Former EA CEO: Devs Who Don't Focus On Microtransactions Are 'the Biggest F****** Idiots'

Yoboman said:
Is there a single successful microtransaction based game that actually started out that way?

Seems like publishers like EA are missing the forest for the trees. Build a good product first with enough content to build a userbase. Worry about added content and other modes of monetising when you have a userbase
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Yeah, but no, fuck that!! They took Madden and FIFA, with solid robust core game modes, added in all the trashy money-sucking Ultimate Team bullshit, and have neglected everything outside of Ultimate Team ever fucking since! They have even gone backwards in the core game mode, but you can't tell them that because to them Ultimate IS the core game mode. Fuck them. Fuck all of them.

I wish the god dang NFL license would slip free of the bastards!
 
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First it was DLC cut from original projects to make lazy extra money, now it's microtransactions, you don't even need to pretend the content was in there from the start, people are so fucking dumb they'll buy it anyway.
 
jaysius said:
First it was DLC cut from original projects to make lazy extra money, now it's microtransactions, you don't even need to pretend the content was in there from the start, people are so fucking dumb they'll buy it anyway.
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And the worst part is that if we do our "due diligence" to combat this shit, it will only make mobile look like the defacto place to develop and publish new content since that market is full of suckers who just throw money away at anything.

I've kind of sort of given up on the ol' triple A market and just assumed that they will all be Apple/Android first in the near future. If we're lucky, we'll be left with the faithful game developers whose budgets are smaller but their heart is in it!
 
This dude must be fucking foaming at the mouth seeing elden ring get all it success with not one single Microtransaction in the game.
People like this dude are the main reason that not just gaming, but everything in the world is in such massive disrepair. They focus on nothing but money, they have no heart, they have no soul, they are not human, but rather greedy money hungry husks who make it their lifes goal to fuck over every single person on earth for the sake of cash.
 
Fuz said:
And here it is, the most idiotic take.

Those companies have LEGIONS of psychologists and behavior experts, bent to exploit every single weakness hard wired in our brains.

BuT yOu H4V3 oNlY yoUrseLvEs tO BlAmE!!1!
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found someone who doesn't take responsibility for their actions. what are you 12
 
I think I'm ok not buying any future games made with Unity. If developers want to cozy up to this idiot so be it. I won't be buying those games.
 
Kurt Russell Fact GIF
 
Yeah I mean if gamers want to be dumb enough to buy virtual ships, fifa bucks, NBA coins and cars/tracks for racing games, I can't blame the big pubs.

Still a huge douche though
 
Microtransactions are perfect for MP games. You can make your game free (or at least really cheap), which will help making people try your game. And if it's good, the player base will be huge. Also, that's the way you pay for the dedicated servers (unless you're Nintendo, then you'll implement p2p forever).

Now, that said, stay away from my SP games.
 
StateofMajora said:
Haven't all they done since been sports and online shooters?

The thing with any at all chance of me buying is the dead space remake...
at deep discount
A game that 100% doesn't need remade.

Lame EA, lame.
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No idea. Ubisoft, EA and Activision are pretty easy to ignore. Titanfall 2 for $6 was a great purchase though. Oddly enough, I've been replaying Dead Space recently. I'm not sure I'd be interested in a remake. It's not bad or anything but this replay is killing the nostalgia I had for it.
 
Well, he's right... because he's speaking in general. It's his job to care about the business and think of games, in an overall sense, in terms of product rather than art and experience.
 
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I am guessing he is and never was a gamer, just a numbers guy. Disappointing.
What more can we say about EA, they aren't our friends, they take care of the investors.
Gamming was better when it was developers working out of their basements and garages.

ROBLOX is the social engineering for young kids, gets them ready for Loot boxes. I've really come to hate it and have seen the consequences.

Also, how does this guy feel about NFTS? is he on board?

I blame Sony for all this, making game mainstream.
 
If you only care about money without any repercution, backlash or lack of shame, then yes.

Might as well pee on others, sell himself as a whore for money, drug seller, weapon contraband..endless options.
 
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Ozzie666 said:
I am guessing he is and never was a gamer, just a numbers guy. Disappointing.
What more can we say about EA, they aren't our friends, they take care of the investors.
Gamming was better when it was developers working out of their basements and garages.

ROBLOX is the social engineering for young kids, gets them ready for Loot boxes. I've really come to hate it and have seen the consequences.

Also, how does this guy feel about NFTS? is he on board?

I blame Sony for all this, making game mainstream.
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What's worse is that he's probably buddy buddy to anyone who is anyone in the games industry. How can anyone have empathy towards a player if they're all sitting at the same round table all the time? They're all dining with one another, talking about future plans together, and commenting on the future.

I'm going to sound super negative, but this industry is all about innovating ways for other people to make money. They hide it behind this creativity and art talk, but the decisions being made are all about the Benjamin's. We've already heard from Cliffy B, where he pointed out all these negative things before he exited. I don't know about you, but his comments from years ago are all starting to shine through. Vote with your wallet, it's a business, and a lot of the people making decisions are essentially clueless.

The people running the show have no soul, but they hire people with talent to do their bidding. If the veteran game designer gets burnt out, they'll trap another fresh one to do the work.

I could be wrong and I'd like to be corrected by someone if I am.

DeepEnigma said:
Some people may still harbor and stick to their creative vision. I know, crazy right?
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This is an amazing point in my opinion. It's also why we probably see developers Re-releasing so many old games. Sure the new ones can be fun, but there can't be cash copiers at every developer. They gotta go back and sell us what we liked about them in the first place.
 
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I respect the gatekeepers fighting their losing battle.

However, it might be nice if the conversation shifted from "Microtransactions bad!" to "What Microtransactions would you value?" I'd much rather keep investing in a game I love / continue playing than purchase whole games I quit in a few hours because they get boring so fast.

Perhaps in time...
 
Oh this guy :messenger_tears_of_joy:

This is probably his best quote ever:

"When you are six hours into playing Battlefield and you run out of ammo in your clip and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you're really not that price sensitive at that point in time" - John Riccitiello

When Riccitiello said Battlefield players could pay $1 per reload - MCV/DEVELOP

Free-to-play is not necessarily a dangerous monster stalking the innocent gamer.But at times it feels like it could be. - MCV/DEVELOP
www.mcvuk.com www.mcvuk.com

Yeah, good he's not with EA anymore - but a sad future for Unity is just around the corner..

 
I think he was trying to make a snarky comment about the current state of the industry, and he is right tho.
 
This guy pays for sex because nobody wants to f*** him for free.

Such idiots are a disease for the gaming industry

i hate them episode 2 GIF by Star Wars
 
This is unfortunately true but you also have people complaining about buying games so this is what's happening. With mtxs you don't care about second hand sales, you don't even have to compete on price, you just release a f2p game and get people to spend money indefinitely. Right at the beginning of the xbox one gen it was clear this is where we will be headed.
 
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64bitmodels said:
This dude must be fucking foaming at the mouth seeing elden ring get all it success with not one single Microtransaction in the game.
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I bet EA make in FUT in a single week what Bandai Namco made the whole year on ER.

"EA's full-year revenue reached $5.6 billion — 29% of that total came from Ultimate Team modes."
 
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Funniest thing is how people here defend and fight for these companies when they obviously see you as nothing but money bags.
 
although he's saying it in the dumbest way possible, it ain't wrong. Mobile makes more money than consoles and PC combined. EA makes billions just from the ultimate packs in their sports gambling titles.

These boomer fatcats don't care about games. The games are just a medium to extract as much money out of you. Mtx just takes the milking further by preying on people with addiction tendencies.
 
For gullible audiences, he is on the money. Mobile players have voted with their wallets that they want microtransactions.
I'd bet if you were to overnight set the prices of the most popular grubby mobile DLC to zero, player engagement would nosedive on those games.
 
It's because of scum like him, that the gaming industry is the broken mess it is today. It's no longer about making good games and selling a ton of copies, for people like him, it's about exploiting consumers to the last penny.
 
He's not wrong. There is clear money to be made. MTX should be as common as online connectivity. Not that it's a good thing for gamers, but from a purely business perspective, the pros outweigh the cons. Not having MTX in even the simplest of games means leaving money on the table.
 
Trying my best to not bite.

I wonder if he's talking about micro loops in some mobile hyper casual games like the .io range or something?

I can't think of any non hyper casual game that has a two minute core loop. You might get rewards etc every two mins (loot drops for example) but that not the core loop.

In hyper casual games the core loop has to be very short because the intention is that they are played for very short amounts of time. Like waiting for the bus for example

So is he saying that he has seen some hyper casual games that had 2 min core loops that could have extended them to be longer and they may have been more successful?

I mean if that's what he's saying.. I'm sure that's true. Is not something you find everywhere but I'm sure the hyper casual game has suffered of this…. But that's not news. And it's not dropping any truth bombs. Other than to that specific developer.
 
While in-game (micro)monetization is the root of all bad in gaming, I actually agree with him on feedback. You want early, quick and continuous feedback from your customers so that you can make data-driven assumptions about whether a design choice is good or not.

Listening to a vocal minority on Reddit, GAF or whatever isn't good enough.

It just sucks that the data doesn't yet show that predatory monetizations is bad for games..
 
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This is the guy who ridiculed making people pay to reload their gun in a game?
Yeah, he's the "former" CEO for a reason.
 
It is crazy how capitalistic money parasites don't understand that actual human beings do things out of passion too and not to make money money money to drown your worthless soul in power and materialistics.

This is exactly why I don't mind buying God of War Ragnarok day1 for full price or Elden Ring.

God damn predatory people like him thinking about compulsion loops to incentivize spending habits. We live in a dopamine society and sadly most don't realize it and walk from one dopamine rush to the next.
 
Ellery said:
It is crazy how capitalistic money parasites don't understand that actual human beings do things out of passion too and not to make money money money to drown your worthless soul in power and materialistics.

This is exactly why I don't mind buying God of War Ragnarok day1 for full price or Elden Ring.

God damn predatory people like him thinking about compulsion loops to incentivize spending habits. We live in a dopamine society and sadly most don't realize it and walk from one dopamine rush to the next.
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I agree on this but unfortunately the idiom "nice guys finish last" comes from truth. We may bitch and moan about GaaS and compulsion loops but they have player spending down to a science and it's less about the art form or passion.
 
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