game development designer

Chapter 403 Industry cancer?

In fact, many people wonder why EA still took a seemingly stupid path after the failure of the Mass Effect series, including Star Wars 2.

But this is related to EA's own corporate culture. If the earliest Blizzard was a boutique game manufacturer, Blizzard's products must be boutique. The image of the prodigal son is getting better and better.

Then EA is a game development machine with no emotions. It can be said that EA is a strange thing among game companies in the industry, because many decisions are not considered from the perspective of game players.

Instead, it analyzes through its own set of big data, and then designs a profit model. If you have to use an analogy, it is similar to the domestic Shengda in the early years.

Of course, it’s only on the surface. In fact, what Shengda played is what he learned from EA, and he hasn’t learned the essence yet.

After Shengda succeeded, it recruited a group of overseas elites, and then used data analysis and market analysis to evaluate whether the game is good or bad. The boss of Shengda is not interested in the game industry. In the era when the Internet was not popular, he actually wanted to build an Internet entertainment ecosystem. Naturally, there is no need to say more about the result.

But in EA, they are much more formal than Shengda's imitative decision-making.

Directly use big data to make game operation decisions. Although EA is scolded bloody by players and screwed up two big IP series in succession, in fact, these two games EA miraculously did not lose money. .

This also means that although the players scolded EA frantically, they obediently took out the money in their wallets.

And since EA, which is moving towards krypton gold elements, including its classic FIFA series, and the Sims series that has begun to transform into mobile games, and the Need for Speed ​​series, it is obvious that EA has been very clear about what games can make money.

Judging from a certain behavior, it is not an exaggeration for EA to be called the North American Penguin.

Because the strategies of EA and Penguin are really similar, I can't beat you, but I can buy you.

The original Sims, the Need for Speed ​​series, and the Fifa series, in fact, EA has already made players a little fed up, and now Mass Effect and Star Wars have touched the bottom line of players.

If you have to say the biggest problem with EA, it should be that EA did not consider the bottom line of the player. From the initial cooperative multiplayer mode, drawing cards and opening boxes, just the appearance of the skin that does not affect the attributes, to the current Star Wars 2. Excessive in-app purchase system.

The cards drawn by the players can be said to be very powerful, which directly affects the balance of the game. This is what makes the players really explode, and at the same time, they can see through the players' bottom line.

Of course, in addition to EA, some domestic manufacturers also often play tricks with EA, such as a sideline pig-selling manufacturer that pays for in-app purchases.

But regardless of EA's somewhat emotional decisions, as an investor, if you say that he closed many once classic studios is a cancer in the industry, then you have to call EA wronged.

It can be said that there are almost no game studios that have produced lower game sales and production efficiency after being acquired by EA and reorganized than before.

For example, Command and Conquer, which domestic players are familiar with, has reached the pinnacle of sales and achievements after its studio was acquired by EA.

Domestic players used to have childhood memories in computer rooms and black Internet cafes. Red Alert and Yuri's Revenge were also produced after EA took over.

At the same time, there are Battlefield and Frostbite Engine. Before encountering EA, DICE was just an ordinary game production studio, and it was more of a game OEM.

Until they met the Bole who changed their destiny, that is, EA.

The injection of funds and the provision of big data made them reborn and created a World War II game called Battlefield. The first Battlefield 1942 won the best game of the year at that time, and the first game created more than 500 games. million copies sold.

If there is no EA, then IDCE, as an independent game manufacturer, is absolutely impossible to develop games and engines like Frostbite and Battlefield, and such an industry has no ability to show, and there is no shortage of small game OEMs. The factory will soon go bankrupt because there is no business.

In addition to DICE, there is also Maxis, a production company, which is now the sales monster under EA and the father of the simulation series.

But before meeting EA, the poor market positioning and the lock-in with the core group had already made them close to bankruptcy. It was not until EA took over, began to conduct market research, and provided big data to develop Sims that brought them back to life, and Become one of the most profitable game production groups on the planet.

It is not wrong to say that EA is the North American Penguin.

It's not wrong to say that EA is one of the worst game companies for players.

But if you want to say that EA is a cancer in the industry, it is really ridiculous.

Moreover, EA itself maintains a good cooperative relationship with most of the game manufacturers in the industry, such as Blizzard, which used to be the endorsement of the game industry's boutique, and Valve, which is obsessed with -90% and completely forgets how to make games, and now the prodigal son turns back. Ubisoft has had a good cooperative relationship with EA. EA used to be Ubisoft's second largest shareholder, but later, according to EA's claim for better cooperation, EA decided to sell the 15% stake in Ubisoft.

And later about Ubisoft and EA's platforms also confirmed this point.

If we talk about making games, the various krypton gold systems of EA today do fall into the eyes of money.
EA's mistake is that they are too confident, although the game's earnings and financial reports are not ugly.

But in the word of mouth of the players, it completely exploded.

However, in the eyes of colleagues in the industry, EA is actually quite reliable. The reason why EA has so many infamy is that EA has too much heart.

While wanting to make money by making games and making his financial report look good, he also wants to be famous, so he keeps getting involved in the development of 3A masterpieces on consoles and PC platforms.

In fact, the profits of these games are not as much as that of EA in the field of mobile games, but EA continues to invest funds in this field. It has to be said that this is also a kind of EA-style stubbornness.

Even though it seems that the current EA has fallen, EA has not completely abandoned the PC and console platforms, but its own strategic policy has kept them from awakening for the time being.

As for several domestic game manufacturers, it has to be said that they have done a good enough job in terms of strategic layout.

If you are sure that the mobile terminal will be more profitable in the next period of time, then abandon the client terminal and devote all your resources to this aspect.

As for the game culture, forget about it.

(End of this chapter)