EA's chief operating officer John Pleasants has said that the company failed to produce hits last year.
"The biggest thing was that we didn't make hits," he said at a Goldman Sachs conference when asked about a 2008 performance that saw the publisher's stock drop to its lowest point in over seven years.
He went on to tell attendees that not enough gamers wanted to buy new franchises like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. Thankfully that hasn't stopped a new Dead Space title being announced in recent weeks.
However, Pleasants did say that EA would focus on fewer, better games in 2009, having shaved the amount of potential titles for the year by 20 percent. "You can lose your way on basic execution when you have too many games," he said, according to Forbes.
Activision Blizzard is not being hated as EA are really trying to get better and be liked. It's working, I no longer see EA in the same negative way I did 2 years back.
I thought Dead Space had performed okay?? And I don't understand how 'better' games corresponds to turning it into an on-rails shooter. Sounds more like a cost-saving exercise to me. Come on EA, scrap that idea and don't make me hate you.
EA have been and always will be FULL OF IT there to main stream there to BS in everything they do its all teen bs marketing THERES NEVER EVER BEEN A GOOD NEED FOR SPEED GAME EVER yet all the playstation morons purchused the franchize in STUPID NUMBERS only to trade it back in 2 weeks later...
EA HAVE SUCCEEDED IN BULL s**tING CONSUMERS FOR FAR FAR FAR TO LONG
IV HATED THEM SINCE PS1 V N64
WEN I THINK OF WHAT EA STAND FOR I COMPARE GOLDENEYE N64 TO THAT PATHETIC BOND ON PS1 BY EA
Maybe if EA didn't persecute PC gamers with their over the top anti piracy software more ppl would buy their games. But untill they change their policys I don't think they are going to get the sales they want no matter how good of a game it is. Also a bit of originality wouldn't kill them either.
EA have been and always will be FULL OF IT there to main stream there to BS in everything they do its all teen bs marketing THERES NEVER EVER BEEN A GOOD NEED FOR SPEED GAME EVER yet all the playstation morons purchused the franchize in STUPID NUMBERS only to trade it back in 2 weeks later...
EA HAVE SUCCEEDED IN BULL s**tING CONSUMERS FOR FAR FAR FAR TO LONG
IV HATED THEM SINCE PS1 V N64
WEN I THINK OF WHAT EA STAND FOR I COMPARE GOLDENEYE N64 TO THAT PATHETIC BOND ON PS1 BY EA
Mirror's Edge and Dead Space were two of my favourite games from last year.
The demo of Dead Space put me off but I borrowed the game from a friend and after about an hour, I was hooked. It's a great game.
Mirror's Edge had it's problems, (like the crappy combat stuff) but overall, I thought it was a breath of fresh air. It felt really good when you managed to string a whole load of moves together.
playstation morons purchused the franchize in STUPID NUMBERS only to trade it back in 2 weeks later
First, learn to spell- second; stop.....speaking.
EA have failed miserably to understand the situation at hand. It was not that we didn't want to buy their games, we did- Dead Space especially, however, they released their games (NFS; which was not as good as Carbon, and less enthralling than ProStreet; Dead Space which was excellent and Mirrors Edge which promised much but in the end lacked execution.) at the same time as all the other games we'd wanted to buy. I bought FIFA 09, Football Manager 09, Too Human (Got it for £15 three weeks after launch- a bargain considering it's not that bad.) Saints Row 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Fallout 3, Prince of Persia and Fable 2 before Christmas and hadn't the cash to spend on Dead Space and the like. I don't pay a mortgage, I live at home- nothing wrong with it; however, many many gamers aren't like that- many gamers have bills to pay, or mouths to feed, or lost their jobs in the Christmas company collapse; Disposable Income is at an all time low, and companies like EA need to be smarter than this.
Companies need to be smarter about their releases. Summer 08 was a barren, dry spot that only had GTA4 in the Springtime leadup to Summer and MGS4 in August- June and July were barren months. In that time, Dead Space would have been a welcome treat in the absence of any new Resident Evil titles anytime soon- or failing that, why not release Mirrors Edge at that time if it was ready?
Yes, EA had balls taking the risk of two new IPs, but releasing them in a flood of game sequels and proven content was always going to lead to slow sales- same with Tomb Raider and in some respects Prince of Persia. (Though it did pretty well from what I hear.)
We're not robots, we're not sheep, and we're not morons; if we don't have the cash, we'll spend on proven quality; if we have cash to burn, we'll take a gamble- last year had the most packed out Christmas AAA release window of all time, all at a time where Recession bagan to bite and more people began to lose their jobs- it was not a failure of the IPs, they'd have sold as well as Assassin's Creed in a healthier climate, or a better chosen launch date; the blame lies squarely with EA and their Marketing strategy.
They're not the only company to make this mistake, but they are the only company trying to publicly pass the buck.
Boo-f**king-hoo, EA. How about you accept reality that your atrocious attempts at direct control and manipulation of customers through DRM and limited activations cost you a fortune in lost sales? I still want to buy and play "Mass Effect", "Dead Space" and other EA games to this day yet I refuse to buy them no matter how low the asking price because of the poison I know they come with. You only have yourself to blame and I hope each successive year becomes increasingly worse for you in terms of sales and profit. Good riddance.
Both them games were great its a shame more people haven't tried them yet!
So if you haven't do don't let EA being the publisher put you off!
That's right folks: Don't let EA being the publisher put you off. Let the virulent and dangerous DRM with limited installations be what puts you off. It's what did it for me.
Dead Space is one of the best title I 've played in last year. I don't like to play Resident Evil type games, but DS made me think twice, Now i am looking forward to "Dante's Inferno". EA is slowly gaining the momentum, and getting out of sports business.
No hits last year? What about Fifa 09? It was out for a few months and was the top-seller in the UK last year. I understand the focus is on the new IP's they got through the door, but the guy said EA as a whole had no hits last year. Surely all the crummy American sports games must have raked in a mint, aswell.
Mirrors Edge and Dead Space were something new, and pretty good, but I'm glad I rented both and didn't buy.....
I hated EA at one point and I sort of still do. While I hate the year on year same crappy sports game I have to admit I LOVE Dead Space. Really, it was one of the best games I played of last year. I nearly didn't get it because it was from EA but I'm glad I did. I also enjoyed the movie, Downfall, a lot and I can't wait for the Wii game. Mirror's Edge was crap saying that but, my point is, EA have the right idea again and may start making games that are new and fun. I live in hope.
Though these are genuinely very exceptional games they certainly don't really fit the mindset of today's average gamer (in my opinion only) who wants long term value for money. I suggest doing what some of the old days companies would do and release these games in packs of 3 or 4 for a slightly above average price but not too high such as 3 games for the price of 1 and 1/4. or 4 games for the price of 2.
When times are tight, I just bunker up with a good rts (currently Dawn of War II) and a deeply replayable fps (currently TF2) and boost my Steam rating to 10 for a month. This way, I can feel safe in knowing that I've got my money's worth, I know I didn't have to give any of it to a huge dirty corporation like EA and I know that I didn't have to go along with any bulls**t DRM scams to enjoy myself.
well, since most EA games are for PC, heres a thought, take off SecuROM on upcoming games, maybe they'll sell!
Agreed. However, that would require that the EA board of directors pull their heads from their collective asses long enough to let a modicum of common sense and business savvy prevail. I won't be holding my breath.
I haven't played either of those games but Mirror's Edge looks good- the closest we have to a current gen Jet Set Radio Future?
Need for speed: Most wanted was a pretty good game by the way. In the past I've also enjoyed James Nond: Everything or nothing by EA (and back on the Megadrive EA published Millenium's James Pond II: Robocod).
Despite owning a few games with SecuROM already, I didn't buy them until I could find considerable bargains. Remove it and the option becomes so much easier.
Plus, their games need to be on Steam in the UK. They took the insanely stupid step of allowing only a few EU countries to buy off Steam but gave Britain the middle-finger.
The big boo-hoo though was the failure of Warhammer Online. Mythic said it was going to be war. We expected war. The DAoC vets kept telling us it was going to be war.
We got stupid mini-games and the worst WoW clone of them all. It was more WoW than WoW ever tried to be. There's a horde of people waiting for a proper PvP MMO that *is not EVE* and developers consistently fail to listen.
I do still very much intend to buy Mirrors Edge and Dead Space and i know they are great games and both are quite cheap now, so hopefully soon ill get them.
Dead Space was an excellent game in my opinion shame it did not sell more, although with the other titles released along side it it's no surprise. As EA have said they wil need to look at their release windows more carefully next time. As I have moaned about many times I wish devs would stop storing the big titles until xmas and release them steadily through the year.
As for mirrors edge I have only played the demo, I might get this in the future but there are too many other games above it in my list.
Boo-f**king-hoo, EA. How about you accept reality that your atrocious attempts at direct control and manipulation of customers through DRM and limited activations cost you a fortune in lost sales? I still want to buy and play "Mass Effect", "Dead Space" and other EA games to this day yet I refuse to buy them no matter how low the asking price because of the poison I know they come with. You only have yourself to blame and I hope each successive year becomes increasingly worse for you in terms of sales and profit. Good riddance.
The Steam versions of EA titles contain no DRM other than Steam( Excluding Crysis/Warhead )
Personally for me dead space has been my favourite game yet on the ps3 (bar cod4) and im surprised it hasnt been a big hit, but i think the demo kinda gave the wrong impression as there is so much more depth and variety than you think. Personally i think EA have done well to get back on track and i hope they pull off some amazing future titles, as long as they make dead space 2 i will be very happy!
What r people doin, Dead spase was the best and most perfect game i played last year. Every ps3 and 360 owner should be forced by there facist world leaders to own a copy. O
Boo-f**king-hoo, EA. How about you accept reality that your atrocious attempts at direct control and manipulation of customers through DRM and limited activations cost you a fortune in lost sales? I still want to buy and play "Mass Effect", "Dead Space" and other EA games to this day yet I refuse to buy them no matter how low the asking price because of the poison I know they come with. You only have yourself to blame and I hope each successive year becomes increasingly worse for you in terms of sales and profit. Good riddance.
The Steam versions of EA titles contain no DRM other than Steam( Excluding Crysis/Warhead )
Cmon EA, lets feckin see Battlefield 3
Thanks for heads-up buddy. However, EA has broken the trust in our business relationship and thus I will not buy any EA products at all. Furthermore, I prefer to have hardcopies of the games I buy and not Steam rentals. It's still a "no go" until EA repent by publicly acknowledging they got it wrong and until such a time as they have proven consistently over a period of time that their new games contain no DRM nor limited activations whatsoever (sane, yet still ineffective, anti-piracy measures such as key checks are acceptable). If I were to buy their Steam released games, even if DRM free, I would still be funneling money in to the EA machine and I refuse to support that monstrosity.
Dead Space was game of the year for me. Superb. The reason it didn't sell well was because of the reasons mentioned above.
Too much resentment about their anti-piracy software, and releasing it among hugely anticipated games which had much stronger marketing campaigns.
EA are starting to get their act together. But after years of making sports games which sell themselves, they need to learn how to market an original IP.
Thanks for heads-up buddy. However, EA has broken the trust in our business relationship and thus I will not buy any EA products at all. Furthermore, I prefer to have hardcopies of the games I buy and not Steam rentals. It's still a "no go" until EA repent by publicly acknowledging they got it wrong and until such a time as they have proven consistently over a period of time that their new games contain no DRM nor limited activations whatsoever (sane, yet still ineffective, anti-piracy measures such as key checks are acceptable). If I were to buy their Steam released games, even if DRM free, I would still be funneling money in to the EA machine and I refuse to support that monstrosity.
no probs dude, i do agree with you, i am seriously strongly against both DRM and dynamic advertising in the PC world, however for the sake of gaming( which i just like no matter what the company ), ill buy some of the EA stuff on steam. Yes its hassle and what not, but ive 2 rigs and i must say installing everything in 1 shot on my other rig( herself mostly uses ) was class, not only that we could play LAN audio surf together( dunno if that works for other games but it was a blast ).
I know where youre coming from with the DRM, i hate it with a passion and have avoided as many games as possible with it, but the steam version is cool by me EXCEPT FOR THE FECKIN PRICING OF $1=1euro, grrrrrrr. I couldnt play Bioshock after 2 weeks during an overclocking period and had to reinstall, took me 5 weeks to play a game i pay'd 50 euro for,grrr
I have no choice in an affinity with EA because they own DICE and the Battlefield series, BF2 is my all time number one game i have ever played in my life and im just waiting for BF3 to buy a new rig, it will be the only game that will convince me( ok, it could be crap when eventually announced, i doubt it though, and cant help it lol )
The other thing is Mass Effect can now be bought at retail for £20, id highly recommend it, the side missions are crappy, but the main story and experience is class, well worth the DRM at that price
I bought the XBox 360 version of Dead Space and completed it, I thought it was great. I would generally prefer the PC version of games but because of EA's ridiculous DRM I don't bother and if they continue along those lines of customer persecution they are going to have more and more customers abandon them.
Thanks for heads-up buddy. However, EA has broken the trust in our business relationship and thus I will not buy any EA products at all. Furthermore, I prefer to have hardcopies of the games I buy and not Steam rentals. It's still a "no go" until EA repent by publicly acknowledging they got it wrong and until such a time as they have proven consistently over a period of time that their new games contain no DRM nor limited activations whatsoever (sane, yet still ineffective, anti-piracy measures such as key checks are acceptable). If I were to buy their Steam released games, even if DRM free, I would still be funneling money in to the EA machine and I refuse to support that monstrosity.
no probs dude, i do agree with you, i am seriously strongly against both DRM and dynamic advertising in the PC world, however for the sake of gaming( which i just like no matter what the company ), ill buy some of the EA stuff on steam. Yes its hassle and what not, but ive 2 rigs and i must say installing everything in 1 shot on my other rig( herself mostly uses ) was class, not only that we could play LAN audio surf together( dunno if that works for other games but it was a blast ).
I know where youre coming from with the DRM, i hate it with a passion and have avoided as many games as possible with it, but the steam version is cool by me EXCEPT FOR THE FECKIN PRICING OF $1=1euro, grrrrrrr. I couldnt play Bioshock after 2 weeks during an overclocking period and had to reinstall, took me 5 weeks to play a game i pay'd 50 euro for,grrr
I have no choice in an affinity with EA because they own DICE and the Battlefield series, BF2 is my all time number one game i have ever played in my life and im just waiting for BF3 to buy a new rig, it will be the only game that will convince me( ok, it could be crap when eventually announced, i doubt it though, and cant help it lol )
The other thing is Mass Effect can now be bought at retail for £20, id highly recommend it, the side missions are crappy, but the main story and experience is class, well worth the DRM at that price
Aye. I almost picked up "Bioshock" at a discount price but held on to my resolve. As for "Mass Effect", you can buy it for 14.99 GBP on Amazon.co.uk new. The used version can be had for as low as 9.00 GBP yet that runs a unique set of risks (i.e. activation limit).
KFD isn't it time you gave in to all these awesome games and bought yourself a 360 or a PS3. Then you'd be able to play these fantastic games and not have to give in to the DRM monster.
In my mind EA didn't have hits last year they did something alot better. Published some bloody good games.
Hits seldom live up to thier potential but games that arrive with 0 fanfare in my experience tend to end up kicking the crap out of them and be much more enjoyable because you go into them with absolutely no preconceptions about it.
I'm looking forward to whatever DICE brings out this year as in my mind they've proven themselves to be a brilliant dev.
I think what most of you guys bitching about EA forget is that they are more a publisher than a dev and its not always up to them whether a game is any good or not.
KFD isn't it time you gave in to all these awesome games and bought yourself a 360 or a PS3. Then you'd be able to play these fantastic games and not have to give in to the DRM monster.
In my mind EA didn't have hits last year they did something alot better. Published some bloody good games.
Hits seldom live up to thier potential but games that arrive with 0 fanfare in my experience tend to end up kicking the crap out of them and be much more enjoyable because you go into them with absolutely no preconceptions about it.
I'm looking forward to whatever DICE brings out this year as in my mind they've proven themselves to be a brilliant dev.
I think what most of you guys bitching about EA forget is that they are more a publisher than a dev and its not always up to them whether a game is any good or not.
To answer your query in a word: "No". It is not time though I have contemplated buying a console. I expect I shall wait to see what the next generation of consoles will be like. While I have no hard facts I imagine 2011 seems a realistic estimate as to when we will start to hear about and/or see new consoles. Depending on what they are like I may buy one then.
I like my PC and I like PC gaming. I don't accept that I should have to surrender that just because some doork**bs in private corporate meetings think they are entitled to push their will on me at their whim. F*ck them. This is war and I will neither ask for, nor grant, any quarter. Should the day come where I buy a console I still won't buy EA products just to spite them. They are now my enemy and in war one side or the other must be destroyed. Better EA than the rights and freedoms of the customers.
That was beautiful man. Bats**t insane, but inspiring. Kind of like churchill. if he was a gamer.
I do agree that DRM is utter s**t. It's completely counter productive as it seems to encourage piracy rather than prevent it. Spore being the most illegally downloaded game ever seems to prove that.
hopefully the games industry will follow the music industries lead and ditch the f**king stuff sooner rather than later.
That was beautiful man. Bats**t insane, but inspiring. Kind of like churchill. if he was a gamer.
I do agree that DRM is utter s**t. It's completely counter productive as it seems to encourage piracy rather than prevent it. Spore being the most illegally downloaded game ever seems to prove that.
hopefully the games industry will follow the music industries lead and ditch the f**king stuff sooner rather than later.
Why thank you!
Speaking of the great deceased orator that Sir Winston Churchill was, here's a quote of his that seems fitting:
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
Dead Space was awesome IMO and i really hope they keep the IP alive . I enjoyed Fifa for the first time since its megadrive debut . EA just need to get a current gen Road Rash that kicks ass and they'll be my best bud again ^^
I kind of feel sorry for EA. They get berated year after year for being the scourge of video gaming, the sequel machine, no quality, all profit, stick to what you know and flood the market with games that will sell the most, critics be damned.
Then one day, they woke up and said 'you know what, I don't like the fact we are so hated everywhere. We are the worlds biggest game company (or there abouts) and we should start acting like it'.
So, in 2008 they gave us Burnout Paradise (and it's infinitesimal DLC), BF: Bad Company, Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Spore, they pulled out all the stops and made FIFA awesome, they put in a shift and were possibly my favourite publisher of last year.
After all that, no one bought their new IP's. Gutted.
They are damned if they do, damned if they don't, and although I have to agree that releasing new IP in the Xmas period is risky, by the same token they deserve some props for trying to change.
I kind of feel sorry for EA. They get berated year after year for being the scourge of video gaming, the sequel machine, no quality, all profit, stick to what you know and flood the market with games that will sell the most, critics be damned.
Then one day, they woke up and said 'you know what, I don't like the fact we are so hated everywhere. We are the worlds biggest game company (or there abouts) and we should start acting like it'.
So, in 2008 they gave us Burnout Paradise (and it's infinitesimal DLC), BF: Bad Company, Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Spore, they pulled out all the stops and made FIFA awesome, they put in a shift and were possibly my favourite publisher of last year.
After all that, no one bought their new IP's. Gutted.
They are damned if they do, damned if they don't, and although I have to agree that releasing new IP in the Xmas period is risky, by the same token they deserve some props for trying to change.
Under different circumstances I would agree with your sentiment. However, no one forced EA to overreach with putrid DRM SecuROM and the much despised limited activations (which could very well end up being declared illegal,). EA chose of its own volition to go down that path and thus I don't harbor much sympathy for them. They have only themselves to blame. They get a thumbs up for deciding to focus more on quality new IPs than just churning out re-hashed sequel-ware, but then they go and screw it up with their crippling anti-piracy measures which has the added "bonus" of not even stopping piracy! It would almost be funny if it wasn't so damn infuriating and sad.
Both the mentioned games where "hits" in terms of quality. Problem was they were released alongside sequels to established, hyped franchaises, meaning they wont Hopefully EA will learn from this mistake.
damn man playing the dead space demo is the worst thing you could ever do. The actual game is nothing like it.
If you are a fan of alien, event horizon or resi. this game'll be right up your street. The demo put me off playing it. Luckily my dad got me it for xmas anyway and i haven't looked back. Its f**king epic.
EA: A company that remains out of touch with the gaming community. Everyone I speak to agree that they make lame and uninviting games. Take NfS:Undercover, nobody likes a narc, yet here we are forced to play one in order to complete the game. Take EA's minion sidekikk Pandemic & its hopelessly PS2/XBOX quality supposed 7th gen. game Lord of the Rings Conquest. Lets omit the quest & we're left with that sentiment. Pandemic's forum is hopelessly understaffed, but it's underused too, like any current EA offering. Sony & Microsoft need to have some sort of quality testing so gamers know theyre not being Conned but are getting value for their 60bucks. Tolkien would turn in his barrow if he saw the dross that they have made of his lifes work. He detested Disney & American commercialism yet EA, the corporate NWO imperialist of gaming companies has turned LotR into a 'franchise' to milk for cash. A veritable Saruman gazing down at us from it's ivory Orthanc. EA will never shape-up, so it needs to ship-out.
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As for "Mass Effect", you can buy it for 14.99 GBP on Amazon.co.uk new. The used version can be had for as low as 9.00 GBP yet that runs a unique set of risks (i.e. activation limit).
