Vapourware LOL ELECTRONIC ARTS: The EA Thread

[Major_Blackhart]

Ugh. Fuck EA.

 

[Average Manatee]

You know its bad when Play4Real is underestimating your level of... ahem... "innovation".

 

[Dr Tomo]

Maxis job listing suggests its next project is a free-to-play MMO
Maxis has been around for the better part of 30 years, during which time it's developed an awful lot of Sim-stuff, from SimCity to The Sims. Now it's working in something new, which based on a recently-posted job listing may be a free-to-play MMO.

A newly-posted job listing for a Senior Designer at Maxis offers some hints that the studio is looking to take another run at the MMO market. The successful applicant will "define and flesh out the game's core systems," it says, which includes among other features "extensive multiplayer gameplay mechanics, in-game economies [and] technology trees." The requirements for the job are perhaps even more telling. Among them:

• The unique nature of this product requires prior experience in deeply social multiplayer games such as MMOs.
• Deep understanding of principles of game progression design, crafting trees, technology trees, character RPG-style leveling design and mathematical loot progression modeling (i.e. spreadsheet design skills needed)
• Deep understanding of simulation game design, including simulation loops, wants and needs driven behaviors, and systemic pushback.
• Ability to weave Free-to-Play game mechanics with monetization in simple, natural, respectful ways (i.e. design monetization that players respect and feel adds a great deal of value for their money).
• Understanding of Maxis creativity and simulation games, including SimCity, The Sims, and Spore.
• Understanding playing and understanding other games in the creativity space, including Little Big Planet, Minecraft and its popular mods, Roblox, Disney Infinity, Project Spark, and other upcoming efforts.

Based on that, it's not too much of a stretch to infer that Maxis is planning a free-to-play MMO. It's also a natural fit for the company: Previous Sims games have been heavily laden with DLC and the studio launched The Sims Online as a subscription-based MMO in 2002, which was eventually renamed to EA Land and ultimately closed down in 2008.

The past half-decade hasn't been Maxis' best: Spore underperformed, Darkspore was a flop, SimCity was a train wreck and this morning it came to light, to the dismay of many fans, that The Sims 4 may require "premium memberships" for access to various bits of DLC releases. Something new may be exactly what Maxis needs to turn its fortunes around and the "emerging IP" description implies that this might be just that, but given its history I'd be surprised to see it stray too far from home.

Could it be a relaunch of Sims Online?

 

[Night Goat]

Because it worked so well last time!

 

[sexbad?]

So this is happening today:

Dear Origin gamer,

Your current version of The Sims 2 will lose technical support on July 22, 2014. We want you to have the most up-to-date version of The Sims 2 in your collection, so you will see a brand new addition to your Origin library: The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection.

This is the most up-to-date version of The Sims 2 and the version that is still supported by Origin. It also features a lot more content than you may already have in your current version of The Sims 2.

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection will appear in your Origin library automatically. You'll need to download and install it to your computer to play it.

You're free to continue playing your existing version of The Sims 2, but please note that it is an older edition of the game that will soon lose technical support. To continue receiving support on your progress of The Sims 2 — including Sims characters, houses, etc. — you will need to transfer your save files of The Sims 2 to the Ultimate Edition. To learn more about backing up your data, please visit http://help.ea.com/en/article/backing-up-your-sims-2-files/.

Once you've migrated your Sims' lives to The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, you can better organize your Origin game library by hiding your previous version of The Sims 2. Click on the tile for The Sims 2 in your Game Library for the option to hide it. If you need additional directions, we've got you covered.


Thanks for your continuing passion for The Sims.

— Team Origin

That's at least nice of them.

 

[Drax]

Oh, so they are commies now?
The plot thickens...

 

[Dr Tomo]

Because it worked so well last time!

Well it is guaranteed to work now since it is f2p, I mean look at Swotr. EA learned a lot from the minor set back of their recent mmo that f2p is the future.

 

[Bulba]

it will never work for them since these greedy bastards will charge real money for the gameplay like buying house plots and ingame money,
if on the other hand they would force people to grind money for that staff while sell outfits for characters they would make shitloads cos that would make people actually play the game and thus in the end spend money.

 

[Dr Tomo]

Electronic Arts earnings surge 51%

US video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has reported a 51% jump in profit for the April-to-June quarter, boosted by strong sales of titles like Titanfall and FIFA 2014.

Net profit rose to $335m (£196m) for the period, up from $222m a year ago,

EA has also benefitted from the launch of gaming consoles, which has driven up demand for its video game titles.

However, the firm said it was delaying the launch of its title Battlefield Hardline from October to early 2015.

It said it was looking to make improvements to the game based on user suggestions and feedback on the test version.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We continue to view mobile as a business with tremendous opportunity as the market is experiencing significant global growth in smartphones and tablets”

Blake Jorgensen Electronic Arts
Andrew Wilson, chief executive of the firm, said in a statement the firm was "testing and implementing several new features that will help to make Battlefield Hardline a game that players can enjoy for many years to come".

Mobile growth
The firm also reported that its revenue from gaming on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, rose 18% to $120m during the period.

A large part of that growth was driven by the so-called "freemium" model - which offers free content but then charges users for additional digital goods.

EA said $105m of its mobile revenue during the period "comprised of digital extra content and advertising revenue, reflecting the shift to the freemium business model".

That was up 39% from a year ago.

"We continue to view mobile as a business with tremendous opportunity as the market is experiencing significant global growth in smartphones and tablets," Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer of the firm said.

Meanwhile, its full game PC and console downloads were up 90% from a year ago to $71m.

Well it is nice to know that EA is doing financially well and I can't wait to hear the positive impact Dragon Age Inquisition will make to their bottom line.
*source

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Boo to idiot gamers buying EA products. BOO!

 

[Dr Tomo]

Today, EA revealed EA Access, an Xbox One-exclusive subscription service that grants players access to EA's so-called Vault.

Subscribing to EA Access will cost $4.99 a month (or $29.99 a year), and since the program is technically in beta, only four games will initially be available: FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4, "with more titles being added soon."

Additionally, EA Access will also net subscribers 10 percent discounts on all EA digital content, which includes full games and DLC, as well as access to trials of new EA games nearly a week before they come out (with saves that copy over to the final game, should you choose to purchase it later). Games that will be eligible for early access and save copy-over are Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Memberships can be purchased on Xbox Live, and will also be available at retail stores like GameStop and online destinations like Amazon. The subscription service will launch "soon," according to EA, and will be available in North America and Europe.

We'll have more on EA Access as soon as it launches.

*source

I really look forward to something like this for the pc crowd as I would love to try out DAI before everyone else does on top of getting discounts from Origin. $30 well spent I would say.

 

[Sunsetspawn]

To think this will remain exclusive is utter madness; monthly payments are every company's dream. No, this will eventually be available across all platforms (the 3 that matter, anyway). The next step will be to make the service mandatory for playing the multiplayer components of games. Of course, some people don't like multiplayer, so then EA will just continue the practice of locking out game content UNLESS multiplayer is used to increase, "battle readiness," or whatever arbitrary bullshit they might name it in future titles. Yes, I do believe we are looking at the beginnings of a whole new level of decline which will firmly cement the division of the gaming community into the erudite quality seekers and the mouth breathing fucktards whose genetic lines should be eugenicsed out of existence.

 

[AlexOfSpades]

To think this will remain exclusive is utter madness; monthly payments are every company's dream. No, this will eventually be available across all platforms (the 3 that matter, anyway). The next step will be to make the service mandatory for playing the multiplayer components of games. Of course, some people don't like multiplayer, so then EA will just continue the practice of locking out game content UNLESS multiplayer is used to increase, "battle readiness," or whatever arbitrary bullshit they might name it in future titles. Yes, I do believe we are looking at the beginnings of a whole new level of decline which will firmly cement the division of the gaming community into the erudite quality seekers and the mouth breathing fucktards whose genetic lines should be eugenicsed out of existence.

I love this post. I wish i could brofist it. I wish i could have it as a sig (would if it was smaller). Wish i could print it, no, laser it into a metal sheet, into a golden ingot, and make sweet love to it, cover it in manly kisses and then spoon with it until i fell asleep.

 

[RK47]

Can't wait. Many inclines.
Return of Golden Edginess of RPGs.

 

[Sunsetspawn]

In fact, it's the "exclusive" bullshit that's going to make the morons drool over it. The XBOXers will eat it up because the PS4ers can't have it. Then, the service will open up to the PC, and the PC Call of Duty retards will rejoice, further alienating the PS4 crowd.

Finally, in a stroke of luck and act of mercy, the console exclusive window will expire and PS4 gets theirs, and those dopes will eat it up just because they couldn't have it before, AND they'll make fun of XBOXers because they can now have it too

It's how facebook took the social media crown from myspace. First it was just ivy league, then it was just colleges, then it was just students, and when it opened up to everybody it was the hottest shit that everyone NEEDED to have.

Fuck it, who cares. I'm knee deep in so much incline I'll never have time to play it all. Between the old shit and the new shit I'm set for life.

 

[Dreaad]

In fact, it's the "exclusive" bullshit that's going to make the morons drool over it. The XBOXers will eat it up because the PS4ers can't have it. Then, the service will open up to the PC, and the PC Call of Duty retards will rejoice, further alienating the PS4 crowd.

Finally, in a stroke of luck and act of mercy, the console exclusive window will expire and PS4 gets theirs, and those dopes will eat it up just because they couldn't have it before, AND they'll make fun of XBOXers because they can now have it too

It's how facebook took the social media crown from myspace. First it was just ivy league, then it was just colleges, then it was just students, and when it opened up to everybody it was the hottest shit that everyone NEEDED to have.

Fuck it, who cares. I'm knee deep in so much incline I'll never have time to play it all. Between the old shit and the new shit I'm set for life.

Was going to say.... decline of money orientated undertakings is guaranteed at all times, the games industry is just the latest endeavor. Luckily I suspect we are also slowly approaching a stage where massive publishing companies are so strong that minor publishers have to focus on building a name for themselves through content and not advertising hype. This year alone we got Xenonauts, Distant Worlds: Universe, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Divinity Original Sin, Dark Souls 2 and likely are going to get several more solid incline titles (this is of course only mentioning the games that interest me, I'm sure there is other examples of glorious incline out there).

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-30-sony-says-ea-access-program-isnt-good-value

Sony says EA Access program isn't "good value"
And that's why it's not on PlayStation 4.

The newly-announced EA Access pass won't be available on PlayStation 4 because the scheme isn't "good value", Sony has stated.

EA's offer grants access to a vault of blockbuster games for £3.99 a month. Currently this includes Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14 and Peggle 2, with others to be added in the future.

Subscribers also get 10 per cent off the vast majority of EA games and DLC, plus five days early access to upcoming games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition, FIFA 15, NHL 15, NFL 15 and NBA Live 15.

"We evaluated the EA Access subscription offering and decided that it does not bring the kind of value PlayStation customers have come to expect," a Sony spokesperson told Game Informer.

"PlayStation Plus memberships are up more than 200 per cent since the launch of PlayStation 4, which shows that gamers are looking for memberships that offer a multitude of services, across various devices, for one low price.

"We don't think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer."

PlayStation Plus grants access to two games a month for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita which you can keep as long as your subscription lasts. The current offering is Towerfall Ascension and Strider for PS4, Dead Space 3 and Vessel for PS3, plus Lego Batman 2 and Doki-Doki Universe for Vita.

It's now a fairly similar offering to Microsoft's own Games with Gold program, which offers two games a month for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Xbox One titles require you stay subscribed, although Xbox 360 titles can be kept forever.

The EA Access pass may offer fewer games over the course of a year, then, but allowing for users to subscribe and pay £3.99 for a month's worth of EA gaming will likely still attract some - it's certainly cheaper than renting said titles separately.

 

[Astral Rag]

http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/content.php/387-Sims-2-Ultimate-Collection-and-SecuROM

Sims 2 Ultimate Collection and SecuROM

As you may know, EA released a full collection of our beloved Sims 2 and decided to give it away free to anyone who had Sims 2 registered in their Origin account... then because of the high demand, they decided to give it to anyone who had an Origin account. What they didn't tell anyone was that they had implemented SecuROM into the mix.

So, EA did their usual and didn't inform us of them doing this, and here I was worried about having to have ORIGIN on my PC... I didn't even think to check for SecuROM.

When Maryh mentioned to me that some simmers were asking if there was SecuROM in the new Sims2 version I decided to take a look under the hood. I then found EA had put SecuROM Version 07.40.0009 in their nice Free Sims2 Ultimate Collection which they plan to sell in their store soon.

We've done screenshots of a few files and registry keys in which people may want to know of in the event of troubleshooting purposes. As far as we know EA has decided to provide everyone a free, but unscrubbed copy of Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, which is no different to the previous versions of Sims 2 that EA have supplied / sold in the past.

Please let me know if people are having issues with SecuROM / Sims 2. So far with my initial playthrough, everything was okay. The issues I came across was accessing some files and registry keys in which SecuROM had denied me (admin) access.
[...]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ultimate-collection-available-for-free.93116/

 

[racofer]

hahaahahahahahaha

 

[Infinitron]

Cross-posting: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?posts/3413248

 

[jcd]

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[Dr Tomo]

Electronic Arts hopes to hit $1 billion in DLC revenues this year


If you've ever wondered by major game publishers seem so hung up on post-release downloadable content, consider this your answer: Electronic Arts hopes that revenues from DLC will reach $1 billion this year. That's right, one billion dollars.

The number came up in a recent Bloomberg report that was actually focused on Madden NFL 15, which was released in North America yesterday. An EA rep said the game, which isn't available on the PC, is expected to generate more than $350 million in revenue for the company through both retail sales and DLC.

Videogame sales at retail don't actually have very good profit margins—that's why GameStop has always been so focused on preowned games, extra warranties and accessories—but it's a different matter entirely when it comes to DLC. Of that $350 million in Madden revenue, $300 million is predicted to come from game sales and $50 million from DLC. But the DLC is particularly important because, as Longbow Research LLC Analyst James Hardiman put it, "The margins on Madden Ultimate Team are through the roof."

That's why the prediction that DLC could reach $1 billion this year is so significant: It represents a growing revenue stream that's far more profitable than conventional game sales. It's also an indication of just how important DLC has become to game publishers; as GamesIndustry pointed out, EA's total digital revenues broke the $1 billion mark in FY2012, whereas this prediction relates solely to extra content. Something to keep in mind the next time you're wondering why Dragon Age: Inquisition is shipping with a loot-focused multiplayer module.
*source

Just a reminder to everyone that our hobby is in good hands with the direction the publishers are pushing for now

 

[Kem0sabe]

Gamers only have themselves to blame, if they didnt flock to buy every piece of DLC EA, Ubi, Activision or Paradox spams them with, then publishers would find alternative means to get your money, maybe more acceptable means.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Ugh, disgusting.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

I can guess that DLC for Dragon Age means loot/companions+quests/quests but for a sport game? The only thing you would need is an updated teams every year.