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Nirolak · May 25, 2016

This is part of a gigantic article about the game's development history.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/5/25/11758974/designing-mirrors-edge-the-making-of-a-franchise

Initial Greenlighting:
- Patrick Soderlund wanted to greenlight smaller, more risky projects and also let DICE show that they don't just make an endless conveyor belt of military shooters.
- EA wanted to get into open world action adventure games, and a lot of technology and design lessons they would learn from making Mirror's Edge 2 would fit with that, even if the game itself didn't sell enough to continue the series.
- When Sara Jansson (the project lead) originally pitched the game, Patrick decided this was the right pitch because it made him nervous about whether or not DICE would actually be capable of building something like this given their skillset and current technology, and that meant they'd probably actually gain a lot when learning how to do it. (This is covered in another part of the article.)

Polygon said:
"I think it’s important that we allow a game like Mirror’s Edge to exist," says Söderlund. "When you’re the size of Electronic Arts, and when you have so many big games, I look at our games catalog as a portfolio. You have to look at it almost like a movie studio would look at it. You have your blockbusters. You have your more artistic, almost indie-like titles. There’s a market for those as well, and I think the industry deserves those types of products."

Söderlund believes Mirror’s Edge Catalyst has the potential to do extremely well and to reach an even bigger audience than the first game. But he’s also realistic about it; he recognizes that it "probably won’t be a GTA in terms of audience size."

Players wanted it, though, as did the studio. And perhaps just as importantly, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst contains technology and design lessons that Söderlund believes will be useful to DICE and EA as a whole moving forward.

"There’s a lot of learnings that, should we not build another Mirror’s Edge for various reasons — a lot of the things that we’ve done will serve as great learnings for whatever else we build," he says. "As you know, EA is pushing quite hard as a company to move into the action space. A lot of stuff like going to an open-world structure, going to a nonlinear narrative, building out characters and stories — these are things that we need to learn and perfect as a company. Sometimes, you have to look at it long-term.

"I hope that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst does extremely well. But in a world where it may or may not do well, it’s important for us to understand that everything that we do needs to be seen in the longer perspective. You can’t just look at it in isolation."

Sequel Chances:
- Not guaranteed, will depend on sales.

"Whether or not there’s another Mirror’s Edge is going to be up to the people out there," Söderlund says. "If we can convince them that there’s a market for this, that people want to buy it, and if they tell us they want another one, then we’ll make another one. If the answer is that there wasn’t a big enough audience, it’s too difficult and too much work goes into making a game to build a game that we know people probably don’t want."

EA had previously noted they were moving $100 million in revenue out of Q4 when they delayed the game, which would be about 2 million copies for the upfront shipment.

dan2026 · May 25, 2016

'Well we fucked up the 1st time!'

'So hey what the hell!'

Obliterator · May 25, 2016

I commend EA for taking a risk on this one, and I adore the original even with its issues. I was so beyond hyped when they announced this.

But I have a strong feeling this game is going to ultra bomb which is a real shame. Its something different on the market and I just get the vibe there is little to no support coming for it. But boy do I hope I'm wrong on this.

But still, props and respect to EA for doing this.

Hoje0308 · May 25, 2016

dan2026 said:
'Well we fucked up the 1st time!'

'So hey what the hell!'

Excellent first post.

Good to know EA is still willing to take a risk, so long as it means they'll be stronger in the future.

Mooreberg · May 25, 2016

I'm also glad it is happening, and I'm also in agreement that the prospects on this performing well are probably not good. May was a big release month, with games that will keep people occupied into the summer. I think this game missing February will haunt it.

dskillzhtown · May 25, 2016

Seems like if it bombs, they atleast have a cool tech demo -

And perhaps just as importantly, Mirrors Edge Catalyst contains technology and design lessons that Söderlund believes will be useful to DICE and EA as a whole moving forward.

roxaloxa · May 25, 2016

Söderlund's a good dude.

Acquiescence · May 25, 2016

dan2026 said:
'Well we fucked up the 1st time!'

'So hey what the hell!'

In what way? It's my favourite game of last gen. I can play it over and over and not get bored.

AHA-Lambda · May 25, 2016

So basically, it's cause fans wouldn't shut about a sequel and they thought "hmm, even if it bombs we can use it to our advantage" for the GTA they want to make?

Coffee Dog · May 25, 2016

They wanted to take risks, so they took Mirror's Edge and made it into an open world game with rpg elements/bars to fill.

It's crazy to me what EA considers "risky" nowadays.

Nirolak · May 25, 2016

AHA-Lambda said:
So basically, it's cause fans wouldn't shut about a sequel and they thought "hmm, even if it bombs we can use it to our advantage" for the GTA they want to make?

Well, DICE kept pushing internally and Patrick Soderlund was the former CEO of DICE before becoming the head of EA Studios, so I imagine there was a "Let's reward the studio for their good work elsewhere." component.

Get_craycray · May 25, 2016

"2 million copies for the upfront shipment"

That seems rather reasonable yet I don't think it'll sell that well. To me it looks like a lot of people were vocal about a new Mirror's Edge but it's not gonna sell well.

Edit: I feel like it'd the same with Crash

cartographer · May 25, 2016

Obliterator said:
I commend EA for taking a risk on this one, and I adore the original even with its issues. I was so beyond hyped when they announced this.

But I have a strong feeling this game is going to ultra bomb which is a real shame. Its something different on the market and I just get the vibe there is little to no support coming for it. But boy do I hope I'm wrong on this.

But still, props and respect to EA for doing this.

It depends on what you mean by bomb. First game did 2.5 million eventually.

As far as multiplatform AAA releases go, it likely will be on the low end, but they seem to expect that. It's not going to be a Battlefront or FIFA or probably even a DA:I.

F0rneus · May 25, 2016

I fully expect this to be the last Mirror's Edge I'll ever play. Which is heart-breaking but I am prepared. There's no hype for this.

As for the article, it's a great, great read. God bless that producer who argued against having guns in the game. She gets it.

diaspora · May 25, 2016

Get_craycray said:
"2 million copies for the upfront shipment"

That seems rather reasonable yet I don't think it'll sell that well. To me it looks like a lot of people were vocal about a new Mirror's Edge but it's not gonna sell well.

It'd be sad if it doesn't hit that across 3 platforms.

SOR5 · May 25, 2016

EA's really been going in on the "we have feelings, we promise" PR train lately

Still cool, glad the games being made

dex3108 · May 25, 2016

Even Mods don't use Search

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1223730

SilentRob · May 25, 2016

Amazing work & actual journalism like this is promptly forgotten the second there is a video of someone playing Doom in a bad way.

Really great article, recommend reading it.

User 479360 · May 25, 2016

I'm glad that it exists for the fans, and have mild personal interest in it. However, I got excited for the first one and was let down by it, because of how frustrating it could be and how repetitive it got.

I got sick of failing jumps because I'd jumped at an angle and Faith couldn't hold on, and the part where you're scaling an indoor warehouse or parking garage tower got pretty boring.

I did beat it.

Broken Joystick · May 25, 2016

- When Sara Jansson (the project lead) originally pitched the game, Patrick decided this was the right pitch because it made him nervous about whether or not DICE would actually be capable of building something like this given their skillset and current technology, and that meant they'd probably actually gain a lot when learning how to do it. (This is covered in another part of the article.)

I like this philosophy.

cartographer · May 25, 2016

F0rneus said:
I fully expect this to be the last Mirror's Edge I'll ever play. Which is heart-breaking but I am prepared. There's no hype for this.

As for the article, it's a great, great read. God bless that producer who argued against having guns in the game. She gets it.

I thought the first one would be. That the second game even exists is amazing.

StevePharma · May 25, 2016

If Soderlund doesn't show up with a fake #skate4 tattoo/t-shirt or whatever in a couple of weeks I will be very disappointed.

#SKATE4

Loved the first game so I hope this has turned out well.

Obliterator · May 25, 2016

cartographer said:
It depends on what you mean by bomb. First game did 2.5 million eventually.

As far as multiplatform AAA releases go, it likely will be on the low end, but they seem to expect that. It's not going to be a Battlefront or FIFA or probably even a DA:I.

I'm not sure it will ever even sell through the 2 million shipment they are expecting. There seems to be zero hype for it anywhere. Maybe it will review well and that will help things though.

Garlador · May 25, 2016

I'll be buying Mirror's Edge. I missed Faith and felt the original was a flawed but worthwhile gem.

F0rneus · May 25, 2016

Obliterator said:
Maybe it will review well and that will help things though.

Not a chance. I think it'll be a game that a select few (hopefully I'll be amongst that number) will enjoy. Website previews (like IGN) after the beta pretty much all say that just that slice of game was already repetitive after a few hours. And Gamespot had a video talk about the beta where they tore into the game pretty bad (saying it felt like a game from 10 years ago).

It'll get ripped to shreds, that much I am certain of. But I know that I am a sucker for RPG bars to fill, and open-world exploration with collectibles. Still hasn't grown old for me, so I fully expect to absolutely love the game.

Skilotonn · May 25, 2016

The first one is one of my favorite games of last gen period. No other game combined such style and atmosphere before, and I've posted here year after year for each E3 that came around about my hopes for a sequel.

Then it was finally announced. I hope this game does well, because I DO want to see a sequel happen, because I loved what I saw in the beta.

Really hope it does do well enough to warrant a sequel.

icecold1983 · May 25, 2016

the beta didnt leave a god impression on me. felt like assassins creed, but not in a good way

Fantastapotamus · May 25, 2016

Sequel Chances:
- Not guaranteed, will depend on sales.

Shocking

BronsonLee · May 25, 2016

Thank god it got made. I loved the beta.

Hopefully it lands the way they want it to.

AHA-Lambda · May 25, 2016

Get_craycray said:
"2 million copies for the upfront shipment"

That seems rather reasonable yet I don't think it'll sell that well. To me it looks like a lot of people were vocal about a new Mirror's Edge but it's not gonna sell well.

Edit: I feel like it'd the same with Crash

hmm, 2m especially these days sounds very small

EA had previously noted they were moving $100 million in revenue out of Q4 when they delayed the game, which would be about 2 million copies for the upfront shipment.

sorry so that's $50 per copy? That sounds quite high, don't publishers usually get about $30-40? Or am I misunderstanding?

Coffee Dog said:
They wanted to take risks, so they took Mirror's Edge and made it into an open world game with rpg elements/bars to fill.

It's crazy to me what EA considers "risky" nowadays.

They greenlit a sequel to a game that failed to meet sales expectations. EA originally intended ME to be their Assassin's Creed. Sounds risky to me

cartographer · May 25, 2016

Obliterator said:
I'm not sure it will ever even sell through the 2 million shipment they are expecting. There seems to be zero hype for it anywhere. Maybe it will review well and that will help things though.

If it were 3 million then I'd be wary. 2 million seems doable, but so does less than that.

I really don't think it will get great reviews though. The first game received OK scores for the time. And while I think some of the changes for Catalyst cam enhance the gameplay (I was wary of open world but the beta has me optimistic on that aspect), they don't really seem like ones that will broaden the appeal of the first game.

But yeah, as a sequel to a fairly niche game by AAA standards released almost eight years ago it doesn't seem like a sure thing at all.

Jibbajabbawockky · May 25, 2016

Nirolak said:
- EA wanted to get into open world action adventure games, and a lot of technology and design lessons they would learn from making Mirror's Edge 2 would fit with that, even if the game itself didn't sell enough to continue the series.

I think this point seems particularly evident in some of EA's recent games, even looking at Dragon Age: Inquisition. Where they probably ended up delaying that game in large part to give them that much more time to flesh out the tech in the move to Frostbite that I'm sure was passed right along to the Mass Effect team and all other BioWare RPGs being built on Frostbite.

So I imagine with Mirror's Edge here, regardless of how well it does, EA probably is using it almost as a trial run for whatever open world action game they inevitably have brewing. I just recall in some older interview or maybe it was an older conference call how some higher up at EA lamented how they didn't have some sort of Assassin's Creed style third person action game in their portfolio.

CHC · May 25, 2016

It's a good mentality he has, even when you are the head of a corporation, there are still rational, business-driven reasons for developing smaller, more niche products like Mirror's Edge. Nice to have a somewhat diverse profile, and please fans at the same time.

(This is all assuming that the game will actually be good, that is!)

Kinsei · May 25, 2016

I'm interested in seeing if it will reach that number. I doubt it, but for all I know the open world might be a draw for newcomers.

Get_craycray said:
"2 million copies for the upfront shipment"

That seems rather reasonable yet I don't think it'll sell that well. To me it looks like a lot of people were vocal about a new Mirror's Edge but it's not gonna sell well.

Edit: I feel like it'd the same with Crash

If a new Crash is like the old ones then I don;t see it turning out that way at all.

Falchion · May 25, 2016

Really really hope this does well so we can get some more, it's such a fun series.

AHA-Lambda · May 25, 2016

Kinsei said:
If a new Crash is like the old ones then I don;t see it turning out that way at all.

Yeah, not that the thread is about that but I seriously believe a new Crash game modelled like the old ones would sell very well. Nostalgia sells big these days.

ThoughtsOfSpeaking · May 25, 2016

If mirrors edge doesn't do well, EA really only has itself to blame for not cultivating that market when it had a chance.

Now it's lost in a sea of blockbusters and online service games.

HyperZone<3 · May 25, 2016

Nirolak said:
- EA wanted to get into open world action adventure games, and a lot of technology and design lessons they would learn from making Mirror's Edge 2 would fit with that, even if the game itself didn't sell enough to continue the series.

Gee, if they only ever had a studio in their portfolio that had expertise in that sort of thing, if only...

Oh yeah.

Wowfunhappy · May 25, 2016

...there was already a thread. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=204633259

KimonoNoNo · May 25, 2016

I can't shake the feeling that this game has been EA'd to death.

Big_Al · May 25, 2016

I don't think we'll be seeing a sequel but I loved the beta and it's day one for me. Going to have a lot of fun finding routes to take in the open world and speed runs etc.

Platinum Mad · May 25, 2016

Coffee Dog said:
They wanted to take risks, so they took Mirror's Edge and made it into an open world game with rpg elements/bars to fill.

It's crazy to me what EA considers "risky" nowadays.

Seriously. I miss when the AAA companies weren't all about <4 Mill sales = Not worth making.
I want my weird games from the PS2 and earlier era that weren't focus tested to hell and back.

Wowfunhappy · May 25, 2016

KimonoNoNo said:
I can't shake the feeling that this game has been EA'd to death.

The beta played really well though! I was worried too until I actually played it.

_woLf · May 25, 2016

It sounds like their projections for the game aren't very high, so hopefully those projections mean they'll see it as a success with lower sales.

I wonder how much the game cost to make.

Robobandit · May 25, 2016

loved the beta, got my copy pre-ordered at GMG.

Hopefully they'll have keys before too long so I can preload.

GavinUK86 · May 25, 2016

Stop saying it might not succeed! Stop jinxing it!

Gitaroo · May 25, 2016

I have fight hope for the reboot, lets hope its good. Also hope they'll add PSVR support like with battlefront.

Protome · May 25, 2016

HyperZone<3 said:
Gee, if they only ever had a studio in their portfolio that had expertise in that sort of thing, if only...

Oh yeah.

After Mercenaries 2 and The Saboteur? Expertise is not so much a stretch as "entirely incorrect."

Mivey · May 25, 2016

HyperZone<3 said:
Gee, if they only ever had a studio in their portfolio that had expertise in that sort of thing, if only...

Oh yeah.

But that wasn't EA's fault. They have to devour at least two promising developers every generation to sustain themselves.

Warriorr · May 25, 2016

I hope everything turns out good.

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EA talks about why they greenlit Mirror's Edge 2, sequel chances

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