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EA lost $6 billion in market value
And yet, nothing of value was lost. What a paradox!
EA stopped innovating years ago and became a games monetization shop. You reap what you sow.
Normally these articles are slightly alarmist making it sound like a company will fall over becuase of one bad game release and when you look at the share price over time it is still up. but this one is interesting. EA are down 15% over the past 12 months because of this one drop.
Yeah most game news websites don't understand stocks but in this case, DA Vanguard was a massive failure. In the press release, the game was played by 1.5 million people. Not copies sold, just played. This probably includes people that just bought a month of EA Play to check it out.
The newest fifa game (EA sports FC now) also under-performed but they didn't say much about it beyond that. A few more flops and it sounds like EA could be following Ubisoft into crashing hard.
EA could be following Ubisoft into crashing hard.
I wouldn't miss them. I'm still mad at EA about what they did with Westwood. And they haven't stopped being shit.
Justice for command and conquer.
Legend of Kyrandia. 😭
🫂 Westwood was such a great studio.
Schreier's added context to this is that FC is far more responsible for the financial underperformance than Dragon Age.
They won't say that though, because they have a built in narrative of "we were too woke"; convenient excuse for a less micro transaction heavy game to be blamed, as well as an excuse to be more strict on themes in their games. None of the problems are solved, but they have a scapegoat.
I don't think this is a narrative EA is leaning into. Frankly, even if it sold less than they forecast, I'm sure they were happy they sold as much as they did given the troubled production it was converted from.
I don't particularly think it is either, just that's it's conveniently there. The prevailing narrative about failed games recently has been wokeism, and not just the simple fact that games are increasingly shitty as the point isn't a compelling narrative or gameplay, but how many micro transactions can be squeezed out of a franchise.
Did Veilguard have microtransactions?
I don't think so, but it is "woke", and that's a good enough reason for many to stick their fingers in their ears and claim that's why it didn't sell well.
Another way to see that 15% drop is hinted at in the article:
EA FC generates around $2 billion annually, Reuters reports, with around $800 million of that made up by Ultimate Team.
Loot boxes made EA $800M last year. It's easy to see why EA and other publishers demand MTX in games. Can we amend "Don't preorder" with "and ignore micro transactions"?
@chicosuave@lemmy.world Pretty sure that ignoring micro-transactions has always been "a thing" to take a stand against. But of course, when it comes to the general public, no one ever does.
slightly alarmist
Positively though, in the case of EA.
I'm sure the C Suite feels a great sense of Pride and Accomplishment.
Afee losing some sports licenses or the Star Wars license... EA doesn't really have much going for it anymore.
I guess we'll see if DICE can salvage Battlefield up next.
Idk how the decade+ of Need for Speed games that range from mediocre to outright awful are selling anymore either.
Oh no. Won't someone think of the shareholders.
Well, at least they were pioneers in the art of enshittification.
Is this c/upliftingnews?
Baldurs gate 3 ruined it for the large AAA developers/publishers. People are now excepting good games like that.
Look. I don't care about the political content in a game as long as the game is good!
The issue is, these large game companies have been trying to change the mindset of gamers to accept games with less content because at the end of the day the only thing these companies want is to sell horse armour.
Good, keep going that way.
They’ve been running the same money sucking schemes for the last decade. The gravy train is over
With FC, I figured they had that audience by the balls.
I think without the FIFA branding, the series lost its luster.
They could just update rosters and wouldn’t even need a new game. It’s pointless now that graphics and gameplay are not enhanced enough to justify a new $60 game
It’s been that way for years
💯
FC 24 did well even after they lost the FIFA license. Something else going on here.
Deserved. Fuck them. For all they do.
I cant really find any empathy or sympathy for them, at all
Dragon Age Veilguard was a bastardization of Dragon Age. Of course it was going to fail. You failed your core audience, you idiots.
If you wanted to make a Marvel version of a dark fantasy game, you could’ve made a new IP, instead of leeching off the brand.
It was so, so bad.
Hot damn did they ever screw up badly with DAV.
If they just released what people were expecting (and wanting): Dreadwolf, a true Dragon Age sequel - then it would've sold by the figurative truckload and they'd be riding the money boat right now.
But no. The reality-disconnected decision makers decreed that it had to be ultra sanitised, corporate, Disney-esque slop. Not an awful game, sure, but absolutely not a Dragon Age game.
I have been talking a lot with a friend of mine about DAV and Dreadwolf.
I really think that even if they released the Dreadwolf, the version from the artbook, they probably won't made a profit, the game could sell well like Inquisition but not like a Cyberpunk/The Witcher 3/BG3 and for the amount of time and resource they used sales like inquisition is not enough. They blew their chances with the 10 years of delays, the IP was not in a good place.
Only a miracle, a game on the same level as BG3 for Bioware to make a profit again.
I think Bioware's future is now entirely riding on Mass Effect 4. Which...does not inspire confidence.
It is my first dragon age game. I have only played a couple hours. While I enjoy it while playing, I feel like I have to force myself to play.
You should play the original if you can, it really is the best Dragon Age game. Steam has a guide to get it up and running on modern machines.
Also, were you able to follow the story of Veilguard? I haven't played it yet (and honestly I might never) but I got the impression that it was pretty tied to the story of Inquisition.
Pardon? Do you mean: Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain: The Game?
The game that has the antagonists named Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain??
Where everyone seems to know the secrets of
Tap for spoiler
Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain
and how to defeat said villains named Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain??????!!
Yeah ngl, I don't really care for the more Elvish focus that Inquisition (and now I guess Veilguard) has. The best part of DA was always the mix of all the lores clashing.
That’s what they get for torching Westwood
Where was Gondor when the Westwood fell?
Good