game development designer

Chapter 508 EA's Fourth Largest Shareholder Acquires Respawn Entertainment
Half a month after the multiplayer mode at Dawn was launched, EA officially announced a major message. At the press conference, EA CEO Wilson said that EA will conduct a large-scale layoff in the near future. The main target of layoffs is Marketing, publishing, operations, and some developers, etc., total up to 1500 positions.

At present, EA has nearly 17 employees worldwide, and the layoff ratio this time is about [-]%.

After Wilson said these words at the press conference, the gaming world was shocked instantly.

Countless players who followed the news expressed their shock or happiness.

'Damn it, EA pills?1500 layoffs?Three times the previous Activision Blizzard? '

'EA is so ruthless!Has it been disbanded from the studio to the company? '

'Although the hymn exploded, it shouldn't be like this, right? '

'EA die quickly, and free DICE as soon as possible. '

'First Activision Blizzard, and then the EA game giant is going down? '

…………

At the EA press conference, Wilson didn't care a bit about the shocking people below, because he believed that what he was going to announce would surprise them even more, and it would also make the group of people on Wall Street more optimistic about the future of EA .

"As a company, we need some important measures to deal with the changing future, and the challenges, after careful consideration and better implementation of commitments, and to meet the demands of players, we have made such a difficult decision."

"This was not a decision taken lightly, as the layoffs were not just of our colleagues, but of our friends, and EA greatly appreciates and values ​​everyone's contributions. We are making sure the affected employees can get through this period, Helping them find their next job opportunity. Right now, that's our top priority."

Wilson spoke eloquently.

Nothing wrong.

We are friends, and now EA spends too much money to support you, so you are going to be fired.

The sluggish stock price is one of the main reasons for EA layoffs. After all, the market value reached a new high of 150 US dollars per share when it first cooperated with Tianhe Network, and then the death of Star Wars 2 plummeted to 80 US dollars. Although the last survivor later cooperated with Dawn The good news is that it has been hovering around $100.

Recently, Anthem’s previous pre-sales performed well, allowing EA’s market value to reach $120 per share again, but now EA’s market value has fallen below $100.

After the EA press conference, the people from Chuhe had already arrived in Redwood City, and they had already signed contracts with Fidelity, Pioneer, and Logan.

Tianhe Network acquired 9% of the shares from each of the three companies with a capital of US$1.5 million, accounting for 4.5% of EA's total shares and becoming EA's fourth largest shareholder.

At the same time, EA transferred Respawn Entertainment to Tianhe Network at a price of US$5 million, and at the same time provided assistance in EA's technology development.

However, for the next three games of Tianhe Network, EA can bring funds into the game and jointly develop them with Tianhe Network.

From the perspective of the market, Chuhe still has a lot of advantages. On the one hand, although the current market value of EA has fallen, it is absolutely impossible to buy this 9% stake for at least US$4.5 million. At the same time, it also has voting rights. If Pioneer, Fidelity, If Logan is willing, the premium is so high that it cannot be much higher, but someone will definitely be willing to take the offer.

But this is not the main reason why Chuhe often EA, the real reason why Chuhe often often, that is, EA took out Respawn Entertainment as bait.

This makes it difficult for Chuhe to refuse. It is really difficult to acquire a studio of this level and strength.

As of today, the powerful companies acquired by Chuhe, except for the newly acquired Respawn Entertainment, that is, some members of the Medal of Honor who were disbanded by EA, some employees of IDCE, and the mines that were auctioned after the bankruptcy of THQ, the ruins and the QD of France. home.

Take a closer look, it seems that some of them are usually obtained from the corner of the EA house.

Chuhe couldn't help sighing that his fate with EA is really high.

Speaking of Respawn Entertainment, their strength is unquestionable. They created COD's Modern Warfare series, then jumped out from Activision Blizzard, and then were acquired by EA. Respawn Entertainment is not bad.

But such a promising studio, EA chose to sell to Tianhe Network, the main reason is that they continue to press Tianhe Network to maintain a close relationship with them.

On the other hand, it is also because their previous games did not explode as imagined. Before Anthem, EA had actually developed a mech-type sci-fi game through Respawn Entertainment, but it encountered Waterloo. The word of mouth was very good but the sales were dismal. , Counting the global publicity, even the cost has not been recovered.

Coupled with the subsequent fall of Anthem, this is one of the reasons why EA decided to sell Respawn Entertainment to Tianhe Network.

After all, they also participated in the development of EA's Star Wars 2 and Anthem before.

Although in essence, this has nothing to do with Respawn Entertainment, because in Star Wars 2 it is more about the operational explosion.

As for Anthem, they only assisted BIOWare in the development, not the main R&D team.

But for EA, this is obviously not important.

Including the IPs of the two series of "Titanfall 1" and "Titanfall 2" developed by Respawn Entertainment, EA also packaged them with US$5 million and packaged them with Tianhe Network to show their sincerity.

The news of Tianhe Network's entry into EA is still in a state of blockade. Currently, only news that is not very friendly to EA has been disclosed. As for the reason, there is no need to say more.

In EA's internal conference hall, current EA equity holders welcomed Chuhe.

Although as the fourth largest shareholder of EA, he also has some voting rights, which can influence EA's strategic layout to some extent, but Chuhe doesn't plan to take too much control.

After all, EA is not Tianhe Network, EA involves too many things, and Tianhe Network is the boss, he has the final say.

Just like Shengda in China in the early years, Lao Chen, as the boss, publicly stated that for a certain project, the people below only need to follow his strategic plan.

As for objection?

In the company's internal meeting, he said domineeringly: "This is not a matter of whether you agree or not, but a matter of whoever does not do it will leave." '

Of course, later time proved that this strategic layout was wrong, at least under the circumstances at the time.

At the same time, Shengda has also fallen from its original dominance in the domestic Internet and game industry to the fate of being acquired by its former younger brother, the current Emperor Penguin.

If Chuhe expressed in EA that he hoped that EA could operate the game like Tianhe Network, that would be really difficult.

Chuhe is not very excited about the acquisition of 4.5% of EA's shares. For Chuhe himself, the technology that EA will provide to Tianhe Network and the income of Respawn Entertainment make Chuhe even more excited.

In the previous news about the failure of the EA project, many EA shareholders were sold to cash out, and just now Wilson said at the press conference that EA will conduct a large-scale layoff, directly laying off 1500 employees.

At this moment, EA's stock price began to fall again. If this project had a sip of EA's soup at dawn, it is estimated that it will not be able to stop now.

"Is there any next project for Respawn Entertainment?" Chu He asked Wilson.

Although the contract has been signed, the specific situation of Respawn Entertainment is still negotiated by his subordinates. Chu He only signed the final signature. As for the specific report of Respawn Entertainment, Chu He has not read the report yet, and he does not know what they have now. There are no ongoing projects.

"We should ask West and Zampella about this. They are independently operated, and we have not interfered with their projects." Wilson shook his head and said.

　The death of Titanfall 2 is really miserable, but it also makes people speechless; on the one hand, it crashes with the battlefield, on the other hand, the successful first generation of the game is purely competitive, and the second generation joins the battle, although the plot performance is shocking enough , but the multiplayer mode is honestly not as good as a generation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)