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[mysteriousmage09]

Fucking EA.....

 

[dr_rus]

They are going to turn it into a SP campaign of another Battlefront title, won't they?

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

This reminds me of when someone in OT said that Beauty and The Beast had flop written all over it. >> Anthem's concept is like guaranteed to sell.

Much like how the last two Metal of Honour games were garunteed to sell. Or how Fuse was garunteed to sell. Or how Dead Space 3 was garunteed to sell. You get the point.

 

[Lifejumper]

I actually can't get over that game statement. Every single sentence makes me angry.

Its pretty ballsy after the BF2 lootbox backlash. They dont give a fuck.

 

[Teletraan1]

How is there enough time/money to go around for the average person when you make everything a service that you want people to stick around and keep pouring money into? Won't people just gravitate towards a few or one big game(s) per genre like they have historically done with other service models like MMOs and WoW, Streaming and Netflix etc. The average person can't afford to casually throw money away in all of these games like these publishers want just like the average person wasn't going to have multiple subscriptions to MMOs or subscriptions to the 40 million streaming services that popped up post netflix. I fear we are going to see huge games that get all the users and a bunch of failures with a few modest successes under this model. Good luck.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Obviously this sucks a lot, especially considering this studio put out some great games last gen. But to play devil's advocate--This is a game we know nothing about, and it was in development for years (3 or 4?). It feels possible, if not probable that it was a shitshow behind the scenes and was bleeding money without an end in sight, putting EA between a rock and a hard place.

I think they were directionless for the first 2+ years. With Any on board and bigger focus on milking SW, I bet it was doing quite well.

 

[gimic26]

There seems to be a lot of hate towards EA for this happening and I understand where that stems from. Though I don't see many people questioning Amy's leadership in this. Was the project on target and hitting milestones? Rumors were she left ND because there were problems with UC4 and where it was at in development. Maybe the scope of a project this huge is beyond what she's good at.

I'm not suggesting it's all her fault but I'd wager she has some part in all of this happening.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I don't know how Bethesda will react with all their recent SP failures.

Bethesda the publisher might scale back on SP or pivot some of their studios towards MP, but Bethesda the developer will likely have a blank check to create their open world SP RPGs for the foreseeable future.

 

[finalflame]

You’re totally right, but I love big production games more. And I will lament their death.

As inidies become successful with their titles they will be able to grow into larger budget games while retaining their creative control. As long as the are ok with managing this risk, and insofar as technology continues to make it easier for indies to make "big budget-looking" games for less work, we might start to see more titles with the production quality of Hellblade coming from smaller, independent studios.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

RIP Dead Space and Dante's Inferno. And EA probably won't greenlight American McGee's Alice 3 pitch either.

Fucking EA.

 

[hEist]

fuck you ea.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Much like how the last two Metal of Honour games were garunteed to sell. Or how Fuse was garunteed to sell. Or how Dead Space 3 was garunteed to sell. You get the point.

None of those game had the market appeal that Anthem does. They were all B-tier games.

 

[Innolis]

It begins...Star Wars Royale, 2020, Pay to Everything.

Thank god there already exist enough games for me to play till I'm dead.

 

[badcrumble]

I think it is fundamentally *possible* to design a game that is perfectly satisfying as a standalone $60 single player game AND has elements that make for a good platform for future DLC, but unfortunately it's apparently way too tempting to do "pay us money to beat the game/not be completely hobbled in the in-game economy" sort of stuff, aka crippling players who don't pay in.

 

[Hupsel]

Its funny that the only games we want as a "games as a service" from EA are their sport games and they sure as hell will never do that lol.

True. Would be way better to have one Fifa/Madden/NHL/NBA and update it regularly, but of course they pump that shit one a year with minor differences - hell, NHL has a new 3-3 mode and that´s fucking it.

Oh, and people keep buying those fucking games.

 

[Elfstar]

Sony
Nintendo
Bethesda
'AAA Indie' like Hellblade or Obduction
Some Warner stuff, I guess

It's not over yet but we do seem to be on a wobbly bridge which is claiming more and more victims.

It feels like it's just a matter of time for those ones.

 

[Kill3r7]

Its pretty ballsy after the BF2 lootbox backlash. They dont give a fuck.

What backlash? NBA2K18 was up sales wise and SoW was basically flat or slightly up. Our online complaints do not represent the market overall.

 

[Obliterator]

I don't know how Bethesda will react with all their recent SP failures.

Like this

Arkane is looking for an Online Game Engineer to develop triple A titles for both consoles and PC.

Candidates who are interested are asked to “have expert knowledge of and experience in the design, implementation and continuing support of large scale client/server applications using primarily C++.” Possessing “extensive experience developing online games” is also noted as a requirement.

All candidates in question will also need to work “with other engineers to architect and refine game systems and online features” such as client server networking optimization, game persistence, developing an online environment, and other requirements. The final indication that this will be an online product – or at least one with a heavy online structure – is “Experience in a “Live” environment (ongoing support of a product after launch).”

www.dualshockers.com/dishonored-prey-developer-arkane-studios-hiring-online-game-engineer/amp/

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

None of those game had the market appeal that Anthem does. They were all B-tier games.

Those all had huge budgets and killed or almost killed their respective studios and killed all those franchises.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

Whether or not the industry will crash, I find myself increasingly disinterested in the hobby outside of Nintendo’s stuff. I have no idea what angle Sony and Microsoft are going to take with their next consoles, but the Pro and X don’t leave me optimistic. Games are moving in a worse and worse direction by the year, it seems. If I don’t care for the best graphics, shooters or sports games, loot boxes, or multiplayer in general, what is there for me? Increasingly less and less.

Did you buy Nioh, Nier, or Prey (not really a shooter)? No? Uncharted TLL?

 

[GnomeBambino]

Surprised and disappointed to hear this. If a former Uncharted lead can't get her linear action game through development without some suit killing it because their doesn't appear to be a way to have work loot boxes in then who's safe? I'm really getting concerned for the future of Respawn and their projects. I hope everyone impacted by this lands in a good place.

 

[Audioboxer]

RIP Dead Space and Dante's Inferno. And EA probably won't greenlight American McGee's Alice 3 pitch either.

Fucking EA.

lol, that was never happening anyway.

For whacky and wonderful platforming action we'll just have to hope Psychonauts 2 is good.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I think it is fundamentally *possible* to design a game that is perfectly satisfying as a standalone $60 single player game AND has elements that make for a good platform for future DLC, but unfortunately it's apparently way too tempting to do "pay us money to beat the game/not be completely hobbled in the in-game economy" sort of stuff, aka crippling players who don't pay in.

Its not just possible, it's the norm for Sony. Horizon is a perfect example. Bethesda Games Studio does it as well (despite my opinions on the overall quality of Fallout 4).

 

[chrishackwood]

We’re heading toward a crash. I guess I’m in the minority now where I will never buy a loot box

You're not the only one. Gambling has no place in computer games as far as I'm concerned. I'm genuinely saddened with the direction most AAA games are now at. I guess I'll stick to mostly AA games. At least Sony still seems to care about single player only.

 

[Wulfram]

We're talking about Star Wars. A Star Wars game at the level of quality of something like Uncharted with 8~10/10s would knock sales out of the park.

Henning knows how to make a SP story driven game.

Not as much as open world would. While still costing just as much, if not more, because people demand higher quality for that sort of game.

Also, there's a real chance that they thought the game wasn't going to be very good, and MEA demonstrated that they couldn't chuck it out the door hoping to scrape by with 8s and move forward.

 

[brawly]

DA MP gonna be lit

Inquisition was basically an offline MMO.

 

[Skunkers]

Fuck my life, man. This was the one game I was most excited to see.

Best wishes to all the staff, I hope everyone lands on their feet. Will probably get BFII used, getting tired of supporting EA’s shitshow.

 

[Savitar]

EA is like a horde of zombies that consume all it gets it's hands upon.

 

[Theslammer]

It feels like it's just a matter of time for those ones.

If the current climate is the same 10 years from now, maybe? But I doubt it. 1997 was different from 2007, which was different than 2017. No one knows what the most popular genre will be in a decade, what trends publishers will follow, what developers will want to make, and how the AAA/AA/Indie scene will look. A game like Destiny or PUBG may not be the most popular type of game at that point.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Is this that Star Wars game they showed last year? Or well, the incredibly brief snippet that looked amazing?

 

[Crossing Eden]

Those all had huge budgets and killed or almost killed their respective studios and killed all those franchises.

B-tier in terms of reception.

 

[MeatGrinder]

Were they all laid-off or were they relocated?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

How is there enough time/money to go around for the average person when you make everything a service that you want people to stick around and keep pouring money into? Won't people just gravitate towards a few or one big game(s) per genre like they have historically done with other service models like MMOs and WoW, Streaming and Netflix etc. The average person can't afford to casually throw money away in all of these games like these publishers want just like the average person wasn't going to have multiple subscriptions to MMOs or subscriptions to the 40 million streaming services that popped up post netflix. I fear we are going to see huge games that get all the users and a bunch of failures with a few modest successes under this model. Good luck.

Because every developer/publisher is convinced their game might be the next one to hit, and if it does, it's like a license to print money. The problem you are describing isn't really a SP vs GAAS problem. What you are describing was rearing it's head last gen, when consumers only had a finite amount of money and time to throw at big budget games, which is what led to a lot of publishers and studios being shut down because they could no longer afford to play ball, even in the SP space.

 

[VN1X]

That sucks the big one obviously but... two strikes for Amy Hennig?

 

[OrlanisWorks]

I'm never again going to get to play a great Star Wars game, am I?

 

[Audioboxer]

Not as much as open world would. While still costing just as much, if not more, because people demand higher quality for that sort of game.

Also, there's a real chance that they thought the game wasn't going to be very good, and MEA demonstrated that they couldn't chuck it out the door hoping to scrape by with 8s and move forward.

Well, if there is "leaks" about the project being a mess I'll listen. Right now it's just hard not to read into that statement as EA having a freakout about any game daring to be a SP linear experience. Presumably for many of the reasons satirised in here.

MEA got knocked because it's a mediocre story experience, not able to follow in the footsteps of ME1~2, and most of 3. Plus it was quite buggy.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

lol, that was never happening anyway.

For whacky and wonderful platforming action we'll just have to hope Psychonauts 2 is good.

Psychonauts 2 will be wonderful. And sell 10 copies

 

[CrazyHal]

Never work for EA. Just don't!

 

[fastballspecial]

What a fuckin scumbag move. IT'S OK IF VIDEO GAMES HAVE AN END, EA.

 

[Petrae]

We’re heading toward a crash. I guess I’m in the minority now where I will never buy a loot box

We’re not heading toward any crash. Publishers are simply following the trends set by consumers— who have proven that they’re eager to spend more money on loot boxes, microtransactions, and season passes. They’re just following the cash.

If we were heading toward a crash, publishers would’ve persisted with GaaS after consumers had generally rejected it (see Online Passes). This just isn’t the case. Someone, somewhere, is spending a fuckton of money on this stuff... so there’s really no (business) reason not to continue to tap consumers for more cash.

 

[Buzzbrad]

Very disappointing to hear. Would like to see what Amy has to say.

 

[brokenbeans]

EA gonna EA 😒

 

[kmax]

I'm not liking this trend at all. This GaaS future is very disturbing for people that enjoy SP offline experiences such as myself.

 

[CHC]

You think that's where EA is getting their data from and not industry wide trends?

Of course not exclusively, but games like The Witcher III, Uncharted 4, and GTA V (initial sales, not after the focus on online stuff) show that even with a single player focus, a combination of high quality and good marketing does move units.

Games as a Service is useless if the base game sucks.

 

[LiK]

Were they all laid-off or were they relocated?

Most likely laid off unless they’re able to suddenly work in Canada.

 

[Mass Effect]

None of those game had the market appeal that Anthem does. They were all B-tier games.

Of course that's assuming Anthem releases in a timely manner and before the market has moved on.

 

[labx]

Its not just possible, it's the norm for Sony. Horizon is a perfect example. Bethesda Games Studio does it as well (despite my opinions on the overall quality of Fallout 4).

Don't forget Rockstar.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

B-tier in terms of reception.

Then you have no idea how Anthem's going to turn out.

 

[Yoshi]

Sony
Nintendo
Bethesda
'AAA Indie' like Hellblade or Obduction
Some Warner stuff, I guess

It's not over yet but we do seem to be on a wobbly bridge which is claiming more and more victims.

Sega (Sonic, Yakuza) and SQX.

 

[IKizzLE]

You're not the only one. Gambling has no place in computer games as far as I'm concerned. I'm genuinely saddened with the direction most AAA games are now at. I guess I'll stick to mostly AA games. At least Sony still seems to care about single player only.

We will see how long that last. Horizon 2 with a battle royale mode incoming...