It's been a tough few months for Electronic Arts. After downsizing its workforce and canceling some unannounced projects, the company now says it's moving away from distributing externally developed games.
Electronic Arts has distributed such high-profile games as MTV's Rock Band and Valve's Left 4 Dead 2, but the publisher/developer says that distribution just doesn't pay out as much as internally developed titles. Or, as COO John Schappert put it, "While we have great relationships with our partners, we are modeling a reduction in our distribution business as we concentrate on higher-margin EA-owned titles and digital initiative." There were no Rock Band games listed in EA's recent outlook for the fiscal year, so perhaps this phasing out is already starting.
Companies turn to big publishers like EA for their retail distribution and marketing needs because it's something they either can't or don't want to do themselves.
While EA should take a short term hit (website Gamasutra estimates a $450 million loss in distribution from last year), if this move means EA concentrates more on its own internally developed product, then it could be the right move in the long term.
At least I dont know about these unannounced projects cause if I knew I would be devestated
No Rock Band? What about the Green Day game recently announced?
EA is turning into a pretty good company, but they better not try to make their own system
I hope all the staff being cut and games not being developed are the crap ones EA does put out there from time to time.
Man, EA has been around forever...I hope this isn't a precursor to something worse. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
If this is what it takes to keep EA producing great games then so be it. If it's just a ploy to make more money faster...they may start catching as much flak at good old Bobby K.
I wonder how much this is going to effect independent developers who will have to look elsewhere to get their games into our hands.
No! Bioware's and Valve's agreements are gonna be cut short? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!
Well I still fear the names of those unannounced games. I could have expected a sequel and shall never receive it. Hope they make it through and still make the games gamers enjoy. Now, I need some time to bury those developers I liked. Like Pandemic
screw rockband
I would be very interested to find out how that makes any fiscal sense. I don't understand how EA getting money to distribute a game that they are not paying to produce costs them to get a percentage to distribute. I could be totally wrong about this, but I don't know.
Of course, with Activision's decision to dump all those games last year such as Ghostbusters because they weren't franchises that could be milked every year is just as stupid a decision.
Sweet, this should be good, seeing that they have BioWare with them and all, should work for the better. And as far as Rock Band 'Green Day', I hope they dont release that.
"this move means EA concentrates more on its own internally developed product"
What, Medal of Honor: 100 Hour Work Week? The Ghost of Trip Hawkins? 007 Racing?
EA doesn't seem too be doing too well lately, hopefully the developers can find ways to distribute the games by themselves.
Awesome, maybe Rockband will get even better. EA's money all comes from distributing external games. Their biggest draws were games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Rockband, etc. Not sure why they would want to drop those industry monsters, but it's their choice. Just so happens it's an awful choice on their part. Maybe EA's big bad annoying self righteous attitude will get knocked down a few pegs by this and they will quit destroying developers when realize they actually need them around. No body with half a mind respects the work EA does, they respect the work of the developers that EA publishes. EA tries hard to take credit for all the games they don't make, maybe the lack of quality in the stuff that comes out of places like EA Tiburon will finally be realized.
For all of you people that think games with an EA logo on them are made by that company, you are wrong, unless it is a sports or racing series they don't touch it. So don't fret. With the success of games like Left 4 Dead and Rockband you can almost guarantee that all the third party stuff they seem to get credit for will still release. They are nicknamed Evil Arts for a reason, and this is only going to expose exactly why.
Just another reason to hate EA
This was the one redeeming part of EA, and now they're cutting it?! After reading your EAP feature last year I finally thought I could stop hating EA, but apparently not.
*In Addition* EA would be no where without outside developers. With that in mind this makes even less sense. That's like Wal-Mart deciding that they didn't need all those other products, they're just going to sell their in-house products. It's pointlessly cutting out a major chunk of revenue. I could understand if they said they were cutting back on marketing, because they have done a considerable amount for Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Dante's Inferno. But to cut them out all together? I question that logic.
Why are so many people worried about Bioware products? Ea owns Bioware, do they not? They will continue to make them, as is shown in their fiscal year outlook.
I'll only be ok with this if their internally made games are awesome. If they aren't, well then EA Fail.
EA does, unfortunately, own BioWare, yes. But that wouldn't stop them from getting published even if they weren't. BioWare isn't the type of studio that lets a parent company control them though, I have a feeling their being owned by EA is more like a contracted partnership than it is outright ownership. BioWare has free rain over development and then EA just handles marketing and distribution.