When did EA start to go bad?

[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.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Yeah, Wikipedia says that development of Dragon Age: Origins began in November 2002 with full-scale production beginning in 2005. There were then 2 years of production before BioWare was bought by EA in October 2007. Then when you consider that it takes time to sort out these corporate takeovers and the time needed for manufacturing and distribution, EA probably only had time to demand that one guy that sits in your campsite and asks you to buy the DLC and to split Shale into day 1 DLC before the release in November 2009.

As for when EA went bad, I have no idea. I remember Simpson's Road Rage being okay, but I didn't play it all that much and not for nearly a decade.

 

[UfokinDingus]

you might as well ask "at what point did this stinky cheese use to be milk?" and you will find the answer to be about the same as when EA used to be good.