The amount of casual fuckboys here who are willingly on the side of big business just going “Fucking hurr durrrr it’s their right to close ‘underperforming divisions’ hurr durr” is seriously, probably the most disgustingly pathetic thing I’ve ever seen on this sub and I’ve seen some shit.
Are you that daft? They “underperformed” so fuck the fuckers, get rid of them? Simple as that, huh? The .xls said they need to be axed so get rid of them, because the numbers don’t lie. Forget the corporate behaviors that caused this problem, right?
Are you FUCKING serious? Dead Space was a niche franchise. It sold VERY WELL for a brand new IP in the “survival horror” genre. Very, very well. Dead Space 2 sold AT LEAST 4 million copies. Probably way more – considering 1.6 million of those are on Steam alone and that doesn’t include 360, PS3, Xbox One back compatibility, or Origin.
They did not underperform. They made money on Dead Space 1 and 2. They simply didn’t make $937587235 which is what EA wants. When your expectations and your budget are based entirely on a fantasy world, every studio underperforms. You cannot release a game that has this specific of an audience and then table flip when it has “only” sold 4 million copies within 6 years. That’s ludicrous, unrealistic, and ignorant, in comparison to a game like Resident Evil 4, 5, or 6, all of which have sold at least 7.5 million, and RE4 is over 10 years old. By 2007 and 4 releases including Wii, RE4 had still only sold 1.7 million copies. It takes fucking time.
Do you know why it eventually sold that many copies? Because it’s been re-released 9 times. GC, PS2, PC, Wii, PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC again, and, it was included in RE6 archvies/anthology version.
Do you know why RE5 sold that many copies? Because it’s been re-released. PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC and again, and, it was included in RE6 archvies/anthology version.
Do you know why RE6 sold so many copies? Because it’s been re-released. PS3, PS4, 360, XB1, PC.
Dead Space trilogy was released one time – 360, PS3, PC. Dead Space 3 on PC was exclusive to Origin, and 2 on Steam does not have the DLC available.
No fucking shit # 2 only sold “4 million” copies.
EA completely mismanaged this studio and drove them into the ground, the same way they do with their acquired 3rd party studios. They had completely unrealistic expectations for DS2 and 3, proving they have no comprehension of the games they are making and are only interested in money.
Do you honestly think any of their other studios get treated this way, assuming EA actually had any other first party studios still open that aren’t EA Sports, and actually do anything? (Hint: They don’t.) Don’t get me wrong – they operate 37 different studios/offices. 3 of them are BioWare, another 3 of them are another developer, 2 of them are EA Sports, etc. But they also don’t actually make anything, who knows why, and I bet if they didn’t have 28 other needless studios, they might see higher profit margins.
If you defend this and just say “It’s within their right and it’s expected to shut down underpeforming studios” you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about, no comprehension of why anyone is upset, and you need to shut the fuck up because spewing your uneducated opinion means nothing to anyone.
You can’t fathom why anyone is pissed off, huh? It’s eluding you? Not one possible reason huh?
Dead Space is done. It will never come back. There will never be a plot resolution to $200 and at least 120 hours of millions of people’s gaming lives.
The first Star Wars game with any chance of being worth a fuck since 2008 just got its developer closed and it’s changing hands to some devs no one knows shit about, because EA didn’t like the way it was going. That almost certainly equates to – it wasn’t casual and filled with shitty microtransactions enough for the corporate stooges. It was a single-player, story based game with finite – if any- opportunities to continually milk customers for a long term revenue stream.
EA is literally famous for destroying the gaming industry. There are so many articles and websites dedicated to just how much ruin they’ve left in their wake. They are the Donald Trump of the gaming industry. Yea, sure they may not be 1980s Atari famous, but if another game industry crash does happen, I bet you money it will be EA driving the bus.
Not all of us are 8. EA destroyed our favorite game developers and franchises from our childhood. Command and Conquer, Populous, SimCity, ThemePark, ThemeHospital, Burnout, Mercenaries, Dead Space, these are all relics now because of EA. They also are holding hostage Dungeon Keeper, Crusader, Wing Commander, Ultima, and lots of other IPs.
Many more IPs have sat stagnant for decades and almost disappeared because of their bullshit. System Shock is the most prominent example – it was locked up in legal limbo for almost 2 decades because EA didn’t own all the rights – some stupid legal firm owned part of them – and neither was willing to let them go. It is only by the graces of Night Dive and CDP that System Shock 3 is finally happening and System Shock remake is coming out – crowdfunded by the way.
Star Wars, again. EA had a hand in LucasArts demise and has now taken on the Star Wars mantle, through their exclusivity deal with Disney to be the only developer allowed to make Star Wars games. And so far they’ve totally fucked it up. Battlefront 1 and 2 are both shit, and the only other game they released was a mobile game.
So yea, there is MORE than enough reason to be physically ill about EA.