Electronic Arts. EA. One of the biggest video game publishers in the world and also, it's fair to say, one of the most controversial. Over the last decade or so, EA has made a lot of headlines -- not all of them positive. This console generation in particular has seen the company come under fire numerous times because of the business practices that it's decided to push. In other words, the publisher's been banking big on microtransactions.
But how do you feel about EA these days? Does the company do enough good to balance out the hate that it tends gets across the internet? Vote in our polls, and then try not to swear in the comments section below.
What's your general opinion of EA? (236 votes)
- EA is the worst big publisher in gaming today
- As far as big publishers go, EA is one of the worst
- Meh, I don't hate EA, but it isn't great, either
- EA as a publisher is okay, but some of its business practices suck
- I actually quite like EA
- EA is the best big publisher in gaming today0.9%
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What do you think of the games EA publishes these days? (226 votes)
- EA publishes a lot of great games
- EA publishes some games that I like
- Eh, EA's output is hit and miss for me
- EA publishes hardly any games that I like
- EA doesn't publish anything that interests me at all
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What would you like to see from EA going forward? (222 votes)
- EA should focus on publishing new properties, refresh its output
- EA should focus on strengthening existing properties
- EA should double down on licenses like Star Wars
- More than anything, EA should start phasing out microtransactions
- EA needs to greenlight more remasters
- Nothing, really -- EA should just continue doing what it's doing
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Comments 61
XD this’ll be interesting
You left out "EA should crawl in a hole"
EA needs to calm down like Ubisoft and consider the feedback they have been getting. Ubi is nearly off my boycott list due to the change in tack I have seen over the last year.
ea is a saint compared to konami. that said, ea has not published a single game that i have even remotely cared about since dead space 2.
ea had its worst year in history in 2017... star wars fiasco, check. need for speed being a royal disappointment, check. mass effect andromeda being so disappointing that the franchise is now on hiatus and will need several years before it is mentioned again, check. the shutting down of visceral games and cancelation of amy hennig's star wars game, check. it doesn't get much worse than this... unless you are konami, of course — in which case you are concerned with destroying beloved IP's for fun and/or don't release any games at all.
thoughts on EA hummmm do you get banned from swearing lol
If you can read this, turn back.
You missed one option EA should never buy a new studio.
EA getting exclusive rights to star wars is one of the worst things to ever happen to the franchise. We could be getting a whole variety of next gen star wars games and instead we're getting pay to win, microtransactioned eye candy.
EA should just focus on what they are good at. That is, sports games and casual stuff like the Sims. I don't particularly like or dislike them these days, I nothing them. I would actually prefer that they let their Star Wars license expire or sell it off, sell BioWare and those properties to another publisher, and just focus on what they are good at and what they seem to care about.
Tchoo tchoo all aboard the EA hate bandwagon!
Anyway...the games are getting worse nowadays but they did some classics! The problem is the heavy focus on MT only
@Derpie1
I think mainly my tastes have changed over the years. They do good sports games usually because they have the best licences so make them more authentic but dont really play sports games at all now. Think the only EA games i have bought this generation is Peggle 2, FIFA 14 and the first Titanfall.
@YummyHappyPills you just listed all the major publishers and categorised them all as bad... sony has done almost everything right this gen and is putting out the best exclusives... yet they are crap? care to explain your reasoning there?
EA are a bit of a dissapointment for me. I thought they were really diversifying their output with quality single player games last gen and moving in a new direction. Dead Space is one of my all time favourite games, and Mirrors Edge was a wonderful risk. But since the time of Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3 etc EA got lost in the bottomless pit of microtransactions and 'games as a service' and have only gotten worse. This gen has been really distasteful. It was ridiculous how little content SW: Battlefront had out of the box and insulting how they tried to spin the fact that there wouldnt be a season pass for battlefront 2 as a positive, whilst at the same time implementing a ridiculous progression system and loot box system. The less said about mass effect andromeda and fifa ultimate team the better. At least, for all its flaws, they gave mirrors edge another try though. And titanfall 2 was wonderful, but hopelessly buried next to battlefield 1
EA is pretty terrible.
I wouldn’t buy a game of them at launch anymore.
I’d probably be more upset, about their games being torn apart if I cared more about them.
I prefer PES to FIFA & NFS as well as DA is dead to me.
Unravel 2 is the only ‘EA’ game I’m looking forward to in the near future.
You guys did a great job of giving diverse options!
Make one for Activision.
I can see them (maybe) looking to rebuild goodwill over the course of the next year or so, but if they are making money, hand over fist, regardless of the complaints, why would they stop and change unless it hurts them in the pocket?
I wouldnt even say it's EA in particular that can be singled out for this attitude, gaming as a whole, (barring a few exceptions) is able to perform what we consider shady practices, yet still make shed loads of money, so a vast sea change is needed, but with yearly iterations selling like hot cakes and Microtransactions also still popular (see FUT), the status quo will continue.
As for games, they have ruined a fair few franchises trying to incorporate the entire menu, rather than incoporate select dishes and it's undermined many of them unfortunately. They will still take the odd punt on a new franchise or reboot, but rather than eating companies, they should just back them and let them do thier thing, EA many many years ago , used to be good at that..
I like Battlefield and Need for speed (though the last couple were pretty meh). Dice is a decent studio but I feel like they aren't able to do what they want/take the time they need/oppose putting microtransactions etc in/not releasing games with less content as they were rushed.
@YummyHappyPills Sony, Nintendo sorry what are they doing wrong small to no Microtransactions DLC and seasonpasses that are good u dont see anything wrong here?
@YummyHappyPills you sound like quite the cynic. i am amazed you still play video games lol
i won't get into a long debate about backwards compatibility... i will just say that you should read up on the issue more and you will realize that it was close to impossible to run ps3 games — which were developed on a different architecture and one that is very complicated — on the ps4. please do yourself a favour and read up on this because you come across as very naive.
sony is the last of the major publishers who still cares about single player experiences first and foremost (besides nintendo) and they are in fact NOT putting microtransactions in their games... and i have played nearly all their 1st party games this gen.
you seem to have ignored everything that matters: the games. and there is no weakness in that department from 1st or 3rd parties on ps4. sony won this gen by a landslide. in fact, i think ps4 has already surpassed the ps3 for me as one of my favourite playstation consoles of all time, and there are still many great games to be released.
tell me this: how many publishers would allow development to continue with the last guardian? a game that was in development hell for close to 10 years? microsoft would have pulled the chord on the project after year 2 like they did with scalebound. sony still cares about games as an "art form" and that is what separates them from the competition... not to mention the diversity of their games.
Don't really have any issue with them. I enjoy some of their games and don't enjoy others. Simple as that. Video games, while I love them, aren't serious enough in the grand scheme of things for me to actual get mad at a company. The amount of hate and vitriol thrown towards these companies get is beyond outrageous imo. I understand why some of their business practices may rub people the wrong way but at the end of the day it's doesn't offend me at all that they put MTs in their games.
@YummyHappyPills Ah yes you know the costs of devkits, backwards compatible you know the problems X86 versus other tech. Microsoft is a smart check why they dont have FF14 and still act like the good guys. Oh read into the devkits $2500 with giving giving them free completely or for a year to some indies yeah these monsters 😁
Hopefully we see the microtranstion ship fest sail away.
If a games free then I can kind of understand. Not in a full priced game.
I buy more from EA than anyone else. If they were that bad then they would not have some of the top selling games year on year.
@DLB3 but thats the point
We do like some of EAs games and they lambast them with microtransactions. I would buy Fifa, madden and Battlefront right now if they werent constantly pushing currencies in your face.
I haven't bought an EA game in a long time. They really don't interest me too much, and I have a hard time justifying buying something that'll only upset me.
I'm thinking of buying A Way Out.
They are the worst of the AAA publishers right up there with Konami, in my opinion. They just dont have enough to interest me and they have too many predatory business practices for me to even consider buying anything they release day one.
I have no interest whatsoever in their sports games, except for maybe UFC, and haven't bought any since their first UFC game.
I'm incredibly apprehensive of Anthem, bit even then I'm not too interested in it either. I don't really like how the suits look, and it just doesn't look like something I'd enjoy.
I refuse to buy any EA games these days because I know they are just going to be pushing a product thats all about in game purchases and if its not.. it'll be a half baked decent idea that has been pushed out the door to meet a deadline instead of being given time to be a truly great game.
EA along with Ubisoft and Activision they are nothing more than huge corporates who have lost their passion for making truly great games and are just all about pleasing their shareholders.
Utter 'games by the numbers' dirge.
Atleast Konami, for as lothesome as they are now are honest in that they don't really care for making games any more.
I feel that im losing absoluetly nothing by not buying any EA, Ubisoft or Activision games in my library any more. The last game I bought was Destiny 1. That was the final nail in the coffin for me for either of those publishers.
They've made it clear they're not interested in story focused games now so I think the only thing they have to offer (to me) is top quality remasters of classics.
Generally speaking EA's antics with loot boxes and such don't bother me as I'm not a big online gamer and the latest Star Wars game was c**p anyway, so I easily avoid them.
Having just got EA Access though I have found a few games I do enjoy from them and I can't believe how amazing Titanfall 2 is whilst also having some fun with EA hockey or whatever they call it these days as it still feels like the Megadrive games unlike FIFA.
Overall I just wish they'd realise not everyone wants to play online multiplayer on the same few maps for years and years and that many gamers have much more imagination which needs stimulating
EA just doesn't make games that interest me, and their focus on service games is a big part of that. Properties and titles I like have been canned. Their profit generation is based solely on squeezing as much from gamers as possible. As a consumer, I vote with my wallet. I think if they don't change, they are going to lose out long term.
Activision, EA and Konami are utterly garbage, imho.
EA for example, they have the license of Star Wars and can't make a great game for such an amazing property, for crying out loud.
@Porco And since he's about crossplay here is a list of games PS4 has Crossplay with PC and Mobile and look at Nintendo and MS.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_that_support_cross-platform_play
EA's biggest problem is that it is far too focused on its shareholders rather than delivering the products to its key demographic. Loot boxes is just one example of this but games like Mass Effect:Andromeda and, it seems Anthem, will be released by a certain date (end of their fiscal year) whether ready or not. This to appease shareholders rather than to make finished/polished games that ultimately bring much more profit and praise.
Games like ME:A, SW:BF2, NFS:Payback could all of been very lucrative and 'big' selling games but instead EA would rather release them unfinished and/or with heavy emphasis on ripping off their audience for a quick buck.
I have NO doubt that EA games could and should be much more than they ultimately end-up selling us. I am constantly left feeling 'short-changed' and then expected to contribute to EA's increasing profits with Micro-transactional content...
Can we keep the conversation on course, please? This is about EA.
Eh, I think the last game I bought from them was PVZGW2, and it was pretty average. Their annual sports games/battlefield games sell well, but that seems to be about it.
They killed BioWare.
While I don't encourage microtransactions, it's unfair - and often hypocritical - to blame it all on just one company.
Many of our big publishers, developers and franchises have them in some form or other in their games: WoW, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, Train Simulator, Metal Gear Solid 5, Star Citizen, GTA 5, Team Fortress 2, Middle-earth, Forza Motorsport 7, Europa Universalis 4 and so on.
To me they are just another form of DLC, that I can easily ignore and still enjoy the game. I don't see them as a necessity, and why would I pay money to spend less time with a game ?
I think it's worth keeping in mind that, when done correctly, loot boxes and microtransactions can be used to fund ongoing development of a game.
Look at how much GTA Online and Overwatch has evolved. If you bought those games at launch you have access to all of the modes and features that have been added, and you technically don't have to pay a penny for any of it.
Don't get me wrong, the way micros were handled in Star Wars was awful, but if you'll indulge a bit of devil's advocate, I think they originally planned to support it like an Overwatch, with regular events and content drops for everyone.
Is that such a bad thing? There is more nuance here than purely microtransactions = bad.
Hahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha hahaha.
Now ask me what I think of Konami.
not sure how to really answer.. i just find EA becoming increasingly irrelevant to me, largely because of its output. i think i counted something like 27 physical games published by EA that i bought on PS3, whilst it's currently 5 on PS4.. and there's hardly great output amongst those 5.
on PS3, i had franchises like bad company 1/2, the first 2 dead space games, bulletstorm, mass effect trilogy, medal of honor/warfighter, kingdoms of amalur.. even some of its b-tier fodder like crysis 2 or army of two: 40th day was more interesting that's its current output. it just seems like its relying way too much on its sports licences which don't appeal to me (unless they ever make a european handball game), or its flogged-to-death-already franchises like NFS or battlefield (BF4 was pretty good, but otherwise the main BF games pale in the shadow of the bad company games). battlefront has just been a total waste of the star wars licence, imo, i think i'd prefer a totally different developer to tackle it..
I haven't really bought much from them since the arrival of PS4. I got Battlefield 4 at launch, then didn't play it for months while they sorted out the problems. After that... nothing at all until FIFA 18 - the first FIFA I've bought in about 5 years.
I'll just say this. EA used to publish genuinely great games like the earlier Medal of Honor games and some very good James Bond games such as Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, Everything or Nothing, and From Russia with Love (seriously, why couldn't we have gotten some more Bond games adapted from the earlier films?). But these days...I can't remember the last time EA made a game I was even remotely interested in.
A Dead Space Trilogy remaster would go a long way towards restoring my faith.
You could run away from the referee when he tried to send you off in Fifa '94. That's all I've got.
Ehh, EA is EA. They don't usually make too much that I'm interested in, and the properties I am or would be interested in haven't been handled well recently (Star Wars, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and Dragon Age). I'm not a fan of getting microtransactions or whatever getting shoved in my face, that's an obvious critique, but I also think that goes hand in hand in strengthening existing properties. It would be nice to play a game without feeling like you're begged for spare change all the time for one, but the focus on them really does cripple a game's potential. Imagine what the games would be like if the quality was the forefront instead of profit (and to clarify, focus on profit isn't inherently bad, but EA takes it too far).
That said, despite my post I don't have a lot of gamer rage for EA. I'm more apathetic with them, like- "Oh, an EA game with microtransactions. Yeah, sounds normal. I'm thinking burritos for dinner." Hence, EA is EA. I probably shouldn't be, but I'm not buying their product either.
Pfft, dont like EA, simple as.
@Porco He's Push Square's resident grump, best just to ignore him.
I want EA to keep doing what they are doing. Fingers crossed it will lead to their eventual downfall.
"EA is the best big publisher in gaming today"
I voted that, I'm the 1% ᕕ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ
thats the downside of internet years ago you bought a game it was released with very few bugs no downloads no micro transactions no dlc you got whats in the box now its churn them out full of bugs next day dlc to buy sad this is the modern day of gaming
They just announced sims 4 pet expansion dlc has its own my first pet dlc, dlc on top of a dlc, 40 dollar expansion plus another 10 dollar dlc for a few more pets, total dlc for sims 4, over 400 dollars.
@YummyHappyPills Whete is your source for dev kit costs? Indies have just said Sony has been awesome to work with. And some games have cross-platform play like Fortnite and Rocket League so Sony hasn’t been restricting that. And Sony’s games haven’t had in-all purchase unless they released a FTP game, so no leaning there.
Are you sure you hate for actual reasons instead of wanting to?
And backwards compatibility would be very hard for reasons already mentioned.
EA? Early Access? Yeah, that’s cool.
Oh, you meant Electronic Arts. I change my vote. 😜
Not really interested in any of EA's games. Let's see...
1. They seem to be good at sports titles. (However, I don't play them, not a fan of the genre)
2. Need for Speed used to be amazing, I played NFSU2 a lot back then, but the franchise is completely lost now.
3. Movie-to-game was something EA was quite good at, but they stopped trying by the end of PS2 era, releasing low quality games that fans of the franchises would buy anyway.
4. The Sims and SimCity were both outstanding simulation games. EA removed content from the latest releases, and then attempted to sell it as expansion packs, not to mention they have no idea what gamers want or how to come up with new stuff anymore. I have my doubts if we're going to see a The Sims 5 in the future.
5. Which brings me to this point, if a game doesn't sell as they expect, they shut down the studio and freeze the franchise - no matter its history, all the talents from those teams, or the fact that they published a low quality game asking for more money to unlock content that's not even new to the franchise.
6. As a last point, EA's business model is completely wrong, they have no idea what gamers want, they're not trying anything new and they don't even know how to keep doing what they were great at, instead choosing to decrease the quality of every franchise.
I don't hate EA, but I don't like any of their games anymore. Hopefully they'll realize what's wrong before it's too late and change for the best.
@dryrain Congrats you are the 1%
@3MonthBeef If you take away the sportgames you dont have a lot of reasons to buy any EA games. I bought mirrors edge though.
@get2sammyb Yeah GTA and Overwatch wont be making money without them.. 😱 Give me a break a costumepack is a better way then a lootbox in the store. GTA does one thing right you pay and you know what you get. But as best selling game they need microtransactions please go away. Dont act like its nothing else then making more money which is no problem but they need the money to fund extra stuff. 🙄😐😑
More than anything, EA should start phasing out microtransactions. (56%).
This just shows how out of touch most gamers are, microtransactions account for billions in profit for EA, they are around to stay and no matter how much you dislike them, your the minority. Microtransactions have been unbelievably successful for publishers and developers, they'll never go away.
One of the options should be "EA should give away all of it's IPs and crawl into a hole and die". Also the only reason I didn't put EA as the worst company is because Konami exists and that's a tough choice.
I would do anything to wipe out EA games. Not only do they suxk, but they have ruined titles that were great before EA got involved, basically robbing me of a positive gaming experience. They have literally driven me out of gaming single-handedly. I wish that gamers had the attention span to take control.of the future of gaming instead of having it dictated to them.
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