Really, just an all around smash up job by EA and their partners this year. Let's take a quick look at all the stuff they did this year:
Dead Space 3
Dead Space 3 was released on Xbox 360 and PS3. Hot off the sequel to Dead Space 2, an award winning game that managed to cross the survival horror and action game genres into a unique blend of awesome, Dead Space 3 gets press for being riddled with small microtransactions and a shift towards action setpieces involving shooting other humans, something that the series has never done before. Despite lower reviews than the previous game, EA stated that, "While we have not announced sales for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and the franchise remains an important IP to EA," (EA spokesperson to Eurogamer.)
Videogamer.com then goes on to report that the franchise as a whole was canned by EA following poor sales/reception to Dead Space 3. The site asks EA for any comment, with no response. However after the article was posted, a person by the name of Peter Moore in the comments section of Games Industry has this to say:
Hah, those internet pranksters, right? As if Peter Moore would post in a comments section of a news story.
Oh wait, Eurogamer actually confirmed that was the real Peter Moore in the comments. Ignore requests for comments, only to make them in the comments section? The COO, of all people? That's one way to respond to press!
Simcity
Simcity was released in March, nearly ten years after the last Simcity game, and it's an absolute disaster at launch. Even if you could get past the fundimental changes of design of the game (or as one person puts it, "the most expensive Facebook game ever made"), you still wouldn't be able to play it- the Always Online DRM requirement results in a server overload that prevents thousands from logging in and playing. Cities are routinely wiped from the server, basic modes such as Cheetah speed is disabled for server issues, and the whole idea behind the game being always online (because the game has lots of routines and mathmatical calculations going on in the background that's being sent and received by EA's servers) is debunked just a few days after launch with a user modding the game to be playable offline, indefinitely.
One of the biggest issues? The extremely small city size, which EA says they'll look at along with many other suggestions for future updates. Later they'll explain that large city sizes probably won't ever happen and introduced a brand new expansion pack, "Cities of Tomorrow" with new building designs set in the future, which is exactly what everyone wanted.
Simcity for Mac was released a few months later in August. Thankfully EA has learned from the PC launch and has gone out of their way to make sure that a smooth, successful launch is ready to go for Mac users...haha just kidding, it was a mess too.
PopCap
Plants vs Zombies 2 was released on mobile in August, taking what was once a fun and challenging adventure into a free to play microtransaction mess that wins the "Most Disappointing Game" award from Pocket Tactics. Lots of strategy videos pop up for the game, mostly focusing on how to win the game without spending money.
Peggle 2 was also released in December on Xbox One, featuring less levels than the previous version, missing leaderboards and local play, as well as choppy framerates in online play. Popcap says they'll patch in those missing features for free and will get right to work on addressing the issues. Given that this was already delayed from the XB1 launch, I wonder if EA pressured PopCap to release something that wasn't quite finished in time for Christmas? Huh, that doesn't sound like EA...
Titanfall
Long known as an "exclusive" for Xbox console platforms and PC, EA cemented a deal with Microsoft to keep that deal in place forever for Titanfall, ensuring that it will never be on any other platforms. This is business stuff that any other company would have probably taken and shouldn't be counted against EA. There have been plenty of instances before, and certainly after, of companies doing this kind of thing.
What IS surprising is that the devs of Titanfall didn't even find out until pretty much everyone else.
That kind of great EA Communication™ is why devs are constantly flocking to be a part of the EA Partners division.
Battlefield 4
I think we all know what's going on here. One of the most bug ridden releases I've ever seen, with EA apologizing one month after release. A week or so later, they state that no work is being done on DLC until the game is fixed. By the way, this statement was made about 35 days after launch. Still no end in sight. Microsoft has even issued refunds to Battlefield Premium members asking for one.
Hey that reminds me, who's excited for Star Wars: Battlefront?
NBA Live 2014
The second EA apology this year, reviewed poorly including a scathing one star review by Giantbomb. Hey, they have no where to go but up!
Other Notable Releases this Year
FUZE, Crysis 3, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, and over 60 mobile releases. None of those 60+ releases on mobile include a fix for Simcity for iPad, which has a water table bug that prevents users from building big cities, and has gone unfixed for years now.
Great job on 2013 EA, I can't wait to see what 2014, and this brand new generation, has in store for us!
Dead Space 3
Dead Space 3 was released on Xbox 360 and PS3. Hot off the sequel to Dead Space 2, an award winning game that managed to cross the survival horror and action game genres into a unique blend of awesome, Dead Space 3 gets press for being riddled with small microtransactions and a shift towards action setpieces involving shooting other humans, something that the series has never done before. Despite lower reviews than the previous game, EA stated that, "While we have not announced sales for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and the franchise remains an important IP to EA," (EA spokesperson to Eurogamer.)
Videogamer.com then goes on to report that the franchise as a whole was canned by EA following poor sales/reception to Dead Space 3. The site asks EA for any comment, with no response. However after the article was posted, a person by the name of Peter Moore in the comments section of Games Industry has this to say:
Hah, those internet pranksters, right? As if Peter Moore would post in a comments section of a news story.
Oh wait, Eurogamer actually confirmed that was the real Peter Moore in the comments. Ignore requests for comments, only to make them in the comments section? The COO, of all people? That's one way to respond to press!
Simcity
Simcity was released in March, nearly ten years after the last Simcity game, and it's an absolute disaster at launch. Even if you could get past the fundimental changes of design of the game (or as one person puts it, "the most expensive Facebook game ever made"), you still wouldn't be able to play it- the Always Online DRM requirement results in a server overload that prevents thousands from logging in and playing. Cities are routinely wiped from the server, basic modes such as Cheetah speed is disabled for server issues, and the whole idea behind the game being always online (because the game has lots of routines and mathmatical calculations going on in the background that's being sent and received by EA's servers) is debunked just a few days after launch with a user modding the game to be playable offline, indefinitely.
One of the biggest issues? The extremely small city size, which EA says they'll look at along with many other suggestions for future updates. Later they'll explain that large city sizes probably won't ever happen and introduced a brand new expansion pack, "Cities of Tomorrow" with new building designs set in the future, which is exactly what everyone wanted.
Simcity for Mac was released a few months later in August. Thankfully EA has learned from the PC launch and has gone out of their way to make sure that a smooth, successful launch is ready to go for Mac users...haha just kidding, it was a mess too.
PopCap
Plants vs Zombies 2 was released on mobile in August, taking what was once a fun and challenging adventure into a free to play microtransaction mess that wins the "Most Disappointing Game" award from Pocket Tactics. Lots of strategy videos pop up for the game, mostly focusing on how to win the game without spending money.
Peggle 2 was also released in December on Xbox One, featuring less levels than the previous version, missing leaderboards and local play, as well as choppy framerates in online play. Popcap says they'll patch in those missing features for free and will get right to work on addressing the issues. Given that this was already delayed from the XB1 launch, I wonder if EA pressured PopCap to release something that wasn't quite finished in time for Christmas? Huh, that doesn't sound like EA...
Titanfall
Long known as an "exclusive" for Xbox console platforms and PC, EA cemented a deal with Microsoft to keep that deal in place forever for Titanfall, ensuring that it will never be on any other platforms. This is business stuff that any other company would have probably taken and shouldn't be counted against EA. There have been plenty of instances before, and certainly after, of companies doing this kind of thing.
What IS surprising is that the devs of Titanfall didn't even find out until pretty much everyone else.
That kind of great EA Communication™ is why devs are constantly flocking to be a part of the EA Partners division.
Battlefield 4
I think we all know what's going on here. One of the most bug ridden releases I've ever seen, with EA apologizing one month after release. A week or so later, they state that no work is being done on DLC until the game is fixed. By the way, this statement was made about 35 days after launch. Still no end in sight. Microsoft has even issued refunds to Battlefield Premium members asking for one.
Hey that reminds me, who's excited for Star Wars: Battlefront?
NBA Live 2014
The second EA apology this year, reviewed poorly including a scathing one star review by Giantbomb. Hey, they have no where to go but up!
Other Notable Releases this Year
FUZE, Crysis 3, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, and over 60 mobile releases. None of those 60+ releases on mobile include a fix for Simcity for iPad, which has a water table bug that prevents users from building big cities, and has gone unfixed for years now.
Great job on 2013 EA, I can't wait to see what 2014, and this brand new generation, has in store for us!
