EA wants to stop 2K All-Pro Football franchise

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 27th 2007 2:17PM

EA CEO John Riccitiello stated during a shareholder call, the same one where he said Godfather 2 was in production, that EA needs to make sure that 2K's All-Pro Football 2K8 is "not repeatable." Riccitiello specifically pointed out 2K Sports' re-emerged football franchise which has been missing since EA purchased exclusive rights to the NFL and current players in 2005.

Riccitiello specifically says that Take-Two is a "competitor" and when they launch a football game "you want to make sure that [it] ends up being a blip and is not repeatable, because we like to defend our franchises aggressively." We're sure EA can dig deep into their coffers to stop 2K if they wanted to, especially considering they could afford to make Peter Moore the head of EA Sports. The only issue we have is: Wouldn't it be nice if EA actually focused on improving Madden and defeating 2K on the field of consumer satisfaction?

Source

Tags: 2k, 2ksports, allprofootball2k8, ea, Electronic-Arts, madden, Xbox-360, xbox360

Reader Comments (77)

yeah, why compete when you can buy the trophy?

Well, I think that's the point.. they know that madden is half-assed with each update nowdays, so they don't even hide the fact that they're just going to try to pay off people to keep it from happening again.

doesnt the nfl license end soon? wasnt the nfl mad that they made the deal too?

i cant wait for nfl 2k10!

fuck EA for not letting anyone else make a football game.
nice move ea on not letting anyone else make a football game.

good for you bad for gamers.

F Madden!!!

F EA!!!

The NFL retains the right to opt out if they are ever inclined to, so I doubt that's the case.

It sounds like Take Two is gearing up their game in hopes to buy the NFL license when it expires in 2009.

The real winner in this battle?

The NFL.

Here's a tip for EA to beat out Take-Two:

Make a sports game that doesn't fucking suck, and make it WORTH buying. Or better yet, update the 360 version each year for maybe $20. Might actually save you money AND make you less of a douchebag company in the long run.

~HotShotX

I would hope that since there finally is competition, that EA would get off their laurels and make their game better. Seriously, why even try to improve upon the game if there is no other competitor? 2K enters the scene, and all of a sudden EA wants to push them out of the market, yet doesn't conclude the if they made a better game, they wouldn't have to worry. Were is that mentality? Void.

Half the appeal of the Madden series is the NFL license, some people only want the real thing; its not like the sales performance is indicative of the quality difference between Madden vs. All-Pro.

Anyways, as long as they pay for the exclusive use of the NFL license they will be always be number one... unless they pull an NBA Live '07 with the Madden series. Which isnt inconceivable.

Doesnt matter to me; i hate American football.

I was never planning on buying either game but now I plan on getting all Pro just to make EA mad and I think other people sould do the same.

I don't think Take 2 wants the NFL license. They are doing things with this game the NFL would never allow, like custom teams. Adding the NFL license just restricts developer freedom.

Down with EA. I could care less about their attitude about competition. If they ever take over UBI, they will really piss alot of people off. I do hope they lose that coveted NFL license, and I hope the NFL starts granting it to whoever wants to use it like it used to be.

Hadn't you heard?

Ubi is the NEW EA.

EA owns part of UBI

Thats ok, I hate soccer. Oh, I'm sorry "futbol"

Why the hell doesn't 2K sports do something creative to avoid direct competition with Madden, like a football game set in old, leather helmet times.

No forward passing allowed either!

EA wants to stop 2K so they can get Bo Jackson... Oh right 2K couldn't even do that.

Wow, those are fightin' words! What happened to healthy competition? Sounds like they want the 2K employees living under the freeway, not just "losing" the football game battle. When someone says "I hope PC eventually wins in the battle of game machines" you don't imply that you want Nintendo, Sony, and MS literally burned at the stake as demons- specifically naming those who you want to die.

As others have said before: fuck EA

For some reason, I'm reminded of the scene from the Good Times With Weapons episode of South Park where Cartman and the others are bragging to Clyde about their ninja weapons.

Fuckin EA. I hate them so much, but I love my team more...

You know those anti-marijauna commercials from a couple years ago (in the US) where they trace a dime bag a girl bought back through it's criminal system to show that her purchase paid for bullets to shoot kids or something (it was a dumb commercial)... well someone should make something like "Each copy of Madden you buy funds EA's puppy-murder machine." I know that sounds silly, but I hate monopolies.

It doesn't sound too silly since EA had Vick on the cover a couple years back, but maybe that was the point. Damned puppy murderin' bastards!!

The whole situation is pretty disgusting. The 2k series is clearly a good one and people were starting to notice it. Doing the major price drop on the game was a nice way to finally push against Madden, let people see what they were missing and then be able to put it up to a normal price the next year with an actual fanbase. Instead EA buys every thing.

I mean, competition is supposed to foster new ideas, improvements and so forth. A comment like THAT is what I would have liked to see from EA, that they would continue to work on their game and improve it to make it a non-issue. Instead we get a comment about undercutting the competition and trying to take things away from them.

I mean, honestly, would they have gotten away with the neutered 360 version of Madden that first year if they actually had someone competing against them? I doubt it.

The NFL was stupid to sign an exclusive with EA.

They would have made more money licensing it out to all interested parties. EA just proved how valuable the license actually was. I doubt the NFL will re-sign exclusively to EA.

Seems to me the NFL should try to spread licensing around at the end of the current contract. Now that all the companies see how much there is to be made with an NFL license, it's time to bilk multiple companies for the rights.

If EA wants 2k dead, why don't they just hire OJ?

More seriously, 2k is a great game but i am in a catch-22

I would really like to play with the real teams, but I also really hate Madden

Ill just play NFL 2K on my Dreamcast and laugh, since it's pretty awesome AND NOBODY CAN SEE MY PLAYS

k thx VMU

Ohh Yea! I forgot about that. Dreamcast was the best! I remember playing Sonic Adventures ( I think it was that) and hatching a egg and raising your little animal so that it could compete against others. Great times

OMG I know. The fact that the other player couldn't look at your plays was great! Unlike in Madden where Fake Punt isn't even on the same bar / menu item as Punt so it's freakin obvious when you do decide to fake.

I like nfl blitz myself.
Damned I love my dreamcast.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I REALLY hope EA goes under. Worst publisher(I think their a publisher anyway?) out there by far.

Boo hoo. No tears for EA.

I don't think 2k8 was good enough to dent Madden's hold on the industry. Hell 2k5 was perfection, and even that wasn't enough to move Madden from the top. Yeah, it made a dent...well a scratch at least...but that's it.

NFL 2K5 on PS2 was great stuff!

It felt like a glove, it was so tight!

without the nfl license there is no point in making a football game now a days

It's funny that an Italian guy (Riccitiello) making a gangster game (GodFather 2) is going to make sure that 2K's series is "not repeatable".

What a bunch of mobsters.

Seriously though, if you guys have not tried 2k8, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's a little "feature-lite" this year, but it FEELS like real football. The first time you slow down with your running back to wait for the blocking to set up in front of you, then zip through the new hole... you'll be hooked!

It's an amazing "football simulator". Give it a shot and help keep these mobsters (EA) at bay.

Oh... and if for some reason you HAVE to play with your NFL team... wait a week after release and get it used (no extra ash for EA). I'm sure therew will be plenty available!

That shows a mind totally devoid of creativity.

Think for yourself, buddy! It's a nice feeling.

I never liked Madden but i do like their NCAA football. I think that it is apparent that 2K has a better football game and EA hands down had a better baseball game in the MVP series. But let 2K buy the exculsive right to the MLB like EA has for the NFL.

2K to EA Paybacks a bitch

This is utterly pathetic. Electronic Arts does not own the rights to the concept of football, and any attempts by them to further monopolize the sport should be treated like the anti-trust violations that they are. Stop using Madden as a crutch, Riccitello, and start selling games on the merit of their quality.

JR

Fuck EA

I'm sorry, but that's just an idiot comment by that guy. He doesn't show any kind of confidence in his own company's product and it hasn't even been released yet! Rather than say "Let our product speak for itself" he out right says "We'll buy our way out of this..." EA should focus on making a better game if their own guys are feeling rattled by a non-licensed game.

Tecmo Bowl '08 FTW.

If EA was going to buy exclusive rights to something, it should have been baseball, since MVP is a far better series than 2K's MLB series. If they want to get back at 2K, instead of smearing their football game they should launch an all-pro style game using oldtime baseball players. How awesome would it be to have Sandy Koufax pitching to Ty Cobb, with Hank Aaron waiting on deck? If that game used the MVP mechanics which people love, I think it would do far better than using the college baseball license (which they currently use), which no one cares about.

So THIS is why the Madden advertisements seem stronger this year than previously

They're scared

What a jerk. If I liked football I would play 2K's game because of this guy.

Fuck you EA. Seriously. I'm tried of it. I haven't bought one of your games for nearly 5 years because of your constant stream of BS and it appears you still haven't learned anything. See you in another 5.

"Wouldn't it be nice if EA actually focused on improving Madden and defeating 2K on the field of consumer satisfaction?"

No, that would be too costly, and it would expose EA's incompetence and mediocrity.

What I find humorous about it is, they want to wipe out the competition by buying everything, and then they want to try to sell us videos, and advertisements about their product (see Madden 07 gamers day). We’re supposed to pay for their fucking advertising. Un-fucking-believable that they’d put some shit like that on pay-per-view. An advertisement?

I too would like to play with the real teams, so I guess I’m screwed like everyone else.

Asshats.

ive been boycotting EA for years my friends and i dont buy anything E'A+SS

Dear EA,

Fuck you.

Love,
VC

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EA wants to stop 2K All-Pro Football franchise

Reader Comments (77)

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