Electronic Arts has published a number of great games, but the company doesn't
exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to acquiring game
developers. For example, EA acquired Origin, Westwood Studios, and Bullfrog only
to lay off the developers' employees or watch them leave EA because of creative
disagreements and quality issues. As a result, EA has been blamed for producing
a number of half-baked games that were rushed to completion. In addition, a
number of highly anticipated games like the MMOs Ultima Online 2, Ultima X:
Odyssey and BattleTech 3025 have been cancelled under EA's watch.
So it's easy to understand why fans of the Battlefield series are a little
ticked off these days, since EA finally completed its contested acquisition of
Swedish developer Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE). Originally EA
proposed the buyout in 2004, but two DICE shareholder groups controlling 28
percent of the stock opposed the deal. Nevertheless, DICE's board of directors
recommended that its shareholders accept the deal. After buying the majority
stake in DICE last year, EA sealed the deal this week. Thus, DICE became an EA
subsidiary studio.
Of course, EA announced today that it has closed down DICE's Canada operation,
Digital Illusions Canada in Ontario. So those Canadian developers didn't last
too long. EA has tried to put a nice face on this by saying that many Digital
Illusions Canada employees are being interview for other employee opportunities
in EA's Canadian locations. The only problem is, those locations are Burnaby,
Montreal and Vancouver, not Ontario.
The perception is that once EA buys a game developer the games will never be the
same because the publisher keeps the intellectual property but guts the studio
and dumps the employees. The scuttling of Digital Illusions Canada does little
to dispel that notion. I have a feeling that Battlefield 2142, due out this
month, may be the last Battlefield title many fans buy now that there's been a
changing - and dumping - of the guard.
Comments (10)
Remember that DICE Canada made Battlefield: Vietnam. 1942 and 2 were made by the
original DICE back here in Europe. DICE Canada has, since BFV, been seen as a
bit of a hanger on. EA was right to shaft it.
Posted by --Aaron | October 6, 2006 3:26 AM
Posted on October 6, 2006 03:26
I remember Origin (the OLD Ultima Games), Westwood (C&C), and Bullfrog
(ThemePark!)....I don't understand how these acquisitions are profitable to EA
when they don't even create titles under the franchises they just bought (No new
Ultima games....C&C 3 is FINALLY getting the light of day).DICE Canada was also
the guys working on the (oft delayed, oft bug-ridden) BF2 patches. With the
release of BF2142 does this mean support for BF2 has officially ended?And
finally the rehashing of games. BF2142 is a prime example of this...it (based
on my experience with the Beta) feels like a MOD...not a whole new game. Add to
that the advertising revenue from the new in-game advertising and you've got
yourself a nice cash cow of a game with little effort to make, and supplemental
income.EA can produce crap for a while longer because of the general gaming
public's ignorance...but I suspect they might get a shock at the lack of sales
from BF2142.
Posted by -Z | October 6, 2006 11:03 AM
Posted on October 6, 2006 11:03
Aaron, as co-author of the TwitchGuru Blog, you're supposed to be on MY
side.What was wrong with BF:V? I thought it was a pretty good game. Killer
soundtrack, too.
Posted by --Rob | October 6, 2006 1:53 PM
Posted on October 6, 2006 13:53
BFV was half baked
Posted by Anonymous | October 6, 2006 8:22 PM
Posted on October 6, 2006 20:22
EA are mking money by getting rid of threats. Its not that EA want to get their
hands on DICE products or staff, they just want them out of the way so that EA's
crap has no competition. The real losers are the consumers.
Posted by Anonymous | October 8, 2006 1:37 PM
Posted on October 8, 2006 13:37
EA are mking money by getting rid of threats. Its not that EA want to get their
hands on DICE products or staff, they just want them out of the way so that EA's
crap has no competition. The real losers are the consumers.
Posted by Anonymous | October 8, 2006 1:37 PM
Posted on October 8, 2006 13:37
Rob, you're an idiot. BFV was terrible. The helicopters didn't fly without a an
MA, the graphics were... erm, "brown" is the best word I can think, as all I can
vividly remember of them was the brown rivers, the brown ground and the not-
very-good foliage. Game was unbalanced for much of its life (anyone else
remember the M60 / LAW whores? Because we all know we can fire a 10.5kg crew-
manned LMG from the hip...), and the music was an unnecessary distraction. I
don't think too many guys whizzed around 'nam blaring "White Rabbit" out of
their jeeps, giving their position away to all and sundry.Battlefield: Vietnam
was, by far, the weakest of the series.
Posted by --Aaron | October 9, 2006 3:32 AM
Posted on October 9, 2006 03:32
Biggest problem is all these companies needing to go public to generate capital
and openning themselves to the Vultures the EA have become..Its really, really,
really sad that this is happening in this industry...Im almost ready to cry
about all the crap that is being released now a days...
Posted by Taxidriver | October 10, 2006 6:46 AM
Posted on October 10, 2006 06:46
BFV was set as the premise to be a game that was not supposed to be taken
seriously. It was supposed to be a movie like setting. Or feel like you were
living forest gump. It was made as an expansion origionally and was half baked
and pumped out not because of DICE but because EA rushed it. They wanted those
spring sales. There arn't many companies anymore like nintendo who believe in
quality over quantaty and will not stop until there games are flawless.
Posted by Anonymous | October 23, 2006 1:28 PM
Posted on October 23, 2006 13:28
The current BF2142 release is an absolute catastrophe.Thousands of gamers bought
the game through their "EA Download" service, only to have their game keys
deleted and invalid because EA released an untested "EA Link" which installed
automatically, deleted downloaded cache of the game, deleted registry values
making the dowloaded games authentic, and STILL havent released a fix. I bought
two copies of the game through EA Downloader, and thanks to this fiasco I can
safely say I will never buy another EA game again.
Posted by Anonymous | November 1, 2006 8:07 PM
Posted on November 1, 2006 20:07