EA: We want to regain the trust of PC gamers

[Gimpymoo]

EA rips a page from the Microsoft "Say it enough times and they will believe you" book.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ea-we-want-to-regain-the-trust-of-pc-gamers/0161776

Games giant EA says it is on a targeted mission to fix its PC reputation.

The firm has frustrated PC fans in recent years, following the poor launch performances of titles such as SimCity and Battlefield 4, plus perceived missing features from The Sims 4.

The publisher has since introduced a number of initiatives to its Origin PC service designed to win over users. These include allowing fans to return games they don’t like and giving away free titles for a set period. Now it’s introduced Origin Access - where gamers can play a catalogue of games for £3.99 a month.

“We are on a journey to regain the trust of the PC gamer,” said Peter O’Reilly, senior marketing director for Origin.

“Over the last couple of years we have focused on ensuring a great play experience from launch and bringing players a better experience on Origin with programs like the Great Game Guarantee, On the House, and now Origin Access. We’re excited about the progress we’ve made, but are always pushing ourselves to innovate on behalf of players.”

O’Reilly believes Origin Access will encourage gamers to play titles they wouldn’t have considered otherwise. And it plans to add more games – including titles from rival publishers – to the service.

I summise this whole **** very simply...

EA Sports.
Steam.

I am done.

What stroke does the "senior marketing director for Origin" have when it comes to dictating where money should be spent when developing? He gets given a wheelbarrow of **** and is told to sell it.

Seems more like a cheap plug for Origin Access?

 

[Gimpymoo]

EA has a very large number of long-term haters so will always get backlash no matter what they do. No idea what they can do to sort that out.

That said, things like the 'Great Game Guarantee' has made a difference to the industry. I'm pretty sure that Steam wouldn't be providing refunds today if EA hadn't done it first.

Erm...

The "EA Download Manager - LOLs" would not exist full stop if not for Valve.

Valve were innovating before anyone at Electronic Arts knew what the word meant.

If not for Valve, I expect EA would have threw in the towel on PC gaming many years ago.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Isn't the reason the games aren't on Steam due to using EA as their backbone server for gamelists etc?.

When I was a lad, we just called it a "Server browser". Nothing magical needed.

The reason EA are not on Steam is because of corporate greed.

A few years back, they said this:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18412932

Head of E.A Origin says "Steam sales are bad" & wants Origin to be the hub for gamers

 

[Gimpymoo]

Why on earth would EA decided to put their games on Steam and lose 30% of their revenue when they have their own successful platform?

Business 101...

70% of something is better than 100% of nothing

Also, you do understand that "figure" you pulled from your butt is negotiable on an ad-hoc basis? Not a "locked in" figure.

Point being, Valve will NOT ask a major publisher for 30%.

Reason being, 1 million titles selling at 15% profit is better than NO titles selling at 0% profit.