arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
-
Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more
Newly Saudi-owned EA shuts down Bioware
- Thread starter arthwollipot
- Start date
The Great Zaganza
Maledictorian
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 32,932
Most People have no clue of the size of the gaming industry. Kushner and the Saudis do.
What they don't know is the wrath and subsequent coordination Gamers can muster to punish a company that doesn't give them what they want at a price they can afford.
I will certainly never buy anything from EA anymore, and I know a couple of people who won't, either.
What they don't know is the wrath and subsequent coordination Gamers can muster to punish a company that doesn't give them what they want at a price they can afford.
I will certainly never buy anything from EA anymore, and I know a couple of people who won't, either.
Joe Random
Illuminator
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2005
- Messages
- 3,877
I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my least favorite article on the internet ...
<sob>
<sob>
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
It's just about making money.
a_unique_person
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
How can you make money by cancelling a product that makes money?
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Was the product going to make more money than it cost to produce?
Bioware had been having serious problems for years, churning out games that were expensive to make but didn't return enough profit. It gambled on AAA games which disappointed (financially and gamewise) and shut down or lost to other studios the smaller but actually profitable games. (Like SWTOR, which survives this because it moved to Broadsword in 2023.)
The Great Zaganza
Maledictorian
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 32,932
They have been into Sportswashing through electronic games for a while, hosting massive events.
No, this is actually a lot about making money, as oil is limited, entertainment is only growing, and gaming is already bigger than all other forms of entertainment combined.
The development cost of GTA6 was bigger than three times the cost of making ALL Marvel Movies.
Owning a big chunk of the gaming industry could replace oil revenue.
Last edited:
The Great Zaganza
Maledictorian
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 32,932
Players Alliance HQ: Fighting Corporate Greed in the Gaming Industry
Players Alliance HQ is a movement of gamers fighting for a gaming future built on passion, creativity, and affordable games free from corporate control.
playersalliancehq.org
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Uh-huh. Okay.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Sort of related -- lots of backlash for Sony for making the PS6 a non-disc item only, and at $1000 it's way out of many peoples' price range. Mine included.
The Great Zaganza
Maledictorian
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 32,932
That is mostly due to Rarmageddon, caused by most RAM being reserved for AI GPUs.
I recently had to build a new PC, and RAM was by far the most expensive single component
I recently had to build a new PC, and RAM was by far the most expensive single component
Last edited:
"Our mission is to take back a gaming industry that is dominated by corporate greed and profit."Players Alliance HQ: Fighting Corporate Greed in the Gaming Industry
Players Alliance HQ is a movement of gamers fighting for a gaming future built on passion, creativity, and affordable games free from corporate control.
It was always so.
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Yes. The Saudi regime may be wicked but they're not stupid. They know the oil won't last forever and are seeking to replace the income by diversifying investment into everything profitable. They're not going use their PIF as a tool for cultural influence against the West, they're using it to get revenue streams. We could be the antithesis of everything they hold dear and they'd still invest in our stuff so long as it provides a revenue stream.
I mean, hell, the PIF invests in Israel. It's about money, full stop.
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
The BioWare that made those great games back in the day is not the BioWare that just got shut down for not being able to make great games that people want to buy and play anymore.
The people that made Mass Effect great are long gone. The people that made KOTOR are long gone. The people who made Dragon Age: Veilguard are the ones who just lost their jobs. And rightly so. The studio was a hollow shell, propped up by memories of game quality from a bygone era.
The entire AAA videogame/console industry is imploding right now, under the crushing weight of rising prices and diminishing quality. This isn't Saudi Arabia's fault.
dirtywick
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
- Messages
- 12,845
saudis have been trying to buy the entertainment industry for quite some time, with a lot of success. particularly in sports. but the indie scene in modern gaming is quite robust, there’s a lot of options outside of aaa games out there and big studios have been basically trash for a while now imo. this isn’t the console wars era
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Gabe Newell of Valve and Steam put it best*, I think, when he talked about videogame piracy. His argument was, people who play videogames have no problem spending money on their hobby. What drives them to piracy is bad experience. If you give gamers a good experience, they'll happily throw All The Money at you. The success of Steam has vindicated him.
The AAA studios are all imploding right now because they've somehow forgotten that basic fact. There are people out there who wouldn't hesitate to pay top dollar for a top game and a top console to play it on. The studios just need to (a) figure out what they want, and (b) give it to them. Veilguard ain't it.
*Actually Marshall Field probably put it best, when he said, "the customer is always right". Not, of course, that the customer is always right about how to run a business, or how a business is being run. Right in what they want the business to offer, in the way of goods, services, prices, etc. You won't turn a profit telling customers you don't make what they want because they're wrong to want it.
The AAA studios are all imploding right now because they've somehow forgotten that basic fact. There are people out there who wouldn't hesitate to pay top dollar for a top game and a top console to play it on. The studios just need to (a) figure out what they want, and (b) give it to them. Veilguard ain't it.
*Actually Marshall Field probably put it best, when he said, "the customer is always right". Not, of course, that the customer is always right about how to run a business, or how a business is being run. Right in what they want the business to offer, in the way of goods, services, prices, etc. You won't turn a profit telling customers you don't make what they want because they're wrong to want it.
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
What strikes me is that there's plenty of money in the industry if every venture isn't gambling on giant billion-dollar AAA games. Any game that brings in more than it cost to make is profitable, do some small games, too. Diversify! Gaming is an industry that is extremely favorable to niche entries.