Its EA... they're idiots. Too many MBAs thinking they can make the next multi-billion dollar moonshot game without thinking about what matters. Also they're addicted to subscription revenue models.
Is it feasible to get 100 million people to play this game even if it was free? I have to imagine that once you get to $400 million, every additional dollar has effectively no value add. When is it not better to just target a smaller user base and spend way less money? I’m unfamiliar with the ins an outs of this industry, so I am genuinely unsure.
There is nothing wrong with setting high goals and trying to reach them. That they are failing is a different issue. This article is trying to farm outrage but there isn't any.
I used to spend way too much time, and money, playing the mobile game Tap Sports Baseball. A fairly simple take on a baseball simulator, but with an insanely set of team/club competitiveness and upgrade mechanics. After EA bought the company that owned it, it literally lasted a year before they decided to end it, as its tens of millions of dollars in revenue each year apparently didn't meet their goals.
I think the thing a lot of people don't realise when trying to make the next runaway hit game is that most of the games they're trying to emulate weren't produced with that intent, and didn't get their popularity with a running start as some massive AAA behemoth.
Fortnite itself was originally a base-building PVE zombie game that Epic cranked out a battle royale mode for in a couple of months after seeing that PUBG (which at the time was a janky, unpolished and presumably cheap-to-develop standalone version of an ARMA mod) was a huge success. Then after it's out, Epic restructures behind it as a cash cow, makes it into a modding platform, uses it to improve Unreal Engine, etc.
Minecraft was a little solo project in Java - now 350m copies sold. It didn't start off as a platform for other games, available on every console with cutting edge graphics and $100m in marketing spend behind it.
Ark sold 80 million copies. It was an Early Access game on Steam by a team of 35, then it took off and they ported it to everything.
Battle Royale's been done and been a huge hit for PUBG (2017), then Fortnite, then Warzone. I think it's about time that people would be getting sick of it, same as open world survival crafting games were the big thing (Minecraft, DayZ, Ark) and MMOs. Next Battlefield is $400m, all those other big hits were probably more in the $100k-$1m range. Maybe it would be better to make a bunch of $1m-$10m range games, see which one is a hit, then move resources behind it. I imagine changing the structure of a big business like EA to be able to make a move like that would be a very, very difficult undertaking though.
EA did recently release another corpus of C&C source code so I’m quite chuffed with their leadership in that regard. Now we just need BfME and E:BfD source code and maybe toss in NoX and a few other classics and we are cruising. But Renegade? Fuck. What a masterstroke. Whoever thought to release that is an absolute ledge.
not only EA but Ubisoft as well. Online only single player followed by a burning desire to convert everything into generic open world games followed by another strong burning desire to shutdown servers for everything without providing a LAN alternative or a way for people to play that game again with friends followed by another burning desire to add microtransactions into everything everywhere
I've dedicated over 4,000 hours to the Battlefield series, with Battlefield 4 being my absolute favorite for its immersive, tactical gameplay and vibrant community. I eagerly played every title in the series until Battlefield 2042, which I found unplayable due to its departure from the core elements that made the franchise special. My frustration stems from a trend I see in companies like EA and even Samsung: chasing the "flavor of the year" instead of enhancing their unique strengths. If I wanted a Fortnite-style experience or an Apple-like ecosystem, I would have chosen those—I want Battlefield to be Battlefield.
One of my biggest issues with modern gaming, including Battlefield 2042, is the shift from community servers to matchmaking lobbies. I’ve never enjoyed lobbies, as they prioritize quick, transient matches over meaningful player interactions. Community servers allowed players to build relationships, strategize together, and create lasting memories, fostering a sense of camaraderie. Playing in lobbies feels like facing bots—there’s no human connection, and you’re unlikely to see those players again, making the experience feel empty and disconnected.
Gaming used to be my way of meeting like-minded people, and my Steam friends list is filled with players I met through Battlefield and other games. However, I haven’t added a new friend in years, as modern gaming’s focus on fast-paced, disposable matches makes it nearly impossible to form meaningful connections. I hope developers like EA return to the series’ roots, emphasizing tactical gameplay and community-driven servers to recapture the magic that made Battlefield a platform for both thrilling gameplay and lasting friendships.
I can imagine the ‘inflation’ to get to 100 million might be sort of like the way Chinese prefectures (?) would inflate their rice harvest estimates - a ‘great leap forward’ that leaves destruction behind it.
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[ 309 ms ] story [ 1536 ms ] threadHow would this comparison look for the Epic games like Unreal vs. Fortnite?
Its basically blogspam
Fortnite itself was originally a base-building PVE zombie game that Epic cranked out a battle royale mode for in a couple of months after seeing that PUBG (which at the time was a janky, unpolished and presumably cheap-to-develop standalone version of an ARMA mod) was a huge success. Then after it's out, Epic restructures behind it as a cash cow, makes it into a modding platform, uses it to improve Unreal Engine, etc.
Minecraft was a little solo project in Java - now 350m copies sold. It didn't start off as a platform for other games, available on every console with cutting edge graphics and $100m in marketing spend behind it.
Ark sold 80 million copies. It was an Early Access game on Steam by a team of 35, then it took off and they ported it to everything.
Battle Royale's been done and been a huge hit for PUBG (2017), then Fortnite, then Warzone. I think it's about time that people would be getting sick of it, same as open world survival crafting games were the big thing (Minecraft, DayZ, Ark) and MMOs. Next Battlefield is $400m, all those other big hits were probably more in the $100k-$1m range. Maybe it would be better to make a bunch of $1m-$10m range games, see which one is a hit, then move resources behind it. I imagine changing the structure of a big business like EA to be able to make a move like that would be a very, very difficult undertaking though.
One of my biggest issues with modern gaming, including Battlefield 2042, is the shift from community servers to matchmaking lobbies. I’ve never enjoyed lobbies, as they prioritize quick, transient matches over meaningful player interactions. Community servers allowed players to build relationships, strategize together, and create lasting memories, fostering a sense of camaraderie. Playing in lobbies feels like facing bots—there’s no human connection, and you’re unlikely to see those players again, making the experience feel empty and disconnected.
Gaming used to be my way of meeting like-minded people, and my Steam friends list is filled with players I met through Battlefield and other games. However, I haven’t added a new friend in years, as modern gaming’s focus on fast-paced, disposable matches makes it nearly impossible to form meaningful connections. I hope developers like EA return to the series’ roots, emphasizing tactical gameplay and community-driven servers to recapture the magic that made Battlefield a platform for both thrilling gameplay and lasting friendships.