this post was submitted on 10 May 2024

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EA wants to place in-game ads in its full-price AAA games, again (www.techspot.com)

submitted 6 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

117 comments fedilink hide all child comments

EA has tried this before, with predictable results. In 2020, EA Sports UFC 4 included full-screen ads for the Amazon Prime series The Boys that would appear during 'Replay' moments. These were absent from the game when it launched, with EA introducing the ads about a month later, thereby preventing them from being highlighted in reviews. It wasn't long before the backlash led to EA disabling the ads.

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world -5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I hope gamers will unite. Though it seems far more likely that kids will just buy it because “wooooo hype. Who cares about ads, I already watch a bazillion a day when doomscrolling Instagram”.

Something tells me they will, at least it's on the latest generation to step up.

Previous generations of always pushed back against this, and won.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Pretty sure the Hell Divers 2 backlash was the only time I've ever seen gamers win over a corporation. Blizzard fans have made me absolutely cynical about gamer boycotts.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Pretty sure the Hell Divers 2 backlash was the only time I’ve ever seen gamers win over a corporation.

There's been others, over the decades. This isn't the first time they tried putting ads into games. All the other times were pushed back successfully.

Blizzard fans have made me absolutely cynical about gamer boycotts.

True-ish, but people really did step up more in more recent days, and voted with their wallets. The pop dropped was bad enough and for long enough that the company got sold off to Microsoft to recover, and Bobby is gone.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago

All the other times were pushed back successfully.

Was it or was it just poorly implemented and the metrics were looking good for the companies buying the ads? Not sure Microsoft firing Bobby because he was a bad leader or just cause it's an easy way to trim fat and make the purchase look better for their investors.

[–] Zacryon@lemmy.wtf 4 points 6 months ago

Yes, and consider what insane amount of pressure was necessary to achive this. Over 200.000 negative reviews for HD2. That makes it very unlikely to happen again. It shows how little gamers can achieve and how little their concerns are heard if they are not accumulating to a critical mass.

[–] Detheroth@lemmynsfw.com -1 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Nothing changed with Helldivers. The game is still blocked in over 100 countries and people who rightfully purchased the game still can not play it. Sure we don't have to create an account, but that was annoying -not an actual issue. The real issue was thousands of people suddenly losing access to their game because Sony wants conversion.

Sony made a social media post. They didn't fix shit. But now the backlash is gone and the countries are still blocked, they can silently reinstate the bullshit in 3 months time.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Regardless, I was expecting absolutely no change from Sony and quite frankly, still expect to do to a rug pull once people's attention are elsewhere. Oh look, Microsoft is doing a thing now.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world -3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

still expect to do to a rug pull once people’s attention are elsewhere. Oh look, Microsoft is doing a thing now.

Corporations being corporations and trying to rip off the customer to make the stockholder happy is a constant thing (unfortunately). "Viva Capitalism!", and all that.

But 'We the ~~People~~ Customers' ultimately have the control, we control the purse strings. They need the money in our wallets, and we can decide to give them that money or not, based on how they treat us, as customers. They will try to psyop convince you otherwise of that fact, but that fact remains, and holds true.

Its an endless battle/war, but its a good one to fight for. Then they try something the next time, we push back against it. Again.

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world -3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Nothing changed with Helldivers. The game is still blocked in over 100 countries and people who rightfully purchased the game still can not play it. Sure we don’t have to create an account, but that was annoying -not an actual issue. The real issue was thousands of people suddenly losing access to their game because Sony wants conversion.

Last I heard that problem went away with them backing off of not needing a Playstation account anymore.

And the fact that they backed off the account requirement is a definate win for us.

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[–] Sineljora@sh.itjust.works -3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Sony made a social media post. Original date for PsN requirement was June. During the backlash, over 100 countries were delisted. They still are. The current situation is still much worse than launch.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Sony made a social media post. Original date for PsN requirement was June. During the backlash, over 100 countries were delisted. They still are. The current situation is still much worse than launch.

Don't think you're representing the situation accurately.

The primary goal was to not have to create a Playstation account, and people can get a refund now from Steam if they want, where before they could not.

Sony can always decide where to sell their products, regardless if there's a controversy, or just any day of the week and for any reason. We could never control where Sony sells their products.

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[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

It's pretty typical that you're getting downvoted for not crying 100% gloom about every possible thing.

[–] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 2 points 6 months ago

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[–] Sineljora@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I’d love to know how to get a refund.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world -3 points 6 months ago

I’d love to know how to get a refund. I’ve tried 4 times with different prompts suggested in forums and comments. It is in fact worse and not equal to the state it was in at launch.

Try asking again for one.

That video I linked was stating they were now doing refunds. I haven't tried it, since I don't own the game (didn't like the root level access crap). But I've also read elsewhere that at first they were not doing refunds but they changed their minds and now they are.

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