How does EA keep going?

[Profyrion]

Momentum, driven by old franchises/licenses (Sims, Madden, etc), plus volume, AKA: the shotgun approach.

Make 30 sequels of last year(s') hits and bank on a few of them being wildly successful. Repeat again next year based on whatever worked last year. Repeat ad nauseum.

Their strategy has no longevity to it, but it's working right now because consumers are very stupid and more than happy to piss their money away on whatever is "popular" (often artificially) and easily recognizable.

[Kelimbror]

So I don't think Bioware had a say in it, not that they haven't benefitted greatly...

Yes, because losing almost every single person responsible for its creation (including the founders) is such a boon for the company. I had no idea that benefit actualy meant detriment.

[Blackdecker]

Battlefield, fifa, Dead Space.

[unholytestament]

Yes, because losing almost every single person responsible for its creation (including the founders) is such a boon for the company. I had no idea that benefit actualy meant detriment.

The guys retired after making games for two decades. EA didn't cut them loose. And they got to make two triple A series before their departure BECAUSE of EA.

[Toccs]

They still make money because they produce games for the masses, the non gamers (Sims Social etc) The RPG fans (Dragon Age etc) Shooter fans (BF3) etc etc etc they pretty much have it all covered.

Fifa13 sold really well and so will Fifa14, Fifa15... etc

[Verdugo]

SWTOR Has the best leveling experience ever.

So it has a good single player?

[Afrospinach]

This is a thing that completely baffles me.

Assuming that EA pretty much kills the studios they buy how do they continue to make a profit? Or why would any studio let EA buy them if it means sacrificing their creative freedom?

If it is any consolation, last time I checked EAs financial outlook was not exactly stellar. Pretty sure after SWTOR did not meet expectation their share priced dropped a fair way and there has been a steady downward trend for a while.

However, they do hold a lot of the gaming worlds most loved titles which seems to explain how they can do everything wrong and still be around, people want to give them chances since they are quite emotionally invested in a franchise.

[Deleted]

This is a thing that completely baffles me.

Assuming that EA pretty much kills the studios they buy how do they continue to make a profit? Or why would any studio let EA buy them if it means sacrificing their creative freedom?

EA lives off canibalizing the studios they buy, and the shitty games they make but which are very popular with weekend gamers: sports, crappy games made after movies, etc etc.

[08nolanni]

As long as their is a host (consumers) the Parasite (EA) will live on.

Keep in mind i thoroughly enjoyed every BF made to date. From 1942 - Bf3

Vietnam was my favorite though

I think people hate them, but secretly if you could do what they do financially year in and year out. You would... it's easy money.

[Yalingo]

I confess.... I bought an EA game

[shise]

People like quality, but masses like easy/shiny/brain-dead/etc products.

Masses give more money than a profile of customers.

There you got it.

[Deleted]

I confess.... I bought an EA game

We all made that mistake at some point.

---------- Post added 2012-10-12 at 04:27 AM ----------

People like quality, but masses like easy/shiny/brain-dead/etc products.

Masses give more money than a profile of customers.

There you got it.

Like.
/10 likes

[Redblade]

Just because you aren't struggling doesn't mean you're in the position to publish your own games. And publishers really like making people sign contracts...

That's bull, any studio can publish a game, same as any musician can publish a song or an album. The publishers, big record labels and to some extent major movie studios are becoming redundant in the digital age where anyone can be a publisher, what they have that the average guy don't is major advertisement budgets that at the end of the day is questionable if they actually pay off.

As BW was the example here and not some indie studio I'm quite sure they had more than enough to fun their projects and even do a reasonable amount of advertisement while still making money.

[Deleted]

People buy their crap. It's as simple as that.

People stop buying their crap, and they won't keep going.

[unholytestament]

That's bull, any studio can publish a game, same as any musician can publish a song or an album. The publishers, big record labels and to some extent major movie studios are becoming redundant in the digital age where anyone can be a publisher, what they have that the average guy don't is major advertisement budgets that at the end of the day is questionable if they actually pay off.

As BW was the example here and not some indie studio I'm quite sure they had more than enough to fun their projects and even do a reasonable amount of advertisement while still making money.

If you don't notice the difference in production values between KOTOR and Mass Effect, or you somehow think Bioware could have paid for that themselves and been just fine publishing the game themselves, then I don't really have anything else to add. You're willing yourself not to see the obvious.

I'm no exactly championing EA here. I'm just explaining how it works. And a developer self publishing triple A titles is something that isn't going to happen for a while yet.

[Deleted]

Because they publish quite a number of good games that people buy. I like FIFA and NHL. Bf3 is awesome and I like the bioware games. So I buy those games, as do many others. I'm more than willing to slap EA on the hand when they do something stupid but I also enjoy their games.

[Badpaladin]

How many people here like games such as the ME series, BF or Dead Space?

Even in the "I hate EA" crowd, there's plenty who certainly love some of the games that have the EA name on it somewhere. When a company chugs out the most video games, they're guaranteed to have some people like.

[Kelimbror]

The guys retired after making games for two decades. EA didn't cut them loose. And they got to make two triple A series before their departure BECAUSE of EA.

Really? Because of EA? Funny, because they had those series in development before EA had anything to do with it. And then arguably, once EA was in full control years later the most recent entries served to ignite their customer base because they were god awful and money grubbing schemes.

If you think people who were so in love with making games that they started their own company just 'retired', especially when they specifically said they were getting out the industry and doing something completely different, then you need to understand some dynamics of psychology. They got burned bad and now they are fleeing the abusive husband and trying to make a new life for themself.

[Redblade]

If you don't notice the difference in production values between KOTOR and Mass Effect, or you somehow think Bioware could have paid for that themselves and been just fine publishing the game themselves, then I don't really have anything else to add. You're willing yourself not to see the obvious.

I'm no exactly championing EA here. I'm just explaining how it works. And a developer self publishing triple A titles is something that isn't going to happen for a while yet.

The general opinion seems to be that BW developed better quality games before EA though, throwing money at a game doesn't necessarily make it good, just look at SWTOR, while not a horrible game I'd say it's far from 200+ millions worth. Same as making a game for 50 million and advertising it for another 50 doesn't make it better, it just means you have to make more than 50 million outside of your fan base to make it worth while, a common issue in the movie business that is creeping in to game publishing as well last few years.

Point being, if you make a quality game it will sell, publisher or not and if you have like BW made quality games for over a decade I'm quite sure you can both make and publish a game if you are willing to take the risk, if not you sell out to a publisher and let them take the risk, that does in no way mean the publisher is a necessity though.

Not to mention that without the publisher you will make more profit from your product, just look at how little the artists get from a CD for example.

[unholytestament]

@Alyssa
What dream world are you living in? Great games can and do sell terribly more often than sounds reasonable in this world. And garbage games will fly off the shelves with the right marketing.

@Kitty
That is a whole lot of opinion you're trying to pass off as fact. But since you think you're the authority on this would you care to explain exactly what point in development a publisher begins having an effect on a product and (more importantly) why you think only the first entries of Mass Effect and Dragon Age are unaffected by big bad evil EA?

They were doctors, damn it. They went to school a long time to become doctors and then they made video games for two decades . Now they are going to move onto something else.

You want to talk psychology? People like the first entries because they are new and hate the ones after because they changed things. Happens with almost every series across every medium. It's the VERY rare example where everyone thinks continuations improve on the original.