EA's CEO just said single player is bad for sales

[@silentstephi]

I seriously wish bioware had a different publisher. I literally play nothing that EA has ever published before bioware was bought by them. Ugh.

[@LoveWolves37]

Yes they should split with EA. Like Bungie from Activision

[@ap4702]

@@LoveWolves37 they need big time funding to make triple A games. EA is their only source.

[@LoveWolves37]

AGAIN! the second time they said single player is bad. What did 2018 show? Most of the best selling games were SINGLE PLAYER. Like God of War Game of the Year, Red Dead, Spiderman, etc....

[@Makoto03]

I hate that EA took the completely wrong takeaway from Battlefield V's failure. It wasn't the story mode but the terrible marketing.

[@shachi_edits]

Yeah sure, the reason Battlefield V did poorly is because it didn't release with a BR mode. Just ignore the fact that you've released one nearly every year since 2002 and have oversaturated your own market. Also telling people they are bigots for not liking the latest one regardless of why they didn't like it? Interesting strategy.

[@PTDestroyerOfWorlds]

PLEASE please have this be a topic in the next StV episode! I must know how much faith you two collectively have in DA4 still happening as a single player game, if at all. EA has me STRESSED. 😭🤯🥺

[@Avenray19]

God... I really really hope they don't ruin DA4...

[@Rainbowhawk1993]

If BioWare does die, I hope the core staff can join Drew at Fogbank studios to become BioWare reborn. Imagine if they can kickstart their way to success just like Larian did with Divinity Original Sin 2. But other than that, EA blaming single player will be the way to drive themselves into the ground. But I won’t cry and whine about the countless studios they’ll scapegoat first if it happens. But my dream is that Sony can purchase BioWare if Ea doesn’t want them anymore. That way they can really compete with Obsidian on the other side.

[@DarkKnight52365]

the only non-Bioware title i care about from EA is the Command & Conquer franchise

[@ExaltedMarch]

Fogbank seems like a smaller operation, but studios do sometimes reform when things dissolve. I don't think that's where BioWare is at. But it is something to think about.

[@madincraft4418]

Or Laidlaw over at Ubisoft. Playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey I get the very weird feeling that there is a ton of Bioware influence in that game.

[@relaygaming3308]

Great video Jordan! I'm definitely worried for the next Dragon Age game. Kinda wish they didn't give us that teaser in December now

[@lorzl1287]

Ikr? I've always had a bad feeling about da4 whenever I read things about EA but I try to.shrug it off because I'm sure bioware will do it. But this has me worried... but as other comments have said I hope there is a way that if bioware is closed down then another publisher can pick them up

[@jonnyso1]

That statement about BF 5 just shows how EA doesn't understand what's going on anymore.

[@ducky36F]

They've got their facts backwards.... it's not single player experience that help bf back.... it's literally everything else about EA All this is very bad for bioware and particularly dragon age and mass effect. Even if Anthem succeeds, EA may consider DA and ME outliers and ask Bioware why they are making them instead of focusing on Anthem-like titles... Really feeling we may never get a conclusion to dragon age now

[@TheBaLENced]

The single player got a lot of right wing hate for their inclusion of women. I've never played any battlefield games so idk if that was the main reason it didn't sell well, but it probably did contribute.

[@ducky36F]

Re Member fair point, I'm on the same page as you in terms of bf is not my thing so I didn't really pay that much attention If it's the politics of the single player then the analysis that it's "the inclusion of a single player experience" is still an incorrect assessment And it still means that if that is their assessment it's not good for DA and ME

[@YoshtTheAwesome]

@@TheBaLENced For the sake of playing devil's advocate, I don't play Battlefield either but I have heard arguments from a person who does and was one of those who disliked the inclusion of women and they are as follows: Battlefield is supposed to be a historical game and there were no women on the front lines in WWII. They were changing the franchise for the sake of politics. And then, the response was to label them all with the right wing haters, sexist, misogynist etc. It's like if they took the element of choice out of BioWare games and then flung insults at anyone who complained. At least that's how I see the situation.

[@TheBaLENced]

​@@YoshtTheAwesome Something very similair happened to a game I play a lot, Rome 2 total war. They added female generals to that game even though they did not exist historically. Online neo-nazi communities found out about this and started a big controversy (that normal total war fans sometimes went along with when they stormed into the total war reddit). They spread fake pictures, review bombed ALL total war games. Only 1 game had added female generals. So I suspect that something similair happened to battlefield, though again I haven't looked into it.out

[@ExaltedMarch]

@@TheBaLENced To be more comprehensive, the lack of excitement on the campaign was not exclusively due to a woman being a major character, and it's not just right wing. Surely that was some of the opposition, but not all of it. Several people took issue with the lack historical accuracy and realism being reduced on other fronts. Not something I would have made a stink about, but still not just simple "right wing" complaining.

[@boo5860]

I think Jordan should do a video on why Bioware are still with EA bcz I honestly can't figure it out

[@DarkKnight52365]

EA owns them

[@ExaltedMarch]

Well BioWare was purchased by EA in 2007, EA owns them outright. The only way for that to change is EA sells them to another publisher (never going to happen, unless they shutter the studio and sell the licenses) or BioWare manages to partner with a group to raise capital and pseudo buy independence.

[@boo5860]

@@ExaltedMarch So what you're saying is I need to get rich and kickstart this, I gotchu

[@cornibusette]

@@boo5860 Yeah, can't we just raise money or something? I'd gladly pay a subscription if it means Bioware is free to do what they want.

[@chronickitsch]

Why can’t they just accept the fact that the reason EA can’t sell is mainly BECAUSE of micro-transactions, not to mention the backlash they get from corporate endorsement of other more political anti-consumer practices? It’s like you really expect to allow the lead developer of Battlefield come out, call players man-babies, literally tell them NOT to buy the game, and still make good sales?

[@elizabeth3555]

Here’s my analysis, based on the video: Assuming Anthem does well, EA would most likely rework DA4 to be multiplayer with barely any story and no fleshed out characters, as well as no or very little single player. If Anthem tanks, then I figure they’d just shut BioWare down and we wouldn’t get DA4 at all. Either that or we’d get a extremely lazy version of it and then they’d shut BioWare down after. Do you think those are likely scenarios, or am I being too pessimistic? (although as Ashley says, a pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist)

[@ExaltedMarch]

The most concrete evidence we have is Schreier's reporting that said DA4 development was rebooted to add more live service elements. Casey Hudson responded vaguely to some of this by saying "live" just meant continually adding story content BUT, that narrative from Casey doesn't mesh with the need to reboot development. That would suggest they needed to retool something structurally. So, it's possible we will get a less traditional DA game. I think BW is trying to fight that, or somehow do both, but trying to straddle the line and do it all is a recipe for a watered down product.

[@MoskalMedia]

@@ExaltedMarch Why do you think EA would try to alter the development of something like Dragon Age 4 in order to make it more of a live service? People like myself love Bioware games because they're some of the best story-driven games around. Why does EA think going towards a live service model is the best decision for a studio known for single player experiences? I didn't care about playing multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 for example. It seems like EA is going to push Dragon Age fans away through this sort of change, dooming its profits to begin with, unless these changes do end up being nothing more than new DLC expansions.

[@elizabeth3555]

Moskal Media Maybe it’s because an unsuccessful multiplayer game still makes more money than a successful single player game. However, since I’m not an expert on this subject, I could be completely wrong.

[@sarahhutchinson1644]

....was nothing learned from Star Wars?

[@saymone962]

EA: single players are dead Rockstar: Hold my Beer CD Projekt Red: Hold my Beer NaughtyDog: Hold my Beer Insomniac: Hold my Beer Ubisoft: I don’t have a Beer

[@misaelalvarez3661]

Ubisoft is that guy that either fucks up bad or just straight up get their shit together. Its a coin flip with them. Love the company but Im not afraid of saying their faults

[@mariuskatutis3989]

and ID Software

[@TheBaLENced]

Idk if the comments apply to all of EA's games though. I don't expect them to have greenlighted DA4 development if they only wanted to do multiplayer. It'd be pretty bad management to make very drastic changes based on one game underselling.

[@ExaltedMarch]

In some part yes, but also, EA flipped the tea table on DA4 development according to Jason Schreier of Kotaku. And specifically, development was re-scoped because EA felt the game needed more of a live services angle. kotaku.com/bioware-doubles-down-on-anthem-as-pressure-mounts-1822380989

[@andrewwilson4782]

It is true tough, single-player games are bad for sales!

[@mariuskatutis3989]

ANDREW WILSON NEEDS TO RESIGN FROM CEO

[@Icehypernova]

well... see you all in DA4's battle royale mode 😫

[@christarasylantelas1442]

Let’s hope that while DA4 still is in an early development phase this multiplayer madness descends.

[@dexterjettster3683]

Ya know, games aren’t just for money. They are supposed to make people happy, but in the wonderful mind of ea, if it won’t make a few hundred million dollars, it’s not worth our time

[@monishvj5172]

All I need is each and every developing studios should resign EA and leave them alone with nothing. like a lone man in a lonely ocean.

[@DewelynC]

Omfg EA🤦🏼‍♀️ I'm not really surprised though.

[@Sarostar16]

EA's logic is really astonishing here, our game didn't do well, because of singleplayer mode and b/c it came out while RDR2 ( a singleplayer game!) came out. Can you hear yourself EA?! People want SINGLEPLAYER GAMES! Zelda: BotW, God of War, RDR2, Spiderman, Kindom Hearts 3, Witcher 3, Mario Oddysey... all hugely successful and popular Singleplayer games. The problem is like Jim Sterlings says: "They don't want to make money, they want to make ALL the Money." They need to chance there expectations.

[@madincraft4418]

Maybe Bioware can get free of EA. Didn't another game studio just break away from Activision?

[@ExaltedMarch]

That's Bungie and Activision you're referring to. It was a different situation. Activision never owned Bungie - they signed a 10 year exclusive publishing deal, and Bungie managed to exit early (there were likely some clauses in the agreement that allowed for this, with some penalties to Bungie). As part of that deal, Activision had also agreed that Bungie would retain intellectual property rights for any games they make during that time, which means the license for Destiny remains with Bungie. EA purchased BioWare outright, and now owns them. With that, they also purchased all intellectual property rights (which means EA owns Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc). It's practically impossible that EA would ever sell BioWare intact with all IP to another publisher; it would just be too big of a purchase, and publishers never really sell developers to each other. *Maybe* (and we're talking a very very slim possibility) if EA were to ever close BioWare they would sell the licenses to Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but that's not likely to happen.

[@bookkat07]

This sounds like typical EA strategy. EA loves its cash cows, and when those don't do well, the company over generalizes to please investors. All that said, it's possible we will see a very different DA4. How much of a live content we'll see is anybody's guess at this point. It'll be very interesting to see whether the "fix" EA mentions for Battlefront V will impact quarterly revenues for the remainder of 2019.

[@Shuuhic]

please bioware leave ea

[@justiceihgghnjkmn4694]

The only reason why I’m buying anthem is because of BioWare I can care less of EA

[@sapphodera]

Fuck EA

[@lelouchstrife1891]

Go to hell EA

[@joethealternativegamer3935]

While I Hope BioWare still gets to do single player experiences I do understand where EA is going. And your points are right on! Way better than the other hate mob people

[@Vespertine124]

Do you think their analysis of why battlefield didn't do well has any water or are they just trying to save their jobs by building up a strawman (i.e., single player)?

[@DarkKnight52365]

EA is wrong on why it didnt make as much money as they wanted

[@thegreywardenherald8923]

Battlefield had lack-luster sales due to the marketing strategies they were using before it launched.

[@Vespertine124]

@@DarkKnight52365 it sounded like they were trying to not take responsibility

[@Vespertine124]

@@thegreywardenherald8923 that's what it seemed like to me, I feel like their CEO is misleading investors

[@thegreywardenherald8923]

@@Vespertine124 That's exactly what they're doing. By blaming the Single Player/Story Mode, they don't have to admit to their investors- who could have possibly lost $$$ thanks to Battlefield- that they screwed up: i.e. "It's the single player mode costing us customers that lost us $$$, not us completely screwing ourselves with bad marketing. It's not our fault.

[@JaimeMadd]

Don't mind me, just trying not to scream...

[@lauraadams7562]

Well....shit.

[@Dancinfanz]

Well damn I’ll just go f*** myself now. Dragon age 4 is so screwed no j/k really at this point I’m just crossing my fingers to getting a game at all.

[@adlibbed2138]

shineeea EA