When EA falls, Ubisoft will rise.

[Matthew Jabour]

EA will die. It's obvious to everyone; even their terminally incompetent CEO jumped ship. They might not be obliterated like THQ, but their days as an industry frontrunner are numbered.
The thing is, when they die, someone will have to fill their place. To me, it seems obvious: Ubisoft is very somewhat popular with the public (like EA once was), they have a number of strong juggernaut franchises that will carry them for years, and they're already doing some business practices influenced by an inflating ego. So when EA falls, Ubisoft will probably take their place. The question is, are you all okay with that? Are you willing to let Ubisoft fill EA's shoes? Will you be just as enthused to buy Assassin's Creed 7, 8, & 9 as you were with III? Because Ubisoft is better than EA - at least for now.

EDIT: Okay, not very popular, but they're still in relatively good standing. At this point it still seems like humans are running it, which is more than I can say for EA.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Ubisoft is very popular with the public (like EA once was),

Oh yeah, them accusing about 95% of PC users of being pirates [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119200-Ubisoft-Puts-PC-Piracy-Rate-at-93-95]; using Beyond Good and Evil 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114158-Want-Beyond-Good-and-Evil-2-Buy-Rayman-Origins] to coerce people into buying other Ubisoft games; stupidly putting their own games up against each other, and other big hitters and delaying a game on one console for months that is ready just so they can have a multi-platform release [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121977-Rayman-Legends-Goes-Multiplatform], a move that even caued the creator of the game itself to protest [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122077-Rayman-Creator-Joins-Legends-Protest] is really winning over hearts and minds of gamers

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Ubisoft are popular with the public? I see a LOT of ire pointed their way almost every day that I venture into a gaming discussion.

I like the games that they release but their PR isn't amazing. Better than EA's but whose isn't right now?

Also, the thread title should totally be used as the tagline for the movie.

 

[Doom972]

Out of the three big publishers (Activision, EA and Ubisoft), EA seems to me like the lesser evil. They have the worst reputation because of how they draw negative attention to themselves due of their incompetent PR and executives who don't know when to shut up.

I'd like to remind you that Ubisoft were the first to use the always-online DRM for a single player game in Assassin's Creed 2, and have used it in several single player games since, and have made some idiotic statements too.

Don't even get me started on Activision (grrr).

As for EA dying - doesn't seem very likely. As much as we might hate them, their games are popular and will continue to sell. They make huge amounts of money just from their yearly sports games, most of which are basically roster updates that don't require much work.

 

[Username Redacted]

I don't think there's a single too big to fail company in the game industry. That said EA, Ubisoft and Blizzard-Activision would have to try pretty damn hard to fail at this point. I am also Jacks complete and utter lack of surprise that some of the absolute shadiest and shittiest business practices in this industry originate (HA!) with one of those companies. The only company that I'm regularly exposed to that even comes close to any of those three companies is probably Capcom, a company that does in fact seem to be trying to actively antagonize their customers to the point that I could see them serving as a cautionary tale in 5-10 years.

 

[TheBestPieEver]

This is very one sided and not very well thought opinion. Ubisoft is not on position to do what EA does because they lack those juggernaut titles that force EA to make more heartless decisions in the name of bottomline. Ubisoft does not hold all that many properties that could rival the 5 big publishers remaining (4 in the case of EA dying) sure, AC sells very well but other than that they don't do anything else that carries a lot of weight lately. Beyond good and evil is dead, Prince of Persia was ran into the ground.

Also, you forget that the reason why EA has been making a lot of its decisions based of bottomline is because of its investors. They cannot resist the temptation of the Call Of Duty buck that Activision pulls in, and they wish the company to go in that direction. So naturally, if EA loses the spoils will go to activision.

Lastly. Shitty PR does not mean shitty business practices. EA has the worst PR in the history of anything, and while their business practices are not all that good for the consumers they are certainly the lesser evil out of all the big publishers (Perhaps Take Two is a little less evil than EA). So no, Ubisoft it's not better than EA they are just better at pretending that they aren't evil.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I don't believe that EA will die in any conceivable future, and even they will die, the whole triple A games industry will fall with them.

 

[itsthesheppy]

Since when is Ubisoft popular with gamers?

Yeah, they put out a decent game every now and then, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. They were the pioneers of shitty DRM.

 

[AlotFirst]

I don't believe that EA will die in any conceivable future, and even they will die, the whole triple A games industry will fall with them.

The AAA-industry won't die, silly. The gap will simply be filled by other opportunistic publishers, hoping that they too might one day become an evil empire.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I don't believe that EA will die in any conceivable future, and even they will die, the whole triple A games industry will fall with them.

The AAA-industry won't die, silly. The gap will simply be filled by other opportunistic publishers, hoping that they too might one day become an evil empire.

Well, at least that's my opinion, if giant falls earthquake follows. And taking into account that EA is giant asshole, he might as well drag everyone nearby with him.

 

[aguspal]

Ubisoft is very popular with the public (like EA once was),

Oh yeah, them accusing about 95% of PC users of being pirates [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119200-Ubisoft-Puts-PC-Piracy-Rate-at-93-95]; using Beyond Good and Evil 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114158-Want-Beyond-Good-and-Evil-2-Buy-Rayman-Origins] to coerce people into buying other Ubisoft games; stupidly putting their own games up against each other, and other big hitters and delaying a game on one console for months that is ready just so they can have a multi-platform release [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121977-Rayman-Legends-Goes-Multiplatform], a move that even caued the creator of the game itself to protest [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122077-Rayman-Creator-Joins-Legends-Protest] is really winning over hearts and minds of gamers

Yeah thats all bad but I still like some of the games they make.

Thus I will just buy products from them anyways.

So well played Ubisoft. You are still relevant and all, but lets hope they dont force it too much, ok?


Thats not to say theres some other better companies out there, true. But not liking a company because of some minial stuff is a little overboard IMO. But everyone is entiled to their respective opnions and balbalbablal.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Ubisoft is very popular with the public (like EA once was),

Oh yeah, them accusing about 95% of PC users of being pirates [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119200-Ubisoft-Puts-PC-Piracy-Rate-at-93-95]; using Beyond Good and Evil 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114158-Want-Beyond-Good-and-Evil-2-Buy-Rayman-Origins] to coerce people into buying other Ubisoft games; stupidly putting their own games up against each other, and other big hitters and delaying a game on one console for months that is ready just so they can have a multi-platform release [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121977-Rayman-Legends-Goes-Multiplatform], a move that even caued the creator of the game itself to protest [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122077-Rayman-Creator-Joins-Legends-Protest] is really winning over hearts and minds of gamers

Yeah thats all bad but I still like some of the games they make.

Thus I will just buy products from them anyways.

So well played Ubisoft. You are still relevant and all, but lets hope they dont force it too much, ok?

Oh, I enjoy some of the games they make, and I'll continue buying various games from them, don't get me wrong, but I was just pointing out that calling them "very popular with the public" is pretty much downright false.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

...what? Seriously, EA are too well off for that to happen. Furthermore, let's face it, people on the net bitching about EA are in the minority; we're FAR outnumbered by the population that makes EA games multi-million sellers.

 

[Lilani]

EA will die. It's obvious to everyone; even their terminally incompetent CEO jumped ship. They might not be obliterated like THQ, but their days as an industry frontrunner are numbered.
The thing is, when they die, someone will have to fill their place. To me, it seems obvious: Ubisoft is very popular with the public (like EA once was), they have a number of strong juggernaut franchises that will carry them for years, and they're already doing some business practices influenced by an inflating ego. So when EA falls, Ubisoft will probably take their place. The question is, are you all okay with that? Are you willing to let Ubisoft fill EA's shoes? Will you be just as enthused to buy Assassin's Creed 7, 8, & 9 as you were with III? Because Ubisoft is better than EA - at least for now.

I think your assessment is very flawed. There is no sign EA will "die" at the moment. Yes they are in a bit of a slump, however nothing is guaranteed and they still have a long way they can fall before getting anywhere near what you might call a "bottom." Also, Ubisoft "very popular" with the public? With them being probably the biggest and most eager proponents of DRM right after EA's recent escapades? I don't think so.

Also, I don't think you even understand what would really happen if EA did "die." It wouldn't just vanish, it would happen much like what happened to THQ. They'd be split up, and their IPs and all the studios they owned would be sold off to the highest bidder. So the only way Ubisoft could "fill their shoes" is if they are the one that acquires most of EA's IPs and studios and manages to keep them profitable after the transition. That is how EA got so big in the first place: absorbing smaller studios and buying up IPs, not only building their resources but reducing the resources of others. And it could be Ubisoft, or just as easily another company. It entirely depends on who buys up EA's parts and who is the most successful in keeping them alive. While the games industry doesn't necessarily NEED EA or its parts, they still make up a sizable portion of the industry and there would be a lot of people displaced if too many parts either aren't bought or are dead on arrival.

Basically, you are overestimating EA's decline and underestimating the public's ire for Ubisoft. Because also don't forget even if Ubisoft acquires most of EA, they could easily fall down the same path. The way I understand, EA's problem is in the way it's structured and lead. It's structured and lead as any other company that produces products, rather than as a games company that is producing creative works. You can't treat a game developer like a factory that produces cakes. Ubisoft could easily fall into the same pattern, because I feel like EA may have fallen into that pattern because they got so big. As they got bigger they were worried they'd lose control of all of their parts, so they filled their leadership with people who are good at running companies. Unfortunately, just because someone is good at running any other company doesn't mean they're going to know how to fill the odd and unusual needs of game development.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Out of the three big publishers (Activision, EA and Ubisoft), EA seems to me like the lesser evil. They have the worst reputation because of how they draw negative attention to themselves due of their incompetent PR and executives who don't know when to shut up.

I'd like to remind you that Ubisoft were the first to use the always-online DRM for a single player game in Assassin's Creed 2, and have used it in several single player games since, and have made some idiotic statements too.

Don't even get me started on Activision (grrr).

As for EA dying - doesn't seem very likely. As much as we might hate them, their games are popular and will continue to sell. They make huge amounts of money just from their yearly sports games, most of which are basically roster updates that don't require much work.

Do they still do the always online thing? I thought they dropped it after their first few launches turned out to be unmitigated disasters.

Also, there's at least one thing Ubisoft does better than EA, and that's PR. Every semester at my university, there's a 100 seat LAN party thrown for the students by one of the local churches. Popcap games used to be one of their biggest regular sponsors, along with Ubisoft. Popcap gave away tons of free games (the last year they did it, literally everyone got a code for a free game of their choice in a goody bag, and there was a raffle for more games and various pieces of swag, like bumper stickers and plushies), while Ubisoft sent an actual company representative out to raffle stuff off and run their high end lasertag game. Then EA bought out Popcap, and suddenly all communication dried up -- nobody was able to even get ahold of anyone in charge of that sort of thing, let alone get them to send the goodies they used to. Ubisoft? They're still sending out a rep in person, despite the fact that Ubisoft is a French company with the nearest studio being in Canada, while EA is an American company whose nearest studio (the one responsible for their sports games, no less) is only an hour away from the university in question. Go figure.

I'm not saying Ubisoft is an angel or anything like that, but they're definitely not on the same level of stupid, if not evil, as EA.

Edit: Read "several" as "every." That makes more sense.

 

[aguspal]

Ubisoft is very popular with the public (like EA once was),

Oh yeah, them accusing about 95% of PC users of being pirates [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119200-Ubisoft-Puts-PC-Piracy-Rate-at-93-95]; using Beyond Good and Evil 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114158-Want-Beyond-Good-and-Evil-2-Buy-Rayman-Origins] to coerce people into buying other Ubisoft games; stupidly putting their own games up against each other, and other big hitters and delaying a game on one console for months that is ready just so they can have a multi-platform release [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121977-Rayman-Legends-Goes-Multiplatform], a move that even caued the creator of the game itself to protest [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122077-Rayman-Creator-Joins-Legends-Protest] is really winning over hearts and minds of gamers

Yeah thats all bad but I still like some of the games they make.

Thus I will just buy products from them anyways.

So well played Ubisoft. You are still relevant and all, but lets hope they dont force it too much, ok?

Oh, I enjoy some of the games they make, and I'll continue buying various games from them, don't get me wrong, but I was just pointing out that calling them "very popular with the public" is pretty much downright false.

Um. "very popular with the public" Well in the good sence, of course not. They are not at Activision hate levels but they are trying to match it, thats for sure.

I personally dont really hate any company thougt... so long as they have made at least 1 (one) good game that I enjoined, they are good in my book.

Unless they cause something like World War 3 or something, I dont really care about their bunnises practices. They get my money, I get the product. Thats it.

 

[thesilentman]

Haha, no.

Ubisoft will only rise when...

A) They make a good AC, Splinter Cell or Prince of Persia OR they be ultra nice and give us Beyond Good and Evil 2.
B) Stop shafting PC gamers
C) Stop insisting that their DRM is going to work wonders.

Call me when they do ANY of these, and I'll look at them with more interest. But for now, skeptical me is skeptical.

 

[josemlopes]

Out of all the publishers that shell out the big releases I think that the one that doesnt usually fuck up is 2K Games so yeah... the other 3 (EA, Ubisoft, Activision) are all knee deep in shit; EA you cant even see the knee, only a hand coming out of a huge pile of shit asking for money to give you some of his shit.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Because Ubisoft is better than EA - at least for now.

No!

You know the recent shit storm around Simcity? Well, Ubisoft managed to preempt that little bollocks up, with an identical bollocks up involving Assassin's Creed 2 having an even more arbitrary always online requirement, in March 2010. Essentially, Ubisoft are two years ahead of EA in the dick headed expensive fuck ups race.

If EA hypothetically fails, Ubisoft tanks two year beforehand...