You now own EA.

[MortisLegio]

Congratulations! You are now the owner of Electronic Arts. Your word is law in the company and can do almost anything you want. What would you do? Would you try and rebuild its reputation? Would you break it apart and sell it piece by piece? Would you sit and watch as the building burns to the ground (metaphorically speaking)?

Personally, I would try and rebuild the reputation of the company. I would bring back some of the old franchises that people liked from years ago with new graphics and "tweaked" gameplay (leave the game mostly the same just work a little smoother). I would let the reigns become a little more loose with developers and not have such harsh deadlines that make good games mediocre at best. I would stop trying to compete with WoW and CoD and try and find some more original titles to publish.

So, what about you? What would you do if you owned EA?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Unfortunately, EA's reputation and stock price is already so low that I'd rather just sell all the IP to developers who won't abuse it and run with the money.

 

[octafish]

No longer beholden to shareholders EA would be in a similar position to Valve.

First point of business, cancel Battlefield 4 and get DICE started on BF2143, I'd give them two years, as BF3 is a good foundation. Second point of business, get to work on a proper HD remake of System Shock and System Shock 2 with original audio but a new engine and graphics (working from the original designs though). Third point of business, keep improving FIFA, Madden and all other sport games. Then I'd look at throwing some money at Obsidian to make something awesome.

 

[Ganath]

I'd use the resources to create my own games, prolly. If that's possible. I tend to muse on games I'd like to see and lore I'd create. Owning EA would probably bring me a step closer to creating that.

 

[DanteLives]

I'd stop utilizing the online pass.

 

[King of Asgaard]

I'd sell it to From Software, for 10 Euro.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Sell Bioware to Valve with the promise that Valve will treat them right and try to rehabilitate them. Buy the IP to Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura from Blizzard, then start talking to Obsidian about making a sequel. After I've done that and collected a handsome few million for my 'work', hand over the reins to someone with the business sense and decency to reforge EA into a hero instead of a villain.

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

Put on my sith robes and laugh Evilly.

 

[wabbbit]

Invite all the marketing/sales department to a "special" meeting and kill them all in cold blood.

After the cleanup has finished, I would re-imburse everyone who has lost access to an online game (through server cuts) via a voucher/free game or something.
After this I would stop milking games like Battlefield/Fifa and concentrate on making EA less corrupt - Maybe scrap origin whilst i'm at it

 

[Bernzz]

Stop them forcing their shitty Origin. Make them make Origin good. Make them put their games on Steam, too. Boom, proper competition, not Valve curbstomping EA.

Also, fire Peter Moore [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Moore_%28business%29]. Those fucking eyes. They're dead. There's no soul in them. It only wants money and good developers sacrificed to it.

And finally, wait for them to slip up. I'll make them be good, then leave it. And they'll slip up. Just once.

And I'll do to them what they did to Pandemic and Westwood, and other brilliant developers.

Take them out behind the shed, and give 'em both barrels.

 

[Korzack]

Ten step plan.
First of all, Drop the Zynga lawsuit, it's a waste of time.
2: Put Origin in a box full of used surgical equipment, and then kick that box down some stairs... Into a volcano. There're plenty of other platforms for DD that work and would get the games released to bigger markets, exploit them for crap's sakes.
3: Dungeon Keeper HD, and then maybe a new instalment - one franchise that could do with been re-started.
4: Buy an island, turn it into an ominous Doom-fortress, and make that into the company's HQ conveniently hidden under a tourist hot-spot. Just because I can.
5: Try intelligent advertising for a change - like it or not, as a major publisher EA are partly responsible for whatever external reputation gaming has as a medium.
6: Buy Epic games, but have 'em do nothing apart from create and optimise graphics engines, as that's all they're pretty much good for. Also, all those fees from out-sourcing Unreal 4 and the rest to rivals? Probably won't amount to much, but still - Ka-ching!
7: Quit this dumb practice of homogenising every franchise so they share so much with one another you're not sure whether it's gonna be FIFA or Dead Space that starts carrying the incremental years on them, no matter how much like a Necromorph Liverpool's defender Skrtel looks already...
8: Create a company policy where Any horror game only gets One sequel if the dev team really wants to wrap up story threads - once you know what the threat is in those, it's not really as scary any more.
9: Push developers into making proper efforts into characters (Sports games excluded, obvious reasons).
10: Quit embracing obviously crappy ideas in the name of protecting your brands, it doesn't work.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I want to take all of its high end games (such as battlefield 3) and absolutely destroy them. I would change the settings so its all shell shaded, all weapons are replace with melee, and turn the maps into platformers.

Let the gamers rage and I will sit in my high tower and spit down upon them.

 

[Sandjube]

Continue on as usual earning as much money as I can, ripping people off with shitty games they buy anyway, then selling the company while it was still profitable.

 

[TheRaggedQueen]

1. Steal, buyout, and otherwise obtain absolutely everyone I could from Valve and set them to work creating a better online distribution service.

2. Start selling old IPs to companies we own and hire back as much of the original teams for them as we can. They have two months for a decent proposal of why we should keep funding them, and depending on the game up to three years to make it.

3. Look over every indie developer I can find, fund the ones with real chances of success, and allow them to be downloaded for free for a limited time on my new online distribution service.

4. No ???, just profit.

Edit: Oh, and remakes. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are most definitely not the only titles that could sell like wildfire again with a new coat of HD.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

1. Firstly scrap Origin and the online passes

2. Slime line the company so there is not so much bureaucracy.

3. Go completely DRM free on all pc games

4. Give option for the original developers to get their IPs back.

5. Continue to make yearly sports title's but with include an upgrade system where if you bought the full game the year before, you can get an the game upgraded to the latest one at a discounted price and so on. Rewards loyalty instead of forcing it with online passes preventing used sales and license monopoly.

6. Use profits from yearly sports titles to fund smaller game projects and games with niche appeal. That is how you broaden your potential audiences, provide several products which may appeal to different demographics instead of trying to make all products fit all demographics.

7. Maybe EA has a better rep.

8. Tell Crytek to get their head out of their arses and make Timesplitters 4.

 

[vallorn]

Craft a list of sequels and remakes that were canceled but shouldn't have been then ask the devs if they want to make them before giving them as long as they need to complete them well. (games like Mirrors Edge 2)

Slimline the main publisher to throw out unnecessary costs.

Axe the entire marketing department and rehire.

Kill the DRM fetish in the company with a shovel then use its burning remains to beat Origin to death.

Send a letter of apology to all the devs who had their studios closed by EA and enclose an offer to rehire them into new studios with the same group of people and the same names as the old ones (Pandemic im looking at you).

 

[Mid Boss]

1: The marketing department, demote them to janitors and force them to dress up as sad clowns every day for my amusement.

2: Scrap the ending of ME3 and completely redo it. I love ME3, I absolutely love it. But the second the ghost kid shows up at the end I just shut the game off. Haven't even bothered to see the updated ending.

3: Take everyone off the yearly sports games. Have one guy still working there to update the names and stats. Re-release the same game every year, different title, updated names and stats, nothing else different. Don't even bother the change the box art. No one will notice. Take the money I'm saving, give it to Bioware.... just plain hand it over to Bioware. They're the only good thing EA has going for them. The poor bastards.

4: Scrap Origin and crawl back to Steam on my hands and knees

5: STOP all the dumb ass press releases, which I call "The Daily Douche Bag", I'm hoping it will catch on. I'm tired of reading about how someone in EA is trying to justify the company's existence and marginalize their own customers and competition.