EA trying to win back our hearts?

by James Ransom-Wiley { Dec 1st 2006 at 4:25AM }

EA's VP and chief visual officer Glenn Entis is ready to put the company's money where Montreal GM Alain Tascan's mouth was. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Entis outlines a new direction in which EA execs will begin to trust the efforts of developers seeking to create original IPs. No doubt EA will continue to farm its established franchises, but Entis describes an "aggressive" strategy whereby the Maddens, FIFAs, Need for Speeds, etc., will play equals to new "creative risks."

A combination of relentless Pac-Man-style acquisitions -- striking again just yesterday with the buyout of Headgate Studios -- and a history of poor employee treatment has marred EA's image among informed gamers, but could a few refreshing attempts alter our opinions? Can EA be loved again?

Tags: EA, Electronic Arts, ElectronicArts, IP

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

WhaleMenace @ Dec 1st 2006 4:40AM

No. No it cannot.

TheThirdStrongest @ Dec 1st 2006 5:00AM

Ea, the World That Is! I like that Ea. Not this one though. They've lost me forever.

Mike Hawk @ Dec 1st 2006 5:04AM

I don't think EA should put its new direction in Alain Tuscan's mouth.

What @ Dec 1st 2006 5:12AM

EA already ARE loved - just not by "hardcore" gamers. Just look at the sales of Need For Speed, Madden, FIFA, The Sims to see that.

I don't think they're trying to get everyone to say "We love EA" because it doesn't affect their bottom line in the slightest.

Madthijs @ Dec 1st 2006 5:12AM

It only takes 1 (Yes, just one!) brilliant game to win back the hearts of hardcore gamers. Let's be honest, casual gamers all love EA for bringing them what they expect every year (with slightly better graphics). If Army of Two is as good as they say it is (it will destroy GoW on every aspect.... well... just work with me here) than I believe the answer is YES... I know I will love EA again the moment they bring out a game that surpasses my then favorite game of all time (I don't like living in the past, so right now Gears of War is my favorite, and yes is exceeds Half-Life 2 and Halo 1/2 IMHO)...

Markusdragon @ Dec 1st 2006 5:39AM

Bring back Deluxe Paint!

=[`] @ Dec 1st 2006 5:46AM

I love ea.
I worked for them & had a great time.
Shuuure, the franchises are tired (& often not the best example of the genre), the acquisitions are harmful (at times) & the innovation isn't there. But I enjoyed watching movies every month & working in the darkened farm known as QA in Vancouver.
I'd go back in a second if I thought I had career prospects there (and a Visa that didn't run out).

GunForHire @ Dec 1st 2006 9:53AM

EA can probably never be loved again by respectable gamers.

They need to stop gobbling up all the competition, stop with the raping of the XBL Marketplace and finally, put an end to some of their franchises. Some of them are almost as old as I am by now...

JPRacer @ Dec 1st 2006 8:15AM

They need more than one game to win me back but at least it's a start.

Dave Smith @ Dec 1st 2006 7:52AM

Can EA be loved again? Sure, here's what I suggest:
1. Change your EULA so you don't get access to my credit card info just because I want to play an online game with my XB360. You don't need it, and I don't trust you with it.
2. Back away from the NFS Carbon approach of ripping off your customers by charging extra for every possible game enhancement.
3. If you include product placement for real life items in your games, lower the retail price. There is no benefit to the game buyer for in game ads otherwise.
4. Support experimental concepts and expect to lose money on them. In other words, try something different and help drive the Art of game design forward. Need some examples? Go play Tetris, Ikami, Shadow of the Collosus, or anything by Jeff Minter. Innovate! I dare you!
5. Stop releasing "new" games that really aren't ( Madden, for instance ) new.
6. Do something that actually benefits the larger community. I dont ever recall reading " EA Games donates to < insert worthy cause here>". Why not?
7. Use your industry dominance to do something positive within the Industry iteself. Maybe you could start with fair and ethical treatment of your employees.

I stopped buying EA games because EA as a company has become, well, evil. It's a shame too, because I'd really like to enjoy what appears to be some great work. But between the EUlas, the unneeded exchange of my personal data, and my awareness of the gulag-like work environment of your employees makes me realize I can't support it and sleep at night. Dammit EA, what happened to you?

Kendrick @ Dec 1st 2006 8:28AM

I can think of two things that EA can do to win me back. They can issue a public apology to Richard Garriott, and they can back out of the NFL exclusivity agreement. I don't think either of those actions are unreasonable to ask for.

Matthew M @ Dec 1st 2006 8:55AM

I don't think it would hurt to have something nice being said about there employees. There was all this bad press about working there, it would be nice to hear that they were and are aware of this, and are striving to change that.

And a few original innovative IPs wouldn't hurt either.

Josh @ Dec 1st 2006 8:55AM

Bring back the Nerf Ball! EOA for life!

Frank N Stein @ Dec 1st 2006 10:56AM

They can start by not charging 300 fucking points for a "HOF STADIUM"

DICKHEADS = EA

Saneless @ Dec 1st 2006 10:51AM

EA has to go where the new money is. Just like Wal-Mart is trying to use a lot more organics for its food and pimp that out, EA has to go into new territory that gamers are moving towards.

I'm not expecting to like any or many EA games, but if they put out a gem I'm not going to avoid it

OtakuCODE @ Dec 1st 2006 11:10AM

No, EA cannot be loved again. The reason is not because they've burned the bridge with gamers or anything like that. Gamers are very fickle and the public at large nowadays wouldn't know idealism if it bit them on the ass, so no one is going to not buy a game they want just because EA is abusive to its employees and its customers.

The reason EA can never rise to be loved again is because they are publicly traded. They do not answer to the marketplace. They answer to investment bankers who run mutual funds. Those investment bankers demand that EA make their profit grow by x% more than it grew during the same period the year before. EA flat out cannot achieve those numbers if it takes any risks at all. One bad project could make it so they only make 20 billion in profit instead of the 21 billion the investment bankers wanted. When that happens, the investment bankers sell their millions of shares of stock, EAs stock price drops through the floor, more people drop the stock in panic, EA goes bankrupt, and flowers can once again bloom. But EA doesn't get loved again.

gLitterbug @ Dec 1st 2006 12:17PM

"They can issue a public apology to Richard Garriott"

This is something I've felt since they bent him over for his franchise that at least partially made EA famous and rich. He was one of the first big names in the gaming world, an interesting celebrity and EA had nothing more for him than ruin his baby and run him out of their company by making his job life miserable.

Such things are exactly the cause of EAs bad reputation. If they indeed want to better up their image, they have to do it with becoming better for real and not try to pull some tricks.

About the risks they have when making creative Projects: they could've been really big and maybe even stolen Blizzards huge success with WoW if they wouldn't have canned their next Ultima Online game because of whatever probably weird and dumb reason.

the_insider @ Dec 1st 2006 5:26PM

Army of Two, Spore, and Skate are just a few of the extremly promising looking original IP's coming from EA in the future... I think there has definetely been a shift. No one needs to love EA, just love the games!! ;)

John H. @ Dec 2nd 2006 12:26AM

EA is an unusual position relative to other companies here.

I do not think they can win back the hearts of old-time gamers, not even if was revealed they've turned into Nintendo overnight.

Where did Electronic Arts get its name from? It's not just another company name, they used to honestly believe in it. In the old days Electronic Arts was known for their unique approach to game publishing, even at a time when it was much easier to find original game software than now.

Even if EA were to reform utterly, unless they managed to recapture the brilliance of their early days it would still be a net loss.