Poll: EA boss proudly refuses to publish single player games

[GAunderrated]

Electronic Arts' games label boss Frank Gibeau has revealed that he's not let any solely single-player games pass through his gates, ensuring that absolutely every single title the company publishes has an online component.

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers," stated the executive. "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a singleplayer experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365.

"One of our biggest growth opportunities is Play4Free titles that allow customers to play at no cost and make purchases via microtransactions. We see this as a huge opportunity, and one that?s powered by our hybrid cloud model."

With co-op coming to Dead Space 3 and multiplayer rumored for Dragon Age 3, it seems that the idea of solo-oriented experiences is now dead to EA. As is variety, it seems. The inexorable march towards videogames becoming one indistinguishable mass of grey sludge continues.

Source: http://www.destructoid.com/ea-boss-proudly-refuses-to-publish-single-player-games-234402.phtml

 

[exessmirror]

EA sucks big ones anyway, so i really dont care. i did not touch one of their games in a year.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Wow

so you don't want my money? Okay, way to cut to the chase EA. I don't mind achievements and the like, but announcing something like this is incredibly arrogant and proving that you have learned nothing from the past few years of your horrible choices. I'll shift my money to Ubisoft and Borderlands 2, as they seem to be getting the picture a bit better. (starting to at least on Ubisoft's part)

 

[Fuhrlock]

Well considering some of the franchises and developers they control I personally find that to be dissapointing but my primary reaction to this is one of confusion. Why would you announce this? Surely if EA wanted to move away from any soley single player games they should just do it and eventually people would pick up on the change in their approach with time, instead they just directly come out and say that? Surely they must be aware that it will simply add to the general EA hatred already circulating, so wouldn't it be wiser to delay worsening that until people happened to realise they had shifted from soley single player games?

Part of me wants to think this is some elaborate scheme: announce this, judge the reaction then either accept that the negativitiy it caused is negligible (if that is the case) or react to it and claim that they are a company that 'listens to the fans'. But at this point I'm probably just rambling because I can't rack my head around this, anyone has any better idea outside of 'EA are [insert insulting term/phrase here]' feel free to enlighten me.

 

[Terminate421]

Here is what I heard:

"remember the single player game known as Dead Space? That's over with, so fuck you and give me money for more online games!"

 

[veloper]

Wasn't entirely sure if I should vote yes or no here.

EA ignoring singleplayer games can mean less negative influence on certain game genres. EA don't have a stellar track record, but they do have alot of market share.

Less effect, more quality?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Here is what I heard:

"remember the single player game known as Dead Space? That's over with, so fuck you and give me money for more online games!"

We're EA, and we can do nothing wrong.

Remember all those great singleplayer Bioware RPG titles that still fly off the shelves today because they were highly polished deep stories? We stopped their publishers making them to focus on a single Multiplayer online game.

Remember the Command and Conquer series that were loved for their wacky storylines, great characters, and interesting campaign situations? We're removing the storyline and campaign, and the balance to make it Free2Play. (we already removed the basebuilding mechanics, but that turned out to be the stupidest idea since Eve decided that talking snake looked trustworthy, so it's back in. Our new ideas to completely redesign the series are totally boss though.)

Remember that great World War 2 shooter series Medal of Honor that pretty much remained as the last WW2 FPS when everyone else moved onto a modern Middle Eastern setting with short campaigns and levelling based multiplayer? We gave it a modern middle eastern setting, a short campaign and level based multiplayer.

Hold on, why are our share prices continuing to drop, why isn't anyone buying our games? It must be the consumer's fault. They just don't like change.

 

[Maeshone]

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers," stated the executive. "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a singleplayer experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365."

So, in essence the quote says that all EA games will have an Online-pass? What's that you say? Why, that does indeed sound exactly like what EVERY OTHER PUBLISHER AND DEVELOPER IS DOING. (Except for Activision funnily enough)

I know that my copies of Space Marine, Darksiders 2 and Saints Row the Third all had online passes, and none of those are EA. So, why are we kicking up shit just because it's EA again? This site is genuinely starting to get ridiculous with the constant bashing of EA and every single thing they do...

 

[DoPo]

Ah, this explains why I haven't had interest in pretty much any EA published game for several years now. Well, there are some exceptions but those would be the SP ones.

I guess I've been unknowingly voting with my wallet.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Ugh. When will CEOs realize that adding multiplayer to a single player game doesn't necessarily add a selling point? I love multiplayer, I barely play singleplayer at all, but /because/ of that, I don't want to play something with tacked on, crappy multiplayer. I also don't like having crappy tacked on singleplayer in what's obviously a multiplayer experience. If you've got a concept that works well with both options (EA's own sports line is a great example of this, as are most first person shooters), go for it. But if you've got something that won't be made better by the extra mode, don't waste time developing it. I can guarantee you won't lose any sales over it, and it might even make you more money in the long run.

 

[Scrustle]

That statement just stinks of completely smug ignorance. He boasts of how much EA's customers love it as if they're all asking for multiplayer games only. Of course no part of that statement is true. Fucking clueless **** with his head up his arse. Although I don't think this is a serious threat to all future single player games I'm sure it has at some point damaged the quality of at least some EA games' single player portions, and I'm sure that it will happen again. The sooner EA goes out of business the better. Fucking cunts.

 

[Mikejames]

So Bioware won't have the chance to ever focus completely on a singleplayer story again?
*sigh*

 

[Shpongled]

So what does this mean for Bioware then? Does this mean there flat out will be no more single-player focused Bioware games ever again? If so, why the fuck did EA buy Bioware in the first place then?

 

[yuval152]

snip

I'm giving them untill 2014 to fall apart.

OT: I don't buy EA games anymore, so I will continue not to buy their games.

sorry for two posts in one but It's gonna be only a picture.

So what does this mean for Bioware then? Does this mean there flat out will be no more single-player focused Bioware games ever again? If so, why the fuck did EA buy Bioware in the first place then?

 

[aguspal]

I never understood why in pretty much every friking poll an arbitriary option such as (What is SP?) or (I just hate EA) are included. Those just plain mess with the other serious responses.


Anyways, its pretty obvious than it is going to affect Single Player games, but only for EA. I dont think all the companies are going to follow this.

Besides this is really kind of irrelevant, I mean most games already are pretty much single player with some kind of Multiplayer on it anyways...

 

[Andy Shandy]

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers"

Oh, that's the best joke I've heard in a long time EA.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers," stated the executive. "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a singleplayer experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365."

So, in essence the quote says that all EA games will have an Online-pass? What's that you say? Why, that does indeed sound exactly like what EVERY OTHER PUBLISHER AND DEVELOPER IS DOING. (Except for Activision funnily enough)

I know that my copies of Space Marine, Darksiders 2 and Saints Row the Third all had online passes, and none of those are EA. So, why are we kicking up shit just because it's EA again? This site is genuinely starting to get ridiculous with the constant bashing of EA and every single thing they do...

It's not just online passes. It's the CEO saying that they are no longer publishing single player games.

The fate of singleplayer games is a sensitive topic at this time, with campaigns getting shorter and shorter, multiplayer being tacked onto games unnecessarily, or even replacing a previously singleplayer title, and less and less original singleplayer games getting released.

Other developers recognise gamer's angst, and are coming out to call multiplayer a cancerous growth [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.386549-Spec-Ops-Multiplayer-Is-a-Cancerous-Growth], and a necessary evil.
Skyrim was heralded as the saviour to singleplayer games, because it proved that a dedicated singleplayer game (albeit from a previously established franchise) could still get the sales needed to not only break even, but top the sales chart and become a success.

The fate of singleplayer is a huge issue, and is being watched carefully by many, many gamers.
For EA to come out and announce they are not publishing pure singleplayer games any more is a very important development in this issue, and not in a good way.

Yes we do tend to bash EA for everything they do, because pretty much every executive decision they make is having a direct or indirect negative effect on gaming culture.

 

[Thoric485]

So what does this mean for Bioware then? Does this mean there flat out will be no more single-player focused Bioware games ever again? If so, why the fuck did EA buy Bioware in the first place then?

Because it was owned by Riccitiello's private equity and he got a big fat cut from the deal.

They bought Pandemic too, despite having no long-term plans for them and just cut them down as soon as their on-going projects were finished, despite good sales.

 

[Maeshone]

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers," stated the executive. "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a singleplayer experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365."

So, in essence the quote says that all EA games will have an Online-pass? What's that you say? Why, that does indeed sound exactly like what EVERY OTHER PUBLISHER AND DEVELOPER IS DOING. (Except for Activision funnily enough)

I know that my copies of Space Marine, Darksiders 2 and Saints Row the Third all had online passes, and none of those are EA. So, why are we kicking up shit just because it's EA again? This site is genuinely starting to get ridiculous with the constant bashing of EA and every single thing they do...

It's not just online passes. It's the CEO saying that they are no longer publishing single player games.

The fate of singleplayer games is a sensitive topic at this time, with campaigns getting shorter and shorter, multiplayer being tacked onto games unnecessarily, or even replacing a previously singleplayer title, and less and less original singleplayer games getting released.

Other developers recognise gamer's angst, and are coming out to call multiplayer a cancerous growth [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.386549-Spec-Ops-Multiplayer-Is-a-Cancerous-Growth], and a necessary evil.
Skyrim was heralded as the saviour to singleplayer games, because it proved that a dedicated singleplayer game (albeit from a previously established franchise) could still get the sales needed to not only break even, but top the sales chart and become a success.

The fate of singleplayer is a huge issue, and is being watched carefully by many, many gamers.
For EA to come out and announce they are not publishing pure singleplayer games any more is a very important development in this issue, and not in a good way.

Yes we do tend to bash EA for everything they do, because pretty much every executive decision they make is having a direct or indirect negative effect on gaming culture.

Well yeah, multiplayer for multiplayers sake is an incredibly moronic idea. Case in point, Dead Space 2. But if you actually read the quote at least I find nothing that says "all games must have multiplayer". A good example of what I mean is Darksiders 2, which didn't have multiplayer, but used an online pass to grant access to the online serpent tomes (and the crucible, but that's just a typical online pass thing) where you can send gifts to people on your friends list who also have the game. At least, that is what I think of when someone says "online application", not tacked on multiplayer just because "lol it's what sells". Granted, I might just be overly optimistic.

As for your point about everthing EA doing having a negative effect on gaming culture, I respectfully disagree. Without EA, I wouldn't have several of my favourite games lately. They published Mirrors Edge, Dead Space, Brütal Legend and the new Syndicate (yes, I liked it, no, I never played the original, a good game is a good game). Sure, some of the stuff they do is incredibly retarded (Dante's Inferno and Dead Space 2 marketing says hi!), but overall, I'm actually rather neutral to EA. As long as they make things I find worth buying, I'll buy it. And that last sentence is probably gonna get me ostracised on The Escapist...

 

[Shadows Risen]

"We are very proud of the way EA evolved with consumers," stated the executive. "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a singleplayer experience. Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365."

So, in essence the quote says that all EA games will have an Online-pass? What's that you say? Why, that does indeed sound exactly like what EVERY OTHER PUBLISHER AND DEVELOPER IS DOING. (Except for Activision funnily enough)

I know that my copies of Space Marine, Darksiders 2 and Saints Row the Third all had online passes, and none of those are EA. So, why are we kicking up shit just because it's EA again? This site is genuinely starting to get ridiculous with the constant bashing of EA and every single thing they do...

It's not just online passes. It's the CEO saying that they are no longer publishing single player games.

The fate of singleplayer games is a sensitive topic at this time, with campaigns getting shorter and shorter, multiplayer being tacked onto games unnecessarily, or even replacing a previously singleplayer title, and less and less original singleplayer games getting released.

Other developers recognise gamer's angst, and are coming out to call multiplayer a cancerous growth [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.386549-Spec-Ops-Multiplayer-Is-a-Cancerous-Growth], and a necessary evil.
Skyrim was heralded as the saviour to singleplayer games, because it proved that a dedicated singleplayer game (albeit from a previously established franchise) could still get the sales needed to not only break even, but top the sales chart and become a success.

The fate of singleplayer is a huge issue, and is being watched carefully by many, many gamers.
For EA to come out and announce they are not publishing pure singleplayer games any more is a very important development in this issue, and not in a good way.

Yes we do tend to bash EA for everything they do, because pretty much every executive decision they make is having a direct or indirect negative effect on gaming culture.

Pretty much this to anyone thinking this is just another 'waahhhhh, I hate EA' thread'.

Also, I shudder to think what this means for DA3...