70°

Mega Publishers Buying Up Small Devs, is it Good for Gaming?

Recently, Electronic Arts, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, purchased a small game development company, PopCap Games for a staggering $750 million dollars. This poses some important questions to our gaming audience such as: what effect does an acquisition like this have on the gaming industry? Does the EA acquisition of PopCap mean other larger companies might begin looking at potential small developers, hoping to hit a pay day? And what can we expect from PopCap now that they are under the watchful eye of Electronic Arts?

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gamingirresponsibly.com
agentxk4694d ago

Although in some cases, it may offer more resources to the smaller dev as well.

evrfighter4694d ago (Edited 4694d ago )

Ex Indy devs: hey we just made a new game it's unlike anything thats out right now

Mega publisher: does it have multiplayer? Is it streamlined so that anyone anyone can pickup a controller and play it?

Ex Indy devs: no...

Mega publisher: *cough* yeeeeaaaaaaa try again

OhMyGandhi4694d ago

...and with more resources comes a tighter leash and the creative freedom that comes with it.

DarkTower8054694d ago (Edited 4694d ago )

It all depends on the publisher that is buying the devs. If it's Acti, that'd be bad. Acti will take a successful series and milk it dry. They also seem to allow little to no creativity. I'm on the fence with EA, while at times they milk their sports franchises and offer little improvement each year while shutting down servers of games people still play, devs do seem to like them which says something. Sony seems to me the best though. They encourage creativity and always try to improve their games from one to the next.

Inside_out4694d ago (Edited 4694d ago )

.
It's a disaster of EPIC proportions and it's becoming a feeding frenzy. In the short term, the devs win but long term gamers lose and the industry keeps getting smaller and smaller with a handful of pubs deciding what's good and what's not.

Developers are always saying how they love to be independent and not have to answer to anyone...B***S***...they want money and security like everyone else and will sell to the highest bidder first chance they get...look what happen to Media Molecule...how pathetic were these guys!!! Bizare Creations...please, ever hear of geometry wars...HOW big would that game be in the new iOS universe...gone, closed down.

The rumor is Zynga games offered 1 BILLION for these guys and that fell through...WHY??? Plants Vs Zombies is barely a game if you ask me and definitely not anywhere near a " REAL " game but casual " apps " acting like real games is drawing away a lot of investment dollars from more traditional gaming and the devs behind those games.

blitz0x4694d ago

It may be case-by-case. As gamers, we don't want heavy DRM or stifled creativity. However, we do like the publicity that might bring light to an otherwise unheard of game.

agentxk4694d ago

This really can go either way.

bozebo4694d ago (Edited 4694d ago )

No, no and no again. Publishers simply do not need to exist anymore, they have always been known for ripping off their studios but they were tolerated because of the need. Now developers can get their game direct to customers without help - look at LoL for example. It might be required for the console industry... but guess why so many console-only developers have closed down recently!

However, if a platform holder (Sony, MS) does, it can be good.

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80°

There are no "thoughtful" ads in video games, EA

There are no thoughtful ads in Video Games, EA. Leave them be.

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videogamer.com
northpaws3d ago

I think the only type of games that can gets away with it would be sport games, having those sponsors ads on the side like on real life.

But don't put freaking Doritos ads in Star Wars or something, it breaks the immersion. If it is a pop-up ads, then big no.

Hofstaderman3d ago

EA can thoughtfully eff themselves.

Makersbreath23d ago

EA coming back for the crown of being perceived as the worst company in gaming.

Chocoburger2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

One of my favorite series is the THPS franchise, and it was packed with ads, but it didn't bother me. Posters for skateboard companies, JEEP, and Nokia phones. It did sort of fit in with the game world, but that was the past, these days ad would be intentionally intrusive or unskippable loading screen type of imagery. Ugh, I know EA would do it in a horrible fashion. Screw them.

300°

Report: Sexual Misconduct Investigation Conducted at EA, Suspects Named and What They Did Revealed

EA senior staff has been investigated for sexual misconduct involving female coworkers, and these said people have been named publicly.

isarai8d ago

Aye just call Phil, i mean he somehow made Bobby Kotick's scandal disappear and gave him a few million dollar high five on the way out.

Cacabunga8d ago

I wonder if it will be censored with some in game ads.

MrBaskerville6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Microsoft did, Phil Spencer played a minor part. He instigated the buyout that led to Kotick escaping all his controversies while getting a golden handshake.

Someone on Twitter calculated that the people hired in Tango and Arkane Austin could get a decent salary for roughly 17 years for the money Kotick was paid.

InUrFoxHole5d ago

Yeah some thing tells me Kotics $ was already guaranteed before MS made the deal. As for the studios... Let's be honest here... none of those studios made system sellers.

XiNatsuDragnel8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

EA about to go down like Activision and then Phil saves the day saying.this is good for the industry and consolidation will help create competition. /s.

MrBaskerville6d ago

Then they shutdown Codemasters and studio behind Jedi Survivor.

Atleast they could hardly do much damage that EA hadn't allready done. EA has shut down most of their studios by now.

ravens528d ago

What's up with all these horny creeps. You gon be horny, fine. Just not at work take care of that shit before you go in. Rub one out if you have to. Don't be a creep at all. ESPECIALLY at work. But don't be one AT ALL.

Extermin8or3_8d ago

I mean part of the issue is that things transpired outside of work....

MrBaskerville6d ago

That's the thing he mentioned about not being a creep at all.

KwietStorm_BLM8d ago

You think deviants care where they are? Work sometimes makes it an even better situation for them because they can abuse their power.

mudakoshaka7d ago

Nerds think they are Gods when they are making video games.

NotoriousWhiz8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

"it seems that according to EA, given the events transpired outside of work between two adults, and the fact that once investigation has started that the alleged perpetrators didn’t do it again, the investigation is considered closed. [...] The victim still has to work with the people that harassed her."

Yep, EA is disgusting.

Extermin8or3_8d ago

I mean the fact stuff happened outside of work puts EA in quite a difficult position legally. These women don't seem to have reported the matter to the police which kinda ties EA's hands on what they can do. If they don't file reports of the crimes then yeah from EA's perspective it is stuff that happened outside of work. The only exception is the guy that apparently referenced things in the slack channel for work, spending on what he said proving it may be very hard and he may well be able to get away with plausible deniability. I don't like EA and I think these people need to be dismissed but without any legal action being taken, EA can't really do much without risk of being sued themselves for unfair dismissal etc.

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90°

EA to Spend Billions Boosting Share Prices After Mass Layoffs

EA has announced it will engage in a shareholder-pleasing share buyback program just a couple of months after mass layoffs at the studio.

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techraptor.net
Yi-Long11d ago

Well, anything to make those shareholders happy, I guess. They're all that matters in this industry nowadays.

badboyz0911d ago (Edited 11d ago )

EA stocks haven't been profitable in over 5yrs. They better hope Take-two don't get the FIFA license lol.