200°

Petition to ask gamer’s to stop buying EA games

You may be aware of the Sim City launch fiasco currently playing out as we speak, gamer’s are unable to play a game they paid full price for because EA has always on DRM which is currently not working, their servers simply can not handle the load.....

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gamertechtv.com
zeal0us4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

Will it work? Nope
Some to most Madden, TigerWoodsGolf and Fifa fans will still go out any next version regardless what EA does.

fatstarr4061d ago

but see with the way ea works they always want to do better than the last quarter and maintain a profit.

just them buying games alone will not bring them a profit. EA and Activision need a serious boycott

Pl4sm44060d ago

thats what we should do .... send a message that if you put always online/DRM in your game. it aint gonna sell. hopefully they'l take it off if this happens

SilentNegotiator4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

Ubisoft didn't go bankrupt from our resistance, but it made them stop the always on DRM anyway.

Some people don't seem to realize that our voices really are often heard despite the masses buying whatever looks cool in the ads.

MikeMyers4061d ago

The best way to voice your opinion is by not buying it.

As we head more and more to an always online connection to our games, our accounts and so on the more problems can arise.

SilentNegotiator4061d ago

We'll never be able to stop the masses from paying for entertainment that they want, though. "Voting with your wallet" is a bogus concept when the audience is the masses.

Of course, don't buy a game that pulls this sort of thing, but being vocal is key.

MikeMyers4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

SilentNegotiator, why should the minority speak for everyone though? I am not supporting the concept of always online single player games, it's just a simple question.

I don't want people to speak on my behalf. Not all EA games are bad for example. The NHL series is the best sports franchise out there IMO. Burnout Paradise was an awesome game. The first Dead Space was one of my favorite games.

So the problem I see with a petition like this is many people will vote against them because they don't like EA. The petition is about DRM and microtransactions. Do you know how many items are for sale for Little Big Planet? It's a great series buy I don't buy the DLC. So should we have a petition for that game too?

So like I said, I vote with my wallet. I don't like anonymous people online vote for me. I don't support those who rush out to MetaCritic and give the latest Call of Duty game a 0 or 1 because they hate how mainstream the series is or they hate Activision. There are hundreds if not thousands of games out there to choose from. Why waste so much effort focusing on games you don't like when you can be playing games you do like?

The moral of the story is this, not all DLC is bad and not all EA games are bad. However having to stay online for a single player game doesn't make much sense to me other than trying to prevent piracy and even then it doesn't always curb it. Instead it often disrupts the legit players experiences. If they can prevent piracy without making it a hassle for legit players I will be all for it.

rainslacker4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

@Mike

"Voting with your wallet" means nothing if you don't let the company know why you aren't buying the game in the first place. If you just don't buy it then the company can infer many things as to why the game didn't sell, such as the popularity of the SimCity series has waned since it's last release, meaning we may not see a better version come out in the future.

It's important to speak out on issues that arise such as this to hopefully influence positive change within the company and industry as a whole.

I won't deny that some may be people who just want to hate on EA, and let's face it, they seem to get a lot of hate. But that doesn't mean that the hate is unwarranted, and I'd rather they know why people "vote" than them assuming things that just aren't true...such as "we all love micro-transactions".

When things like this come around, petitions and community outcry, have a big chance of reaching the people who make the decisions...just look at the ME3 ending debacle. This is the only way for companies to adjust their business strategies to hopefully become better. It's up to the actual company now to actually listen to the feed back and act accordingly.

MikeMyers4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

rainslacker, I agree to a point. It needs to be done in a way that doesn't come across as gamers just being whiners or coming across as just hate for the company. John Riccitiello needs to hear VALID complaints. Not just random hate or generalizations.

We are still in the early stages of DLC and what people want out of it. I'd hate to see the minority speak on behalf of everyone since like I said, not all DLC is bad. We are likely to get a better agreement as a whole regarding the requirement to stay online to play single player games. I doubt the majority would support always having a connection to play single player games.

I am also not involved directly to how piracy and all of that actually impacts sales or how well these deterrents matter. All I can speak on is from my own experience and my own experience is it makes legit players have to go through hoops. Anytime the consumer can find a better alternative for free chances are they will likely do that more so. Like Gabe Newell said, the best way to combat piracy is to offer a better experience. Having server issues and not being able to access a single player game is not offering a good experience.

Consumers also don't like to be forced to be on services like Origin, so that goes against EA as well. On the flip-side it is their game so they can choose where they want to support it, just like console exclusives. This is why petitions need to be clear and not just random anger. Telling people not to buy any EA game is not the right way to go IMO. There are many employees that work hard on good games that should not be bunched with a game like Sim City that requires a constant online connection.

I understand we sometimes need to take a hard stance and try and put a stop to things before they become common in every game. So a petition for not buying single player games that require an always online connection is one I would support.

rainslacker4060d ago

I agree mike. Saying EA sucks means nothing without context. Being concise is terribly important, and I will admit that some people aren't really going out of their way to make valid criticisms. I feel the criticisms over this matter are valid however. Using it as a reason to outright boycott EA is ridiculous, as I would say most boycotts are, but the message it sends is pretty clear.

The boycott itself will never amount to anything, because no boycott in the past, whether justified or not, has ever had a major effect on sales. That's why I feel it is important to state your displeasure in a meaningful way, and "vote with your wallet". If enough people do so then the company is forced to look at the decision in a meaningful light. If we end up being the small minority then so be it, EA can continue on as it see's fit, and we can move on to something which we find better.

MikeMyers4060d ago

They did somewhat listen to fans about Mass Effect 3 so voicing concerns can have some impact. Anyways it's been a good chat, thanks.

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animegamingnerd4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

i truly wish EA sports would die and people would stop buying fifa and madden but instead buy quality games instead

DeltaCanuckian4061d ago

FIFA is regularly one of the highest rated games every year. Same with the NHL series. The sports games are extremely well made, whether you like them or not.

bluetoto4061d ago

Of course it won't work. There SOME gamers who will take ANYTHING a company gives them with a smile. Even worse there are some who think they are better off by taking it up the arse. Even worse when gaming goes down they will look around like it's not THEIR fault. These are strange time to be a gamer.

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Root4061d ago

It probably won't work but it's nice to see that finally some gamers are actually trying to do something rather then complain.

I don't see why more people aren't on board with this, same goes for Capcom or Activision (COD)

EA have ruined nearly on their franchises this gen by either changing them into something they arn't or removing stuff which were in the last games

Sim City
Mass Effect
Dead Space
Dragon Age
Command and Conquer
Battlefield (not as good as it used to be)
The Sims (they can't even give us a good console port with the expansions as DLC)

mandf4061d ago

A lot of games have flaws upon release. Some get a free pass (Skyrim) some don't. Hate is the new thing in this world.

porkChop4061d ago

Skyrim had bugs and performance issues, yeah. But EA's games have been significantly altered and "casualized" at their very core design. That cannot be patched. That's the difference with games like Skyrim, the game itself was great. Maybe not as good as previous games in the series, but it was still very much a TES game. Bugs and performance can be patched, game design cannot.

mandf4061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

@ porkChop

Everything you said was true but Skyrim had game saving glitches that would corrupt the save file and you would start over again. That is game breaking. Casualising a game is a spit in the face to the core who liked it the way it is. A company has the right to make their game more accessable to the masses even if we don't like it. When we as individuals stop buying the said game, the company will take a loss. It's not a perfect system. Saying all that Skyrim was broken in multiple ways and was fixed by modders for Pc and the developer after a while. That is broken. Sim City is sad.

Cam9774061d ago (Edited 4061d ago )

MEDAL OF HONOR! They decimated a once fantastic franchise.
They also closed Pandemic; the company responsible fir The Saboteur & Mercenaries. Although they weren't the best, The Saboteur had lots of potential to be improved on.

bunt-custardly4061d ago

To stop millions from buying their favorite franchises just because a few core gamers aren't happy. No chance.

All those FIFA, MAdden players will tell you to take a running jump.

pompombrum4061d ago

I dunno, many people in the fifa pro clubs community are fed up of fifa with a good few buying pes.

phantomexe4061d ago

There no way i'd sign that i enjoy alot of EAs games. I've said this before most real gamers don't follow N4g and for good reason. Everything is doom and gloom for hits.

Hitman07694061d ago

This should be a petition against Origin not EA as a whole. If you guys want it to succeed you may want to reconsider the terms of the petition. This particular petition will not be taken seriously unfortunately.

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220°

EA Hopes to Use Generative AI to Drive Monetization and Make Development 30% More Efficient

Today Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson provided a look into his ideas for the use of generative AI in the company's development processes.

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techraptor.net
thorstein43d ago

I wonder what the next buzz word they'll slap in front of AI to make it sound exciting next? "Generative" as if it's creating its own content. Lol.

Cacabunga43d ago

EA is already dying a painful death..

peppeaccardo43d ago

i have a better idea .. why the whole exec team doesn't get replaced by chat bots ?

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree the ai thing is already in other forms of media there have been ai translations/scripts/voice over and even full ai commercials aired on tv. Ubisoft has created a ai game creator story/vo/music except the building of the game

The new unreal engine has auto terrain creation tools

In the world of greed in which it is winning without any major blow back ai is our future.

everyone want's biden dead on the mic or a criminal instead of a woman and now we are getting ai everything because no one will stop watching/playing ai created media.

GamerRN43d ago

Maybe they should just focus on making good games?

Just a thought...

Kiryu199242d ago

Exactly EA are just pure evil. When they are beating Bank of America to be voted the worst company to work for that’s saying a lot

Good thing I don’t buy their games day one and wait for deep deep sale years after launch (the select few games I am actually interested in)

Gaming is making so much money yet the greed of these companies is never ending

CEO’s and people on board making millions yet cutting jobs to those who are actually making the products

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Knightofelemia43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA is still a shady shitty company even with or without the help of Skynet. All they will use AI for is new ways to milk loot boxes and come up with the same sports title with a different year on the label. They are one company I truly do hate with a passion. They single handedly ruined some great franchise with their death touch. ME, Dead Space, Alice Returns, Dante's Inferno.

Stuart575643d ago

EA layoffs followed by 'Generative AI to Drive Monetization'

I knew it. Wonder what AI salary looks like? Nothing.

ChasterMies43d ago

I having a feeling that most of the layoffs in the industry are based on the idea that AI will do the same job for less.

DarXyde42d ago

Very likely, yes.

Made worse by the fact that the execs aren't changing their compensations.

My deepest fear at this point is that we are now in the capitalism endgame.

At this point, we really should just burn AI to the ground. Executives cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
How are those people expected to support families if everything gets automated?

Barlos43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

And take away creativity, and people's jobs as we've been seeing. Got it.

No thanks. I want my games created by people, not AI.

CobraKai43d ago

Exactly. If or when games start becoming more AI than people, im done with gaming. AI and companies like EA can suck donkey d***k.

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree remember this is no ps3/360 era were we got up to 3 games in one generation from on developer like gears/halo/bioware/sony/ms

The people today are pro esg/sweet baby for the most part AAA gaming is imploding right now.

We should be stepping back re evaluate everything as a whole this year xmen 97 written/directed by a woman that is nuts and its also being made by a group reshaping bodies to be less sexual like wtf. A dam famous cartoon from the 90's is being rebuilt with millions spent to be worse in everyway.

Gaming/movies/tv shows made today are worse than what we had 7years ago ai won't change this but that ai is also being made by these groups so either way we are screwed.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Eonjay42d ago

Don't be of afraid of women. Sexy characters in games and movies still exist. Got my Stellar Blade on preorder!!! Everything all the time doesn't need to be sexual...that's stupid, childish and dull.

Chocoburger43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA doesn't want to lose their title of worst gaming company ever, always trying their best to remain the champs!
What's sad is that they have so much potential to be a decent publisher.

SSX Tricky / SSX 3
Def Jam Vendetta / Fight for New York
NBA Street
NFL Steet
Mirror's Edge
Bad Company
Burnout 3 / 4 / 5

Remember when EA used to be awesome? It's all over with now. Unpolished, if not out-right broken games these days. Endless monetization and gambling in their sports games, and let's not forget wasting hours of your life trying to unlock characters or equipment using "surprise boxes!"

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80°

EA And Sony Layoffs, Entertainment News And More Skewedcast

Gareth, Justin, and JoeyZ look at Layoff news for EA and Sony and reasons behind the downturn in the industry and more.

220°

EA - Continuing to evolve our business and teams

EA CEO Andrew Wilson writes: "In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter."

LG_Fox_Brazil50d ago

All the big ones doing the same stuff. Terrible. I just hope that all these people are able to get a new job as soon as possible, God know that it is horrible to be left jobless when you have your kids or your parents depending on your financial help

Jin_Sakai50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

2024 so far.

Feb ’28 Electronic Arts (EA) 670 (5%)
Feb ’24 PlayStation 900 (8%)
Feb ’24 Vice Media Group Several hundred
Feb ’24 Buzzfeed 16%
Feb ’24 NowThis 26 (50%)
Feb ’24 Paramount Global 800 (3%)
Feb ’24 SiriusXM 160 (3%)
Feb ’24 Snapchat 10%
Jan ’24 TechCrunch 8 + subscription product
Jan ’24 U.K.’s Channel 4 200
Jan ’24 Business Insider 8%
Jan ’24 Microsoft Gaming 1,900
Jan ’24 Riot Games 530
Jan ’24 Sports Illustrated Possibly all
Jan ’24 YouTube 100
Jan ’24 Pitchfork (Conde Nast) Undisclosed
Jan ’24 Universal Music Group Hundreds
Jan ’24 Discord 17%
Jan ’24 NBC News 50-100
Jan ’24 Audible 5%
Jan ’24 Google Hundreds
Jan ’24 Amazon Hundreds
Jan ’24 Duolingo 10%
Jan ’24 VideoAmp 20%

DATA AS OF FEB. 28, 2024

outsider162450d ago

Is it possible maybe this whole ai thing is in play?

just_looken50d ago

Another long list that skips over UPS cutting 12,000 jobs those workers as we know work without ac low pay and old box trucks but that company had to cut 12k jobs do too loosing billions of dollars year 2 year.

https://edition.cnn.com/202...

The greed and lack of transparency/oversight is disgusting.

Ups are still making bang but not enough for a golden boat fleet.

Remember we all use ups at some time even stuff in our stores this is going to be a huge issue gong forward i know in my area they removed half the state ups stores northern half least population got some 3rd party running packages now from minivans.

Sonic188150d ago

When I explan this I get called a troll 🤔 like wtf

thorstein50d ago

@just_looken

UPS is a different story altogether.

They are paying the people doing the actual work/ earning the money more and eliminating management.

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CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

You do realize around this time this happens all throughout many industries (not just the game industry), right? It has to do with taxes for these major companies, like tax subsidies for downsizing. You want to know a little secret? Around May or so you’ll see a spike in hiring…

It blows my mind that people are oblivious to corporate workings.

Andrew33650d ago

So over 25 huge companies cut jobs every year like this and it only got noticed this time?

CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

@Andrew336

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Google it up if you’re uninformed of how corporations work. Only gamers seem to live in a bubble and when they see things like crunch, acquisitions, and lay-offs they act like this is the only industry it happens to and how shocked they are about it.

Welcome to the real world, kid.

thorstein50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

EA CEO Wilson's total compensation was 20 million. Let's take away 19 million (I'm sure he can survive on 1 million.... somehow).

1 million is the salary of an in the chair developer @100,000 for 10 years.

He could earn 1 million a year.

And save the jobs of 15 in the chair devs for A DECADE (plus benefits) with ONE YEAR'S compensation.

RhinoGamer8850d ago

No Executive accountability or firings I see...

just_looken50d ago

Do not worry they will take over 40mill say sorry then get hired by playstation or xbox

blackblades50d ago

I heard Japan does it better, they do layoffs like what's happening with companies in the west. The higher ups also being agreeing to to lower there own salary. These MFs like jim and Phil isnt gonna do that they want that $

Sonic188150d ago

Like I said earlier, this is happening all around the gaming industry.

Petebloodyonion50d ago

The point I feel is problematic about all of this is that focusing on Owned Ip means more sequels, remasters and more of what was selling last year.

TheColbertinator50d ago

EA is certainly among the worst,if not the worst

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