"

--------------------------------------

"Mr. Internet never told you what happened to Electronic Arts"

"He told me enough! He told me YOU killed them"

"No, I AM ELECTRONIC ARTS!"

Here, you deserve this:

Spoiler

 

[RawSteelUT]

I remember EA being a great publishers that gave me great games such as Dragon Age, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Mirror's Edge, and Mass Effect 2 (which is debatable).

But what the hell are these shits i'm looking at? BF4 and SimCity disastrous launch? Mediocre Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition? DLC supplemented ME3? Battlefield Hardline's cash grab bullshit? Oh, let's not forget our newest member to the family, Battlefront EA (I REFUSE to put SW at the beginning).

Seriously, what happened, EA?

Quite easy to answer - when they figured out they could get people to buy yearly sports titles with little to no improvement. EA spent much of the 5th and 6th generations as an also-ran, pumping out mainly movie and sports games and generally being easy to ignore, except when they cockblocked Sega's NFL2K series and bought out a bunch of smaller PC developers to harvest IP.

John Ricietello(SP?) came along and, for a VERY short period of time, actually turned EA into a company people might give a shit about, with Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise and Dead Space. Almost immediately after DS did well, EA turned into outright cockbags with "project $10 dollar," the failed attempt to turn Battlefield into a CoD killer, and another spate of buyouts (how's Pandemic doing?). I think the ousting of Ricietello by the board (and make no mistake, he was ousted) is partly because EA would rather go back to that comfortable period where sports fans bought blindly and actual gamers ignored them. It was an easy, profitable time for them.

Honestly, I kinda wish them the best in that. The sooner I can just ignore EA completely, the better off I'll feel.

 

[Parasondox]

They were the choosen one but the dark side consumed them.

It shall defeat the blinding light. Embrace the power!

 

[pilouuuu]

When they lost the "Arts" part of Electronic Arts and became a soulless corporation.

 

[Fat Hippo]

Quite easy to answer - when they figured out they could get people to buy yearly sports titles with little to no improvement. EA spent much of the 5th and 6th generations as an also-ran, pumping out mainly movie and sports games and generally being easy to ignore, except when they cockblocked Sega's NFL2K series and bought out a bunch of smaller PC developers to harvest IP.

John Ricietello(SP?) came along and, for a VERY short period of time, actually turned EA into a company people might give a shit about, with Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise and Dead Space. Almost immediately after DS did well, EA turned into outright cockbags with "project $10 dollar," the failed attempt to turn Battlefield into a CoD killer, and another spate of buyouts (how's Pandemic doing?). I think the ousting of Ricietello by the board (and make no mistake, he was ousted) is partly because EA would rather go back to that comfortable period where sports fans bought blindly and actual gamers ignored them. It was an easy, profitable time for them.

Honestly, I kinda wish them the best in that. The sooner I can just ignore EA completely, the better off I'll feel.

To be honest, I never really minded the sports games side of their business. There's obviously a market, and people must be more or less satisfied with their yearly releases of almost identical games, or they wouldn't buy them every year. I know a bunch of people who love FIFA and I've never heard a single complaint from them. And as long as the people buying the games are happy, I don't really have an issue with it, as it doesn't affect other gamers in the slightest.

Running developers into the ground is another matter, because there's very little consumers can do about it, and it has the potential the permanently end franchises with loyal fanbase, simply because EA is sitting on an IP and unwilling to make a game out of it, unless they can find a cheap way to milk it or market it a massive audience. It stifles creativity and screws a lot of people over. I think it's far more harmful than anything they can do with their sports franchises.

These days, I actually do ignore EA for the most part. Not through any active attempt, but simply because they do so little of interest to me. I just hope they don't buy any more developers I like.

 

[Zen Bard]

Right after it's IPO in '89, when they started gobbling up other software publishers and focusing on licensing.

Once a company goes public, all the attention shifts to "shareholder management".

Pretty much every decision at EA since then has been geared towards driving up the earnings per share and stock price.

 

[My name is JACK]

Short simple answer, when they became publicly traded.

 

[Wolf Hagen]

I think it was around the Era, that the leash and collar around many of their studios necks became more a noose.

I'd say around the Time before Comannd and Conquer: Red Alert3 and somewhere after Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.


Rest in Piece: Westwood, Bullfrog, Maxis.

Save yourself Bioware!!!!

 

[StatusNil]

John Ricietello(SP?) came along and, for a VERY short period of time, actually turned EA into a company people might give a shit about, with Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise and Dead Space. Almost immediately after DS did well, EA turned into outright cockbags with "project $10 dollar," the failed attempt to turn Battlefield into a CoD killer, and another spate of buyouts (how's Pandemic doing?.

Uh... except those games were largely developed during Riccitiello's absence from EA. He was COO until 2004, and returned as CEO in a move not unconnected to his venture capital fund (Elevation Partners, featuring "Boner" of U2 fame!) snapping up the BioWare/Pandemic holding company and flipping it to EA at more than double the price in 2007. Allegedly despite assurances that they would maintain the independence of the studios.

So you see, all that stuff you like happened because Johnny R. left the company to go raiding with his investor pals, and the "cockbaggery" you're not happy with started after he returned to claim his reward for poaching yet another great studio for EA to suck dry. And let's not forget he was the guy who salivated over the prospect of charging players for ammo in online shooters, cackling about "motivated customers". I like a bit of revisionism now and then too, but come on.

 

[Something Amyss]

I remember EA being a great publishers that gave me great games such as Dragon Age, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Mirror's Edge, and Mass Effect 2 (which is debatable).

Of course, by then, they'd already started in on their DLC model. And pre-order model. And many of the other things people find reprehensible. In fact, while you can point to good games in the era, it's amazing to see someone using 2009 as an example of them being great publishers.

 

[sXeth]

I mostly just remember them always being the same more or less. Churning out rushed sequels to successful IP with barebones upgrades. Buying other IPs and ruining them with that mentality.

I mean, the DLC shenanigans and stuff are new, but the core was always kind of sketchy.

 

[kilenem]

Ironicly West and Zamapla got screwed by EA and went to Activison and made Modern Warfare. o its been a long time

 

[remnant_phoenix]

If you really want see how far EA has changed, look up their "Can a computer make you cry?" article/mission statement that dates back to the founding of the company.

 

[Saulkar]

I think it can be traced back to when they messed with Bethesda in 87/88.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQqt4hG6SI&start=423

The most basic gist of it is that they did not publish their game but took their physics engine anyways.

 

[Zaltys]

I'd pinpoint it in 1991, after the appointment of Probst as the new CEO. That's when they started milking the sports franchises, and got into habit of acquiring smaller competing companies just to bleed them dry. Maxis, Origin, Bullfrog, Westwood, Dreamworks..

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

Probably when they stopped calling themselves Electronic Arts.

I remember seeing their logo at the start of games and being excited.