Report Card – Electronic Arts
Projects – B
During 2007 Electronic Arts kept fans talking about their titles by releasing over a dozen throughout the year. There was hardly a time when a new EA title wasn’t being talked about. From sports to action to shooters, EA seemingly had something for everyone to play. Tiger Woods, Madden and their NHL series were tops in their genre this year. And I can’t forget to mention the addition of former Microsoft executive Peter Moore to their sports division making an already strong division even stronger.
The quality and delivery of their titles range from average to excellent with average games like Need For Speed ProStreet to excellent titles like skate, The Orange Box and Crysis. Some say the frequency and number of titles is a bad thing but I submit to those people that it sure beats having nothing to play. It helps serving as both a publisher and developer. This gives you the ability to populate shelves moreso than many other companies.
It also helps your Projects grade when you obtain quality development studios at the pace EA has over the years. It shows that they’re willing to get the help needed to grade high or rather they’re on a “win at all costs” ego trip which in either case helps. It also helps when you establish new IPs that turn out better than anyone expected in their 2007 titles, skate and Rock Band. Although most of their titles were existing franchises, the effort behind the majority of them coupled with a few newbies gets Electronic Arts a B grade here.
Community – A
EA is a master at having its name in the thick of things within the community. They host all kinds of events both large and small which is something I commend them on. It’s not everyday that a company as large as Electronic Arts makes it a point to be accessible on more than a “big media” level. From ESPN Madden Nation to local events to game specific community summits, EA has definitely tapped into their fans.
When I mention the community, I’m not speaking about any public relations. The majority of what EA does in the community is by people within EA themselves. That’s a smart move not to just service your brand via some public relation/marketing company who knows little or cares little about the industry.
Beyond communicating with events, you have to have some sort of online presence to provide information. They try their best on their official website but it’s always a challenge to navigate and find what you’re looking for. Credit must be given though for having the latest information about their titles. There was a point when you looked to 3rd party sites for information on EA but now that’s all changed.
Extra Credit – C
It’s no secret their pricing strategy for extending titles has been under fire. This is an area that has seen some improvement over the months but it hasn’t quite become right. The latest crop of Rock Band weekly premium content from EA, Harmonix and MTV has been met with mixed reviews.
Even with public opinion mixed about the handling of their pricing strategy, it is quite obvious that the majority of their titles have been extended beyond retail which is a good thing.
I mentioned gaining developers above and that also applies to Extra Credit. You have to sometimes go that extra mile whether that be by force or not. With the acquistion of BioWare and Pandemic Studios this year, EA continues to piece together quality pieces for its Projects.
Overall Grade
December 12th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Well, when Army of Two is released, we’ll have to see.
Historical precedent has shown that Army of Two will be lucky to average above 75% on metacritic/gamerankings/gametab.
But seriously, from what I’ve heard about Army of Two, they’d be downright stupid to release Army of Two in the state that it was in at that community event.
As far as adding features and functionality? The proof will be in the pudding.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
@DeaconBlade Look, I don’t care how much money EA spends on community events. I also don’t care how much lip service they give to “being in touch”.
Contrast EA with Microsoft, where they systematically gather input from ALL gamers, digest it, respond to criticisms, implement feature requests, etc. Just look at DivX support for the 360… a feature that directly competes with their own Video Marketplace initiative.
I’ve yet to see ANYTHING out of EA beyond a bunch of ‘community events’ that are designed to primarily improve EA’s image, rather than have any kind of dialog with anyone beyond a few podcasters.
That’s not to say that they haven’t improved at all. It would be foolish to ignore sites like this one. I just think they have a LONG way to go before we can say, “Yeah, that’s definitely good enough.” That’s basically what an ‘A’ is saying.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
well i suppose i’ve had a unique perspective in seeing what EA used to be as far as community years ago, to what they are today.
night and day is the difference. it’s not about the community events that you hear about. i see and visit local events that you don’t hear about…i read about other events that have nothing to do with “bloggers and podcasters” so i try to take that all into account with the A grade.
they do good work…is it perfect? nope. but this year moreso than any, they’ve been right in the thick of things. and that accounts for both the good and bad.
unfortunately they don’t have a platform like Microsoft to show any “direct feedback response” type of thing..beyond their games that is. with Microsoft they have the Xbox 360 that they can use to display any of the “listens to the community” type of thing.
but even that isn’t the lone thing that determines my grade. i really try to look at all things especially in the community area because it’s the most important to me.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
oh and before i forget, kudos on the feedback George
i really appreciate you checking the article out and commenting on it. thx my friend.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
The only thing I question from EA, is tiny if that. When they end of life certain games for Live play. It’s a catch 22 I guess, but when I buy a game and it says online & xbox live, only to find out they removed that title from the servers, is a tad tough. I’m not one to jump every year and buy a new game and if I like to play a 2006 or older title, I should be allowed to along with anyone else. Thankfully I’m more of a Shooter than Sports fan and only have to worry about Madden 2007, I’m guessing I’ll be safe to almost 2009 and who knows, buy then I might just buy Madden 2009 and skip 2008 all together.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
yeah that’s a pain for sure Rob. the Extra Credit bites them.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I’m glad you’re doing this, it would’ve been way harder for me Deac. I didn’t even like the new IP’s they came out with this year. Skate is cool, but I like games for games sake, not simulators. Rock Band is tight, but those rhythm games are, again, not my style… so it’d be a little harder for me to give big ups to a company for making new games, if they weren’t something I liked!
DeaconBlade 360 gets an “A” in my grade book, for the hard work and duty that nobody else wants: being fair.
Nu
December 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
thx Nu. it’s difficult yes, but somebody’s gotta do it