Electronic Arts Will Murder Battlefield and DICE Next
The epic of an old republic, a tale of eldritch abominations in space, and a life simulator. What do all of these have in common? Their studios were bought out by Electronic Arts and succinctly drained of all their magic. That’s right, we all remember Bioware, Visceral Studios, and Maxis. All of them, at one point, were the champions of their respective domains. Yet, after their acquisition by the infamous publisher, they all became a hollow shell of their former selves. However, after the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042, the relatively poor sales of Battlefield V, and the negative press surrounding DICE, it seems that EA might have a new target on the chopping block.
Electronic Arts is a publisher that isn’t afraid of controversy. Voted the most hated company in the United States twice in a row and consequently ranked within the worst five afterward. It’s fair to say they’re aware of their reputation. But, that hasn’t stopped the company from going about business as usual. Their modus operandi is simple, buy a studio, monetize the hell out of their games, and dissolve it once it no longer becomes profitable. It’s a quick and effective tactic, focusing on short-term profits over the goodwill of their customer base. Yet, it leaves everyone feeling burned. The studios all see their creativity stripped away, gamers receive shoddy unfinished products, and the company’s reputation tanks even further.
But, EA doesn’t care about the goodwill of their target demographic. No, the only things that matters are profits and how much they can milk the franchise. They did it to Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 with the forced inclusion of multiplayer, loot boxes, and the series’ ever-increasing shift towards action rather than role-playing. Viscerals’ Dead Space franchise suffered from a similar fate. Dead Space 3 in particular had a massive identity crisis. What was once an infamous survival horror story in space became a cookie-cutter co-op action title with crafting mechanics that included microtransactions. Can you believe that? Paying to create better weapons and justifying it by saying players love instant gratification. But, all of this pales in comparison to what EA did to Maxis and The Sims series.
Maxis released every iteration of The Sims with less base content than the previous one. The first was innocuous enough; seven expansions, all filled to the brim with new content. The second split the add-ons into two, with gameplay expansions and stuff packs. The Sims 3 split some of the expansion packs into two entities, still had stuff packs, and included an in-game store. Finally, there is The Sims 4, a title utterly devoid of any scruples. Not only did The Sims 4 split the expansion packs even further, but it also added even more crap to buy. Instead of buying one expansion pack with several different supernatural creatures like in The Sims 3, you have to purchase them individually. Don’t believe me?
Here is a list of some of the shit you can buy in The Sims 4:
- Discover University — $39.99 USD
- Eco Lifestyle — $39.99 USD
- Seasons — $39.99 USD
- Get Famous — $39.99 USD
- Get to Work — $39.99 USD
- Get Together — $39.99 USD
- City Living — $39.99 USD
- Discover University $39.99 USD
- Cats & Dogs — $39.99 USD
- Moschino — $9.99 USD
- My First Pet — $9.99 USD
- Laundry Day — $9.99 USD
- Spooky — $9.99 USD
- Cool Kitchen — $9.99 USD
- Perfect Patio — $9.99 USD
- Luxury Party — $9.99 USD
- Vintage Glamour — $9.99 USD
- Kids Room — $9.99 USD
- Backyard — $9.99 USD
- Romantic Garden — $9.99 USD
- Strangerville — $19.99 USD
- Jungle Adventure — $19.99 USD
- Parenthood — $19.99 USD
- Realm of Magic — $19.99 USD
- Vampires — $19.99 USD
- Dine Out — $19.99 USD
- Spa Day — $19.99 USD
- Outdoor Retreat — $19.99 USD
I had to stop because this list would take up several pages. A lot of this content was ripped straight out of other expansions and made into a separate DLC. I have zero doubt that this was all EAs’ handiwork. After they dismantled the original Maxis studios and the creation of Maxis Redwood, any potential pushback from the original developers disappeared. At that point, EA had free reign of what to tell the developers to do, and what we got, well, that was The Sims 4. A game that will set you back nearly $700.00 if you want to play it at its fullest. But how does any of that apply to DICE and, by extension, the Battlefield franchise?
EA bought DICE in 2005, six years before Battlefield 3 was released. Although it was the 12th game in the series, BF3 became the fastest-selling title for the franchise. Gamers couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could EA. Soon enough, they greenlighted a sequel, the aptly named Battlefield 4, managing to sell a respectable 7 million copies despite a drop in overall quality. Still, that wasn’t enough for EA. Taking a page from its rivals at Activision, it employed a second studio to develop a new title, Battlefield Hardline. But, BH was even worse quality than either of the prior installments. Cops and robbers don’t match the excitement of a military setting, and Battlefield wasn’t about arresting bad guys. Yet, despite these setbacks, Hardline still sold above 4.5 million copies. By now, you can all probably see the sales and quality were taking a turn for the worse. However, despite EAs’ best attempts at killing the series so far, DICE had one more ace up its sleeve.
Battlefield One was that ace. Featuring incredibly polished and balanced gameplay, BF1 sold 15 Million Copies worldwide. However, its successor would be another story. Battlefield V sold approximately half the copies of its predecessor. EA, for its part, shouldered the responsibility onto DICE. Citing that Battlefield V lacked direction and featured no Battle Royale mode as the primary cause of the failure. But, the reality was that gamers weren’t excited for Battlefield V. They were too busy playing Call of Duty. Honestly, EA should have taken that moment to reflect on what made the franchise great rather than chasing trends. Instead, they had DICE start working on the sequel Battlefield 2042.
I met very few players who weren’t excited about Battlefield 2042. The previews made the title look fantastic, and it seemed like a return to what made BF3 great. But, what was released left much to be desired. Bugs, graphical glitches, removal of the classes, and overpowered hover boats plagued the title even before its release. The beta test that people paid extra money to play in was a mess, and word-of-mouth spread quickly through the web. Players started canceling their pre-orders, forcing DICE to go into damage control mode. They delayed the release for a month and claimed that the beta was from an early build. However, their efforts did little to assuage the concerns of the masses, as gamers had already lost faith in DICE. But who knows, maybe a month was all they needed to complete the finishing touches on the game? Except, it most definitely wasn’t enough time. After all, you can polish a turd all you want, but that won’t make it turn into gold.
Battlefield 2042 launched to one of the most disastrous releases in recent history. The only game that could reasonably match it was Cyberpunk 2077. Gamers everywhere started uploading videos of all the crazy stuff happening in the game. Critics tore the title apart with honest critiques of Battlefield 2042’s shortcomings. But, most importantly, word of mouth spread, warning anyone who’d listen of the terrible shit the title had to offer. Even Valve, a company notorious for its strict return policy, got in on the action. They offered anyone who’d ask for a refund the opportunity to get it even if they surpassed the two-hour policy grace period. For a while, it seemed that DICE couldn’t catch a break. EA, however, was undeterred. Their only comment on the situation was that Battlefield 2042s success would have only accounted for 10% of the profits for the year.
Andrew Wilson’s (CEO) words sound innocuous enough if you don’t think about them. Yet, they raise some substantial concerns. The most obvious is that EA doesn’t care about DICE or Battlefield. It only cares about its bottom line. With two consecutive flops in their hands, that leaves DICE in a precarious situation. I have little doubt in my mind that EA isn’t planning to close them out soon. Failing that, I believe that EA will fire everyone on the staff and replace them with a different studio, ala Maxis.
The Battlefield franchise’s profitability is quickly tanking, yet EA refuses to learn from its past mistakes. People don’t play Battlefield for Battle Royales or to wear different skins with specialists. They play Battlefield because they want a squad-based shooter with integral tactical team concepts. They play to spend time with friends on a game that offers something different than Call of Duty or Fortnite. Instead of chasing trends, DICE and EA should focus on what made Battlefield special. But, if they continue flopping as they have recently, EA will murder them soon enough.
To Recap:
- EA owns a lot of different studios.
- EA was the worst company in the US twice in a row.
- EA strips companies of their creativity slowly after seeing their profitability.
- Bioware and Visceral saw their single-player games become multiplayer, microtransaction-filled messes thanks to EA.
- Maxis The Sims also saw hyper monetization tactics forced on the series due to executive meddling from EA.
- Expansion, stuff packs, game packs, and plenty more infested The Sims 4.
- $700.00 to play The Sims 4 in its entirety.
- EA purchases DICE.
- Battlefield 3 releases and surpasses all expectations.
- A string of sequels is released shortly after with varying quality control problems, yet sales remain strong.
- Battlefield V marks the beginning of the decline.
- Battlefield 2042 was a complete and utter piece of crap that isn’t worth playing.
- EA will probably fire everyone on DICE and replace them with a team that can churn out shittier sequels at a lower budget.