Does EA Really Care?
Posted 08-28-2013 at 01:10 PM by edwing
In a recent article on CVG entitled "Call of Duty versus Battlefield 'is good for the industry' says EA exec", Frank Gibeau, an executive at EA, mentions how competition drives innovation when talking about Call of Duty vs. the Battlefield series.
The exact quote from him is: "Something I learned from the EA Sports business - with regards to FIFA versus Pro Evolution and Madden versus 2K - these fights are good for the industry. They're good for customers. Competition drives innovation, and from our perspective some people s****** at these two companies going head-to-head but actually it's good for our industry, it's good for customers and it's good for our dev team."
Granted, he's right about FIFA and PES: both developers work their butts off to try and create the best soccer game possible. That is a great example how how competition can benefit the consumer in this industry. However, on the other end of the spectrum you have Madden football. Mr. Giveau admitted himself that these fights are good for the industry, the consumers, and the dev teams, even using Madden and 2K as an example. Yet where is 2K football now? Gone, because of the exclusive license with the NFL and EA.
With the recent release of Madden NFL 25, we have seen the culmination of what exclusivity brings to the video gaming industry. The innovation that is prevalent in other genres has been absent in Madden. We see this in the constant backtracking of features from year to year and the numerous bugs that show up in each iteration of the game. Multiple patches should not be required to have a solid game of football. Yet with exclusivity, the folks at EA don't have to worry about another game usurping their title in terms of quality or most importantly, sales.
Where would we be in a world with 2K football? It's hard to say, but the general consensus would agree that we would be better off. It's hard to argue with and it is a sentiment that I, along with Frank Gibeau, share. So why is it that although the suits are saying that competition is good, we still have exclusivity agreements? The bottom line: money. At the end of the day the bottom line is the end all, be all of all corporations. No matter what Mr. Gibeau or any other exec says, 2K football is likely not coming back.
The suits are not dumb - this article demonstrates that they understand what is good for consumers and the industry. But at the end of the day actions speak louder than words. Sure, Battlefield (and soon to be Titanfall) is locked into a good fight with COD, but there is no opportunity to enter into an exclusive license like there is in the sports genre. Even with FIFA, which competes with PES on a yearly basis, the amount of exclusive licenses that EA has with different leagues around the world is astounding. This is hypocritical EA at its best. Despite what the article says, what this really shows is that they truly do not care about the consumer.
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I have a crazy theory that I have unscientifically devised from interactions with my 16-year old brother and his peers and unverified stats I have heard but could never cite.
I am one of many football fans in my mid-twenties who grew to love football through football video games. I never had extended family or friends who were die-hard Bronco fans, but I got to know and fell in love with my team by playing with them in Capcom Football, NFL Blitz, quarterback club 98, NFL 2K5 and eventually Madden. Every year brought new options and fun and I never found myself bored with my chosen video football. The quality of video football has obviously stagnated since the Madden monopoly was developed in 2005. With that stagnation has come the total disappearance of NFL video games capable of capturing the attention of an impressionable kid and keeping it long enough to develop an attachment to a team or player. My theory is this: the beginning of the end of the NFL's status as alpha sports in the US will come partly because of the EA exclusive license. In my brother and his football teammates, I have observed a love of the sport, but not the NFL game in particular. They get as excited for a pro game as college football games or even other high school games. So between the increasing danger of actually playing football (I know I don't want my children playing after the damage I sustained playing in junior high, high school, and semi-pro), the increasing cost of actually being a fan (jerseys, games, tv packages, etc...), the increased migration that young people will be subject to for work purposes, and Madden ensuring minimal quality which will build minimal interest in the NFL from current adolescents, the NFL will gradually run out of new fans and the league will stagnate. So there is my crazy theory. The repercussions of the Madden monopoly will extend far beyond just crappy video games at the moment. |
 
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Interesting theory. Now while I don't think the NFL is in any kind of immediate trouble, I could see interest slightly dwindling potentially while the NBA continues to grow. Another point: what if children begin their football journey by playing Madden? With all of the offensive-focused features such as run free and the near-automatic passing, would then watching the actual game turn them off of "real" football? I mean, going from unrealistic spin moves and trucks every second play to the real thing on Sunday is bound to be a shock for some impressionable kids (and vice versa of course).
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I agree that the NFL in is no immediate trouble. This decline is one that will take 60 years to manifest, but it is a seed for destruction nonetheless.
Madden gameplay turning kids off to the real sport is something I had never thought of. There is no doubt that real football players have to have an awareness of, and perhaps even a love for, the tough and brutal requirements of the game. Madden goes out of its way to ignore the trenches, and you might be right that kids introduced to football will feel cheated when they discover how hard the real sport is. |
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