EA’s Changing Focus: Anti-Consumerism

StickSkills said, "The only way EA is going to improve its view in the eye of the consumer is to believe in the consumer again. And the best and quickest way to do that? To believe in themselves. If EA truly believes in its ability to make a quality game without the anti-consumer bullshit, they’ll be on a track to greatness again."

[IIJOSEPHXII]

Good article. EA has a lot to prove to make me end my botcott and buy one of their products again.

[Godmars290]

But have you told them that you haven't bought an EA game? With millions of people buying crap like Madden every year there's no real point in silently protesting them.

[IIJOSEPHXII]

I've been on this site and a couple of others asking people to join me, I don't feel the need to inform EA of this as they'll only react to numbers.

[delboy]

I hate EA ever since they cut the support of Dreamcast.
And if I buy a EA game I buy it used.

[KrisButtar]

i %100 agree with this article, as i didnt buy dead space 3 cause it had micro transactions, even though i loved the demo. also i cancelled my preorder of sim city once i found out about the always online catch. the last EA game i bought was dragon age, even though i have wanted to buy/play others

[mwjw696]

As much as I hate it I have to agree with EA. If people are stupid enough to pay for guns you can get with a little work, see Mass Effect 3 Multi, BF3, and DS3 I say good for EA. Its when they charge for Items you can only get by paying that I have a problem.

If there is no online required DMR on PC games now a days it will be pirated more than payed for. Just check any torrent site a week after a game comes out with no or little DRM.

Crysis 3
Seeds 4703
Leech 9178

Tomb Raider
Seeds 5746
Leech 16009

I mean come on Piracy on PC is killing anyone that does not require always online. People always bitch about PC not getting exclusives, or developers moving to consoles. Does anyone really wander why?

[Enate]

Piracy is on all systems an half the time a game got leaked weeks ahead of time it was for the 360. An please with the torrent numbers how about that vs the number of sales they are actually getting. You release a good game with no bs an ripped apart content then maybe it will get treated as such.

Being a fan of Dead Space they are lucky I even bought 3 an that was cuz I close friend of mine really wanted to play co-op. Was gonna buy Sim City till I seen Sims 3 written all over it. Rip all the improvements from previous games come out with a new base game. An then charge by re adding all we took out and micro-transactions on top of ripoff dlc oh, yea have fun with that. An I have the best internet out of my ventrilo but guess what for some reason I lost internet connection 3 times last night for several minutes at a time.

[maelstromb]

Medal of Honor: Warfighter & Dead Space 3 were just the tip of the iceberg ahead of EA, and they have A LOT to adjust in a short amount of time if they hope to win back a large swath of consumers. They are now in the 11th hour of launch for Sim City 5 (which also happens to be one of the most successful franchises of all time), and they have received loads of backlash about the game's use of always-online DRM and its dependence of micro-transactions--which could potentially spell the end of EA if enough people boycott the game and if SC5's future is not handled with careful poise.

My take is that the industry is still trying to pull itself out of a particularly dark period of which has been defined by the constricts of greed. First we had publishers/developers implementing strict and shortsighted DRM (and still do), followed simultaneously by troves of careless DLC debacles and micro-transactions. All of which only serve to drive would-be consumers toward second-hand purchases, or in the most extreme of circumstances, piracy. Neither help to bolster nor innovate a disillusioned industry and its disillusioned consumers.

As a very large AAA publisher/developer, I believe EA has an immense duty--FIRST and foremost--to steward an industry that they helped to design, build and foster over the last 31 years. I understand that they have a duty to their shareholders, and most consider THAT to be the priority, but they won't have shareholders OR consumers to be beholden to if they continue on the present path. In a worst case scenario, they very well could even pull the entire industry down with them or severely damage it for an unforeseen length of time, if they were to ever fall--a very scary thought.

So as much as people would love to see EA collapse upon itself, there are very serious consequences to consider in doing so. And I for one, as much as I dislike EA and have for years, would actually be overjoyed to see them try and gain my trust and loyalty back while they attempt to get back "on a track to greatness again." What happens from here is entirely up to those in the top ranks at EA.

[Enate]

My thing is I want to see them act like a company that actually cares about gamers. An stop releasing games like they are trying to flip profit on a house by offering to add a garage a week after you move in. The first sign of trouble was with sim city was the obviously ripped out beneficial structures for pre order bonuses an I imagine there is only more to come of that.

[IIJOSEPHXII]

They won't change if you continue to buy their products. Their greed and lack of respect for their customers is bleeding into game design, so the quality of experience you get from EA games is diminishing. If they went down, then their place in the market would be taken by another company that might have learned lessons from it, benefitting the customer.

Market forces should force them either to change, or out of publishing.

[maelstromb]

Yes, I agree Enate, and I should clarify that when I said that they have a duty first and foremost to steward the industry, I meant that in the broadest sense--which includes a dedication to gamers. After all, the industry became popular and successful BECAUSE of gamers, and that is something that EA needs to realize instead of seeing its consumers only as individual money-making schemes. It's a toxic and downright detrimental way to view consumers, and as always, it alienates them from the business.

@IIJOSEPHXII - I haven't purchased a game from EA since...I believe Dead Space 2. So I'm right on board with you in that regard in using your purchasing power to dictate the terms. As I type this, I'd love to make Sim City a purchase right now, but considering the current state of the game, the nasty always-online DRM and for all the other reasons, I'm going to utilize a little tact and hold off.

On your other point though--I think the questions that EA needs to be asking themselves right about now are (and in no particular order):

1. Where do we want to be situated within the eyes of gamers in the future?

2. Are we still relevant in tomorrow's industry as a big box publisher/developer?

3. What are our core values as a company and are we delivering products with those values in mind?

If they can figure those questions out in the near future, I think they can single-handedly get back on track AND win gamers over once again. If not, I shudder to think what could happen to the industry. But like you said with optimism, hopefully their place in the market would be taken by another company much more suited to the role, and not replaced by another company with the same agenda. For the sake of the industry and us gamers, I hope it's the former--if it should come down to it.