Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mass effect 2, one of the best Bioware game was developed under EA.
Mass Effect 2 was a massive spit in the face of everything Mass Effect 1 was.
[deleted]
EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
61–70 of 461 posts
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#62AAA gaming feels so tired (and tiresome) that this news barely registers for me. The last EA game I played was the excellent C&C remaster - and EA's main contribution was getting out of the way of the project. They still own the rights to a ton of legendary IP - SimCity, Command & Conquer, Battlefield, but I don't have illusions that new iterations of that IP will be any good. I know this is probably part of the Saud…
EA is a big publisher, so things like Split Fiction/It Takes Two get sprinkled in with their yearly shovelware of new paint jobs for Madden, NHL, FIFA, The Sims 4, etc too. I'll also give them credit that not every remaster is crap (Mass Effect Legendary Edition was great).
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#63I am finding myself having some conflicted feelings on this. First, I absolutely hate who is buying them. Especially as a huge Bioware fan with a Mass Effect tattoo. That being said, putting aside who is buying them for a moment. I would actually be happy to see more gaming companies going fully private. I feel like the need for constant growth (instead of just sustainability) is what has caused much of the issues in…
Idk. Are private equity firms not asking for constant growth? Seems unlikely to me.
I think most companies satisfied for being sustainable are probably owned by their original founders or their families, not private equity.
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#64Like them or not, EA has been a major force in gaming for over 40 years (I used to work there). They invented the term "Game Producer". Their early vision for promoting Game Designers like hollywood Directors was ahead of its time. They have a hallway lined with gold discs of million seller hit games. They basically created the casual gaming industry (The Sims Division, Pogo, Casual Divisions) in a time when games were mostly marketed to boys.
I respect this company a lot, even though they always seem to do things that embitter the gaming community against them.
Unfortunately these types of buyouts usually come with layoffs, after a year of tough layoffs in games. I hope anyone who will be affected can land somewhere safe.
The campus has a labyrinth with a plaque that's always inspired me: "As in life, the walls are only in your mind."
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#65They basically bought FIFA (now called FC). It's a very simple money-printing machine, with plenty of people addicted to it with its gambling/gache style game. All the other IP barely make any revenue and will likely get even less attention. RIP Bioware.
For a moment, I thought you were saying they bought FIFA itself. Which doesn't seem out of the question, FSM knows they're for sale in every other way.
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#66I am finding myself having some conflicted feelings on this. First, I absolutely hate who is buying them. Especially as a huge Bioware fan with a Mass Effect tattoo. That being said, putting aside who is buying them for a moment. I would actually be happy to see more gaming companies going fully private. I feel like the need for constant growth (instead of just sustainability) is what has caused much of the issues in…
This $56B company just took on an additional $20B in debt for this to go private. Now not only do they need to make profits, they need to squeeze even more juice to pay the interest on that $20B.
This will probably result in more money extracting schemes and less editorial freedom, even without thinking about MBS having a massive amount of influence in the company now.
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#67They basically bought FIFA (now called FC). It's a very simple money-printing machine, with plenty of people addicted to it with its gambling/gache style game. All the other IP barely make any revenue and will likely get even less attention. RIP Bioware.
I had who spent 1500 USD in one year on ultimate team. In Brazil, around 2015. That was _quite a lot_ of money in Brazil at the time.
Wait until you see how much people spend on mobile gacha!
Well we don't need to wait long. I think the history book will say this EA acquisition is the point PC gaming market becomes as predatory as mobile.
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#68AAA gaming feels so tired (and tiresome) that this news barely registers for me. The last EA game I played was the excellent C&C remaster - and EA's main contribution was getting out of the way of the project. They still own the rights to a ton of legendary IP - SimCity, Command & Conquer, Battlefield, but I don't have illusions that new iterations of that IP will be any good. I know this is probably part of the Saud…
> The last EA game I played was the excellent C&C remaster - and EA's main contribution was getting out of the way of the project.
Not only did they get out of the way, but they actively hired the studio that sprung up from the corpse of the original developers (Westwood): Petroglyph. Not only letting the original designers/developers do their thing, but giving them a chance to work on their own baby again.
It’s rare for larger companies to be willing to humble themselves for something like that, so they gained an iota of respect from me.
Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#69Re: EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners
#70I am finding myself having some conflicted feelings on this. First, I absolutely hate who is buying them. Especially as a huge Bioware fan with a Mass Effect tattoo. That being said, putting aside who is buying them for a moment. I would actually be happy to see more gaming companies going fully private. I feel like the need for constant growth (instead of just sustainability) is what has caused much of the issues in…
> I feel like the need for constant growth (instead of just sustainability) is what has caused much of the issues in the current gaming market. I'm not sure the investment group attempting to diversify Saudi oil income is going to be less profit oriented than the stock market in general
> not sure the investment group attempting to diversify Saudi oil income is going to be less profit oriented than the stock market in general
For what it’s worth, MBS is reportedly an avid gamer.