Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

1Up has the story:



Editors Take: This is a dramatic move and one which will have pretty big effects on how sports game resources are handled. It appears there will be more control from up top on how games are developed, which may or may not lead to more continuity within the company.

On a very practical scale, we probably won't see much change initially. However, given the nugget of info about asset creation and sharing -- I'm betting we see more crossover of titles either in concept or in practice.

Stay tuned as we keep on this pretty big news story.

what do they mean 'crossover of titles"?

That was my comment (see that it's under the Editor's take portion of the article).

Crossover would be things like interfaces and common functionality being shared across titles more easily. Perhaps idea sharing, all sorts of things like that could be possible.

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

This could be HUGE when it comes to the development of each game, specifically when it comes to sharing resources, innovation, and dev focus. We could possibly see the whole "the suits make the decision" argument disappear, due to this. Well... as long as they hire the right people...

"Asset creation" to me means music, menus, motion capture rather than developments that drive engines such as physics and other interactions.

Another thought is why change the way all sports games are developed based on one that had issues? This seems to point to problems EA recognizes across the board, with all the sports titles. Maybe one of those problems is development cost.

I know it's a business, but when you solely focus on the dollar over the art you're involved in, these things happen. Once they lose the NFL license, things will get even more tough over at EA.

This could create the "competition" everyone like to throw around on these forums. A big corporate shakeup like this could give 2K a little uncertainty as what to expect from EA. Meaning, 2K will have to make sure they put out quality titles in the future (not just "re-releases" with updated rosters). On the other side of the coin, EA may actually be finally getting the message that the status quo just won't sell anymore. Is it too early to say "score 1 for the gamers?"

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

So does this have any effect on say the dev teams of NHL or FIFA considering they were EAC titles?

On another note, I can't believe the failure of Elite has shook things up within EA this much. What's so bad about it is that they could have just stuck with what they had in Live 10, but that's another discussion for another forum.

Man, EA is reminding me of the Cowboys right about now.

This is bad.

I'm sure this will have an effect on the NHL and FIFA series eventually, lets just hope it's a good effect. All this sounds too much like what went down with 2K Sports. I just hope EA doesn't decide that stupid features to attract the casual customer take priority over a more realistic approach.

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

This is interesting.

More then one sports title has issues Madden sucks and is getting worse

I couldn't help but think the same thing

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

I agree with this...they re-invented the wheel with their NBA title when they didn't need to. It's funny, I keep wishing Madden would be re-done, but I think Elite shows what happens when they "re-do" something without proper time/resources.

My suggestion would be that you "1st day buy" gamers, better rent & test future EA Sports games before you drop $60.

Judging from all this downsizing, I really believe that College Football will see little to no major upgrades next year.
Could it be the next sports game on the chopping block for EA?

EA getting blown up from ONE **** fail of a game? I never thought I'd see the day. I hope they come out of this strong, but it doesn't look too good right now.

This post is so on the money although I don't think EA will lose the football licenses. I also believe that while this is a major change within EA, the major changes that are needed in games like Madden and NCAA will continue to not be made. Those games will continue to stagnate. Also, how will these changes really affect FIFA and NHL? Is this a case of EA overreacting to the consequences of their own bad decision to drastically redo and repackage their basketball game all in one years time?

I think so.

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

Like many have said, FIFA and NHL are both series that come from EA-C that have done very well. Will the death (at least this year) of the NBA series bring these other two series down? Even though the NHL and FIFA is less popular (in the US, at least), it wouldn't make any sense to F up those series just because one beast has been slayed (or slayed itself). If anything, I applaud EA for scrapping a title that just didn't cut it instead of releasing it and garnering sales purely off brand recognition.

This sounds like something that was tossed around for a while, and the mess that the NBA series created just pushed it forward. Hopefully more good comes from the sharing then bad.

I dont think this is entirely because of "elite". This def. has alot to do with madden and the slupming sales/quality of the game over the past 5 years. Add to that the fact that alot of people still say NFL 2K5 was/is still better than the newest madden and how much better the 2K basketball games have been. I dont know, it could all just be something we dont even know about. Maybe a designer was caught peeing in the boss's coffee... We'll never know, and EA wont just come out and say that 2K is just a better "fan-based" company. Just like jerry jones wont just come out and say "We Suck!"

Haven't they already done that with some of the stuff they've put out?

We all know the glory days of sports gaming are over (and I won't go into detail about when that happened; everybody ought to know the day by now), but I wonder if this will start a new era. This is going to either be really good or really, really bad for sports gamers, and when I see "top-down" management, I can only really see the negatives. The reason why EA is failing is because they are taking a new approach every few years instead of sticking to something and going with it for good or for bad. Whatever they do now, they need to focus on it for the next five years and let it pan out.

I think that this also means that titles that don't massively sale will be cut. NCAA has been going by the way side, and I wonder if the NBA will ever see another EA update. This alone is bad news for consumers as it cuts more people out of competition.

Now fans it's time to go after Madden!!!! Be strong and unite!!!!

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

Yeah, it's called Ultimate Team.

All these changes mean nothing if Ea is still a arcade company next year. Also, with Nba 2k11's success, there is no longer an excuse for minimum to no improvement over a year span. If Madden doesn't improve the defensive side of the ball (multi-hit tackles etc), add more animations across the board, improve special teams, and do something with their career modes come next project, I don't think Ea could win me back this decade.

This could be a good thing for Madden. NCAA has features like online Dynasty that Madden is missing badly. Sharing might mean that Madden will be able to use things like the online Dynasty Website for it's title.

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

Could also mean bad news for NCAA. Like a previous post stated, it could very well be the next game on the chopping block, in order to cut costs. Since they already have a Football game. I hope not, as quite often NCAA is the more enjoyable game of the two. I just wouldn't be suprised with all the restructuring going on right now in the gaming industry.

just like to point out that Elite was not the only cancelled game this YEAR from EA..............
NCAA College Basketball 11 was never in production....
this is bad news..............long ago it was NBA Live '96 and Coach K murking the ball genre.......now both be axed.......and possibly NCAA......
at this rate.....we'll only have Madden coming from EA (i know NHL and FIFA are amazing, but EA is just screwing everything right now)

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

From a monetary standpoint, FIFA is more lakely to stay than Madden.

LOL...NCAA isn't going anywhere. Sales were up in that series. Football always outsells basketball, especially college. College Baseketball games never sold well.

there are some misconseptions as far as EA goes......1st EA doesn't have as much money as people think they do as their stock has been slowly falling in the recent years and they have spend alot of money on the nfl license which i can bet anyone will not be renewed at the end of the next season......and 2nd, this has nothing (or very little) to do with the NBA Live (Elite) failure as EA game sales have been rather weak all across the board with a couple of exceptions. madden which brings more than 10% of yearly revenue has been the biggest disapointment in the last few years as far as sales are concerned. hopefully ea can rebound from all of this but they have to come out with better product and hope they could win back some of the fans they have disappointed so many times over the last few years.

first off NCAA Football Is Better in Sales Than Madden. those Games are Not Getting Cut. NFL will Remain with EA. The Gameplay with Madden is Better Than 2k. 2k Football a is to run. and x is to tackle how boring is that.madden is way Better than 2k fact. look at all pro football is was trash.

lol ok stating that something is better than something else is NEVER a fact, rather its your opinion that some agree with and other don't.....that being said, All-pro football came out in 07....wake up man you are comparing a game from this year with the one from almost 4 years ago. that right there alone should tell you that madden isn't as great of a product as you think. madden 11 was trash also.....players gliding and getting sucked into animations that are predetermined....pure trash. there is no way nfl is signing exclusively with ea....rather as i mentioned in my other posts on here, both will have the license for which both will end up paying alot of money.....which is why 2k is selling some of its assets to lock in the deal.

This should had been done a long time ago ! As a football fan the madden series is too me is dead !. They seem too cheat with this game especially in devolopment. This is the only football game on the market and they seem too not put there all into it at all. When every other sports game you produce looks like it belongs in the next gen genre such as, fifa,nhl,and mma..there is no reason that madden should not progress each year in graphics and gameplay. They just slap on a couple of new additions and the graphics and gameplay stay the same ?. They know the consumer will purchase this game because it is the only football game, so the developers seem too go half *** at this game every year. I think that this should hopefully help every sports series at EA, or else when the NFL License end.....EA will crumble. Hints: The NBA 2K series is has had the best basketball games for the past 10 years...........

i agree with the above comment 100%.....the main reason why ea dished out 300 million to get the exclusive nfl license is because they knew that they could not compete with the 2k series as far as football games are concerned and now that madden is the only nfl game they can do or not do to the game whatever they feel like.....thus the poor sales do to folks just being done with madden

HA HA HA HA thats awesome. Lets hope that EA focuses more on quality and development as oppossed to rushing titles to pre set launch dates.

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

I believe EA would have done this anyway regardless of Elite, but its because of internal competitiveness. NHL, FIFA and Fight Night have turned the corner in sports gaming. The success of these games along the technology has caused EA to re evaluate how they do business. NCAA and Madden was at one point the carriers of EASports . Back then innovation and up to date technology was a must , but stewing in the background was the re emergence of titles with smaller fan bases. If these titles had failed with new technology it wouldn't be a big deal. but infact they flourished with it. Causing consumers to finger point why within your company innovation is possible , but with your top two selling games it hasn't happened. It became a must that EA Tiburon get up to speed and no longer wait to see what is the outcome of the other titles. Sending Elite to Tiburon along with the guy who help restart a franchise is big. Tiburon Studios now have the tech and know how to create what happened in Canada. EA wants to see that in the states. along with that there are cost cutting involved. eventually you will see all games produced at Tiburon. or go back to chicago

Re: Head of EA Canada Out -- Major Restructuring of the Company
 

they need to completely restructure. I am tired of their bullying.