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Rate EA as a Publisher (This Gen)

How would you rate EA's output this generation?

  • A

    Votes: 3 1.9%

  • B

    Votes: 11 6.8%

  • C

    Votes: 35 21.7%

  • D

    Votes: 42 26.1%

  • F

    Votes: 70 43.5%
  • Total voters
    161
SlimySnake

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
This generation has had its issues with first party publishers focusing on cross gen games and producing some duds, but third parties haven't exactly knocked it out of the park either. Activision, Ubisoft, and EA seem to have been coasting as well. That said, I was looking at some EA Play sales today and I didn't realize EA has quietly had a fairly decent generation. Nothing truly great, but not as bad as I thought they were having.

Some highlights:
- It Takes Two - This was the overall 2019 GOTY and I have to give EA props for sticking with a crazy fucking creator giving him time and budget to make his magnum opus after two trial attempts in Brothers and A Way Out. It felt like a Nintendo game at times and I do not associate that with EA of all publishers.

- Star Wars Jedi Survivor - Another game with great old school level design and storytelling you'd expect from a first party sony title. Sadly, Respawn rushed it refusing to delay it further despite EA giving them more time to fix it. Not going to blame EA for its technical issues.

- Dead Space Remake - Another excellent traditional metroidvania single player game. Not as good looking as Callisto but probably a better game overall.

Low Lights:

Battlefield 2042 - Visually stunning but another misstep after the fantastic Battlefield 1 in 2016. Repeats all the mistakes of BFV and makes maps even bigger and just doesnt have the same intensity as BF1. Still some fun to be had if you are a battlefield fan sick of mindless cod games and battle royale shooters.

Immortals - I admire them for investing in another risky single player game but this game is just boring. Not bad, just bland.

NFS Unbound - Another mediocre game. Expected way more from Criterion.

Not going to bring up their sports games, but at least they look fantastic thanks to the face and hair tech enhancements in Frostbite. Having three great games in 3.5 years isnt a big accomplishment, but I dont think they have produced an aggressively bad game this gen. Maybe Wild Hearts but i didnt play that one. Dragon Age is next and it doesnt look particularly great. But so far, im gonna have to give them a B based on the 3 truly great games they have delivered despite other missteps.

What does gaf think of EA's output this gen?
 
Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
They are somehow better than Activision Blizzard, if you told me this 7 years ago i would have laughed at your face.

Blizzard turned all of their games into money sucking machines, EA meanwhile still have the decency of releasing single-player games with no microtransactions like Dead Space and Jedi Survivior.
 
Last edited:
Puscifer

Puscifer

Member
Maybe I have my nostalgia goggles on but since the start of the PS4 I only know EA for Sports and Gacha shit.

Crazy how much variety they had on the PS2/XBOX/GC

 
Gamezone

Gamezone

Gold Member
They came back to Steam, and some of their games doesn't require their shitty launcher, which is good. Hopefully they can get rid of the EA app completely.
 
analog_future

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
Not awful. I thought Immortals was actually kind of underrated and had a fun time with it. I would’ve liked to see what Ascendant Studios would’ve conjured up next.

Dead Space was a masterpiece. Jedi Survivor was buggy but excellent. It Takes Two earned its GOTY recognition.

It’s just a shame that their great games (Dead Space) and experimental new IP (Immortals) were financial failures.
 
Kupfer

Kupfer

Member
Didn't buy an EA game this gen, so F.

When they start respecting their customers again and not just using them as cash cows, then we can start talking about an D.
If good games also come out of it, we'll get into spheres that will become interesting again
 
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Fbh

Fbh

Gold Member
B for intention, C for quality.

I appreciate them still investing in single player games like Jedi Survivor, Immortals, Dead Space and the upcoming Dragon Age.
I also like their continued relationship with Hazelight.

But aside from It Takes Two I haven't been particularly impressed with any of their games.
Jedi Survivor was underwhelming, Dragon Age looks lame, Dead Space was cool I guess but felt a bit unnecessary, and Immortals was straight up awful.
 
Starbuck2907

Starbuck2907

Member
Well, they patched Battlefield 2042 until it was good. And they remade Dead Space. They put out “It Takes Two.”.

If you don’t count remakes, patches, or indies they signed, they basically didn’t do much of anything but crap out the same sports games. Maybe the new college football game will be good?
 
Putonahappyface

Putonahappyface

Gold Member
HlpCb2Q.gif
 
T4keD0wN

T4keD0wN

Member
Theyve been getting a lot better these past few years imo, in contrast to most publishers like 2k and Ubisoft.

Not like that is impressive since its not hard to improve from the last place, especially while others are trying to get worse at a faster rate then them.
 
Last edited:
Codes 208

Codes 208

Member
Dead space and star wars were good, but everything else was forgettable or not my taste.

So D…
…For Dead Space
 
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
They had that "art games" initiative in the 360 era. Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Dante's Inferno, that Yarn indie game. This gen is a bit similar. Dead Space again, Jedi 1 and 2, Tales of Kenzera Zau, that Monster Hunter knock off, Immortals. None of them are all that great but I commend them for trying to branch out. I liked the Jedi games.

Intentions 7
Results 6. Would have preferred an original Dead Space. Jedi games are better than Dante's Inferno atleast. Nothing is as good as Mirror's Edge 1. Zau is probably better than those yarn games.
 
Last edited:
Gameplay Gods Bless

Gameplay Gods Bless

Member
SlimySnake said:
This generation has had its issues with first party publishers focusing on cross gen games and producing some duds, but third parties haven't exactly knocked it out of the park either. Activision, Ubisoft, and EA seem to have been coasting as well. That said, I was looking at some EA Play sales today and I didn't realize EA has quietly had a fairly decent generation. Nothing truly great, but not as bad as I thought they were having.

Some highlights:
- It Takes Two - This was the overall 2019 GOTY and I have to give EA props for sticking with a crazy fucking creator giving him time and budget to make his magnum opus after two trial attempts in Brothers and A Way Out. It felt like a Nintendo game at times and I do not associate that with EA of all publishers.

- Star Wars Jedi Survivor - Another game with great old school level design and storytelling you'd expect from a first party sony title. Sadly, Respawn rushed it refusing to delay it further despite EA giving them more time to fix it. Not going to blame EA for its technical issues.

- Dead Space Remake - Another excellent traditional metroidvania single player game. Not as good looking as Callisto but probably a better game overall.

Low Lights:

Battlefield 2042 - Visually stunning but another misstep after the fantastic Battlefield 1 in 2016. Repeats all the mistakes of BFV and makes maps even bigger and just doesnt have the same intensity as BF1. Still some fun to be had if you are a battlefield fan sick of mindless cod games and battle royale shooters.

Immortals - I admire them for investing in another risky single player game but this game is just boring. Not bad, just bland.

NFS Unbound - Another mediocre game. Expected way more from Criterion.

Not going to bring up their sports games, but at least they look fantastic thanks to the face and hair tech enhancements in Frostbite. Having three great games in 3.5 years isnt a big accomplishment, but I dont think they have produced an aggressively bad game this gen. Maybe Wild Hearts but i didnt play that one. Dragon Age is next and it doesnt look particularly great. But so far, im gonna have to give them a B based on the 3 truly great games they have delivered despite other missteps.

What does gaf think of EA's output this gen?
Click to expand...
F for what they did with Jedi Survivor.
 
Complistic

Complistic

Member
They've got a few good indies and I really enjoyed Jedi Survivor. I have no idea what they're doing with Battlefield and the entirety of Bioware.

3/10
 
Unknown?

Unknown?

Member
Draugoth said:
They are somehow better than Activision Blizzard, if you told me this 7 years ago i would have laughed at your face.

Blizzard turned all of their games into money sucking machines, EA meanwhile stills have the decency of releasing single-player games with no microtransactions like Dead Space and Jedi Survivior.
Click to expand...
EA and Activision have always traded blows on who's the worst publisher.
 
SportsFan581

SportsFan581

Member
I give them a bit of a pass since most of their focus is on the yearly sports releases. At least they have still been rolling the dice on a few projects like the Jedi games, the dead space remake, etc. I'd go with a C.
 
P

Platinumstorm

Member
I gave them an F. I haven't decided if it's because they've changed their target audience to ONLY the Sims audience, or if they are just truly lost.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
Not really worth talking about these days and much less worth giving them a grade imo. I'll oppose the common consensus and say that Aveum looks somewhat cool though. Aside from that, they're sellouts. Wilson is more interested in the money above their reputation with artistic integrity. Hope that line of thinking works out for him and his investors in the long run...
 
Last edited:
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