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[Audioboxer]

Companies like Exxon and Bank of America are significantly worse than EA

That being said fuck EA

It was kind of funny and definitely rustled EA's jimmies they won it two years in a row

 

[pixelation]

Ugghhh, sounds like they want to add online play, worse yet make it a central aspect of it. Fuck it if so... single player games are hella cool as well.

 

[Xe4]

Fuuuuuck. Rip Visceral. EA is trash as per usual. Hope those laid off land on their feet and all that.

I really hope the Star Wars doesn't turn into the GAAS grind lootbox amalgamation from hell everyone seems to think it will be, but I won't keep my hopes up. It's amazing they've held the Star Wars licence for so many damn years, and EA still can't put out any games other than Battlefront.

 

[badb0y]

And here I was making my own list like this. To expand, here's a number of rather acclaimed single player games that have already come out this year. Some indie, some from big publishers. Some western, some eastern.

-Resident Evil 7
-Yakuza 0
-Nioh
-Horizon Zero Dawn
-The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
-Nier Automata
-Persona 5
-Prey
-Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
-Divinity: Original Sin 2
-Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
-Cuphead

And since it's not out yet but you didn't include it:
-Super Mario Odyssey

Single player is not going anywhere, people. Even if AAA publishers DO reduce their SP output, indies and Nintendo will always carry the torch.

For all the people who proclaim 2017 has been such a great year for gaming you all seem to forget that rather easily when confronted by one publisher doing what it's always done. The fact there's a meme for how frequently EA closes studios really should point that this is nothing new and doesn't really indicate any shifting stance in the industry at large.

The games that have come out or will come out within the next year are not a good marker of what the publishers are going to do in the future. Like GaaS has started really popping off this year and I am sure publishers are internally going to start moving in that direction.

 

[bishoptl]

Amy Henning please come back to ND! This affects bish too, right?

.

 

[Instro]

No, but a publisher doesn't cancel or change developers on a game they have confidence that is going to perform. Look at all the games that EA has put to market that are not even close to good, and think how bad this was to warrant this action.

The question is why it turned out that way. Much like MS, EA had been known to shift their development goals abruptly and put significant onus on studios to make changes they deem necessary. The OP makes it pretty clear they want to turn this into something entirely different from what was initially planned, and in the process sunk the game and studio.

 

[JeffZero]

Meh, now I'm in that "quote people and say things without thinking them through" stress phase. I'm gonna go grocery shopping and try to remember nice things, like kittens and The Wheel of Time and Amy Hennig games.

 

[The Freeman]

Looks like EA have finally decided to embrace their bad guy persona

 

[Ghost]

I guess the longer it took to come together the more likely it was that EA would start insisting on delivering a game with extra revenue sources attached.

Star Wars Uncharted was a hell of a dream though, sad it's dead.

Hope all the people involved end up with jobs where they can actually ship the game they want to make.

 

[Boke1879]

Huh, when I read the blurb, I was interpreting it as making the game an open world design like Assassin's Creed... But evidently what they mean is they intend to make it a microtransactions addled affair?

Fuck, EA never should have gotten exclusive rights to anything, let alone the Star Wars IP.

Nobody knows what this will mean. It could be something similar to AC, but many of us are expecting something along the lines of Destiny.

 

[Crossing Eden]

It could be a million things and assuming that the hard work these people put into this game was bad is insulting towards the developers especially when you look at they’re track record.

It's not like people are saying that it may have been a bad game, it could've been a project that just wasn't coming together.

 

[geomon]

 

[GeoramA]

Ugh, RIP Visceral.

And RIP single-player games in the near future.

 

[Foxy the Fox]

listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace. It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design.

So they scrapped some elements from the SP element to put loot boxes and force it as a GaaS?

This will end up being Star Wars Destiny or something like that.

 

[Audioboxer]

Remember

Earlier this week, developer CD Projekt Red — the team behind the Witcher series — announced a November 29th meeting during which shareholders will vote on measures that would help defend itself from a potential hostile takeover.

As the internet does: it ran away with this. Rumors began to appear everywhere of CD Projekt Red being in danger of a hostile takeover, with some even suggesting EA were behind the move.

https://www.dualshockers.com/cd-projekt-red-responds-hostile-takeover-rumors/

^ bish!

 

[chrisPjelly]

What the fuck!? At least let them release a game before pulling them under

 

[Mass Effect]

2019 at the latest?

It had a strong showing. If anything it looked like one of the first showcases of what can be done next gen.

Needs to be 2018. '19 is too far away for a "me too" game, and it could very well be competing with sequels from more established franchises like Borderlands 3, Division 2, Diablo 3, and possibly (but unlikely) Destiny 3.

Though 2019 could be good if the new generation starts then. It could be a flagship 3rd party title for the PS5 and/or nuXbox.

But again, this is still assuming the market will care enough for this type of game by then, and that the game is, you know, actually good.

Great point, EA appears to be going all in on games that can be monetized in perpetuity a short sighted move. There aren't enough people dedicated enough to video games for all of these publishers to have a Destiny or Overwatch level success. As we've seen with games like Battleborn and even The Division which didn't workout long term these ventures fail more often then they succeed. Anthem could very well end up on Activision's trophy rack.

Yeah, I kind of touched on that point in a previous post. Not every game can be Destiny or whatever, and not everyone wants to drop tons of money on lootboxes, expansions, and microtransactions just because they initially bought your game. Like you said with The Division, it started off very strong, being one of the best-selling new IPs of the generation at the time, but it fell off pretty hard after a couple of months.

Same thing could happen to Anthem even if it is initially successful. Only time will tell at this point.

 

[SargerusBR]

.

BISH IS BACK ?

Spoiler

I'm sorry for you man

 

[Baraka Obama]

It was kind of funny and definitely rustled EA's jimmies they won it two years in a row

if I had to pick it be fed ex lol

 

[Subpar Spatula]

I always thought that game was canned long ago. Well, I'm now excited for the game. Seems they want to go open world and if they give us something like KotoR then I'll be a happy camper.

 

[Patchy]

For an apparent super producer, Amy Hennig has had her last 2 games end in disaster.

What could have gone so wrong since they showed off footage?

 

[Magic Mushroom]

And RIP single-player games in the near future.

Nah.

 

[horkrux]

EA seems to have been the wrong choice to partner with for the Star Wars franchise. Only Battlefront has come out since the partnership was announced in like 2013. Not a great look.

Yeah, it's disgusting.

 

[GnomeBambino]

It's not like people are saying that it may have been a bad game, it could've,

Or they couldn't find a way to implement micro-transactions/loot boxes? They being EA.

 

[Audioboxer]

if I had to pick it be fed ex lol

Bank of America probably should have won it, but as I said EA winning was funny.

 

[labx]

Gotta love the trolls trying to stirr up shit with this "singleplayer games are dead!!1" crap.

Because they aren't. There are plenty of nice AAA singleplayer games coming in the near future:

Assassin's Creed Origins
Call of Duty WWII
Wolfenstein II
Spider-Man
Red Dead Redemption
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The Last of Us 2
God of War
Metro: Exodus
Detroit: Become Human
Death Stranding
Far-Cry 5
...and several more.

Also, new games from companies like Rocksteady, CD Project RED, Bethesda and countless other, unannounced games. And no, games from these companies will not suddenly be multiplayer-only games. Their speciality is SP games. You don't just stop doing what you are good at, that's not how business works. People claiming this are simply trolling.

The problem isn''t that there is NO SP games, they are, and good ones. The problem is that SP games underperform"salewise by the standards of their companies. And because companies are entities without soul, they only want to make products that make money. Yes there are exceptions but they are not the rule.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Needs to be 2018. '19 is too far away for a "me too" game, and it could very well be competing with sequels from more established franchises like Borderlands 3, Division 2, Diablo 3, and possibly (but unlikely) Destiny 3.

Though 2019 could be good if the new generation starts then. It could be a flagship 3rd party title for the PS5 and/or nuXbox.

But again, this is still assuming the market will care enough for this type of game by then, and that the game is, you know, actually good.

I'm half expecting it to be Destiny/GR:W situation where it sells incredibly well in spite of a large section of GAF writing it off.

Or they couldn't find a way to implement micro-transactions/loot boxes?

Or it wasn't coming together. Don't think people realize just how late in the process MTs get added to a game.

 

[Mass Effect]

.

oh damn

I'm half expecting it to be Destiny/GR:W situation where it sells incredibly well in spite of a large section of GAF writing it off.

Maybe. Too hard to tell right now since it's so far away.

I'm not too invested in the game's fate either way. If it's really amazing and people like it, cool, I'll try it out. If it fails, oh well, another studio for the grave.

 

[prag16]

They're going to shoehorn open world into the game somehow.

And/or GaaS bullshit.

Damn, I wish that Star Wars gaming license wasn't exclusive to EA. They have not done much good for the brand. I wonder if Disney regrets that deal.

Disney is likely too busy counting all the stacks of money Battlefront made.

 

[funkystudent]

I wonder if EA will be as successful with the GaaS / Destiny model as they where when they went after COD with the Medal of Honor reboot

Or when they went after CoD again with Titanfall

Or when they went after WoW with The Old Republic.

Or when they went after Dota / LoL with Dawngate

 

[Papo Swing]

Ok I've read a few of the post here and I think either I am very confused or the gaming industry has taken a very well known and used term and used it how they feel.

When I read this comment I take pause because they can't be righteven the link of the Ubi employee)

You don't get to define what GaaS means.

Of course, I can be mistaken and for some reason, the gaming industry uses GaaS in a very different way than all other industries with Software as Service models, but that is not at all what the 'as a Service' models means or not what it only means.

Lootboxes/microtransactions are indeed part of Saas/GaaS on top of the other paid content/DLC and even free events that add to a game.

I would say maybe the discussion relating to if these games should be all F2P if they are charging for other content is valid, but even that is changing in the industry as other companies both charge entry prices and for the extras.

 

[TheLegendaryN]

How frustrating that AAA singleplayer games, even if it's featuring a huge brand like Star Wars, don't have a place in today's industry anymore. The big publishers are catering more and more towards online multiplayer games (preferably shooters) with a lot more options to implement microtransactions/lootboxes, much higher replay value, and free marketing through YouTube and Twitch. It's understandable from a financial standpoint, but it still really sucks. The gaming landscape becomes much more monotonous this way.

And for the people who are still asking why the outside world isn't considering games an art form or expressive medium, this is why. Games have such a huge opportunity to make (political or social) standpoints, tell amazing stories, and bring fantasies to life. A lot more than movies imo. This can be done through singleplayer or through multiplayer, it doesn't matter that much. However, most large-scale productions are based on a couple (if not, a single) overused and saturated gameplay elements, where story is toned down into the background and where the message is almost non-existent because studios are scared to lose a part of their audience.

Honestly, I mostly blame the illusion that graphics need to be pushed and worlds need to get bigger. Of course such games are awesome, but doing the same thing over and over again is tiresome and dull. I rather play the AA games, like Persona 5 and NieR: Automata, that try to deliver a message to their consumers, like most good movies try to do, too. I'd love to experience more games with a philosophical or moral premisse (for example Detroit: Become Human, regardless of quality, because I have no idea how the game will turn out. The idea behind the concept is cool tho!). The amazing thing about games is that you're a participant, not someone who's watching someone else experience the damn thing. By trying to make everything bigger and prettier, costs rise, and investment into such projects becomes too risky. So the next question is: what do we want more? I'd personally rather play a game with solid gameplay but also an intriguing world, characters and story on the 720p screen of the Switch than a dull thirteenth-in-a-dozen shooter with tons of lootboxes and a toxic online community on a 60 inch 4K screen on an Xbox One X.

 

[Schlorgan]

That is genuinely shocking. I hope everyone affected finds new work.

 

[Hip Hop]

EA seems to have been the wrong choice to partner with for the Star Wars franchise. Only Battlefront has come out since the partnership was announced in like 2013. Not a great look.

Actually couldn't have been better with the amount of money and talent that they have.

I wouldn't want no mid tier or low budget star wars.

 

[jayu26]

Ahem, FUCK YOU EA.

Re-imagine my ass you fucks.

Oh I am livid right now.

Poor Amy. How is Disney/Lucas-Arts okay with this shit? Weren't they working closely to tell a proper story?

 

[dr_rus]

I'm half expecting it to be Destiny/GR:W situation where it sells incredibly well in spite of a large section of GAF writing it off.


Or it wasn't coming together. Don't think people realize just how late in the process MTs get added to a game.

Destiny 2 mediocre sales tell a lot about how large that "section of GAF" really is.

 

[JimmyRustler]

The problem isn''t that there is NO SP games, they are, and good ones. The problem is that SP games underperform"salewise by the standards of their companies. And because companies are entities without soul, they only want to make products that make money. Yes there are exceptions but they are not the rule.

So? You got underperforming online-focused games as well - like For Honor iirc.

 

[Obliterator]

.

Holy shit Bish returns?

Man had no idea this affects you as well. Hope for the best

 

[megalowho]

EA seems to have been the wrong choice to partner with for the Star Wars franchise. Only Battlefront has come out since the partnership was announced in like 2013. Not a great look.

Truth. The history of Star Wars games is so rich across all genres and EA has been far too precious with the IP, sad to see. Who can say what the pitch was that won Disney over, but that roadmap must have changed significantly from 2013 to now.

 

[OléGunner]

I'd be very interested in that. Short more satisfying games with a reasonable pricepoint.

7-8 hours good production values.

EA want ALL the money.
$500m+ which such a project would never provide.

 

[denx]

1313 now this.

 

[Plinko]

I'm just flabbergasted that nobody has put out a good single-player Star Wars game since like Gamecube/PS2 days.

 

[StereoVsn]

So EA already has a Destiny competitor in the works from Bioware. It's unlikely they would want two.

Maybe they are going all in on Open World with Lootboxes, PVP and Virtual Currency since "Linear" was specifically mentioned as an issue.

 

[ChryZ]

What a bummer, but considering EA I'm not surprised.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Goddamn.

Can studios please, for the love of fucking God, design and develop games that can actually be done in 3 years and not require 400 people that give publishers cold feet to make everything a service game or loot boxes please?

 

[Baraka Obama]

It's not like people are saying that it may have been a bad game, it could've been a project that just wasn't coming together.

I’ll take the side of the developers of one the greatest games ever made then the publisher that has consistently tried to screw over consumers and developers for the sake of profits.

 

[Aters]

So? You got underperforming online-focused games as well - like For Honor iirc.

For Honor was a smashing hit and was the second best selling game in the US for quite a long time this year.

 

[Audioboxer]

So? You got underperforming online-focused games as well - like For Honor iirc.

Well, For Honor sounds like what happens when you hit the turbo GaaS boost button.

Probably best if stuff like that doesn't hit home runs, as much as no one wishes the worst for a studio.

 

[iHaunter]

Did they really shut down the studio behind Deadspace?

What morons.

 

[JeffZero]

Yeah, EA's got a Destiny on the way with Anthem, but I think this gets repurposed into Star Wars Destiny anyway. The open world action "AC-esque" game is still gonna be Jade Raymond's instead, I bet.