Following a management reshuffle over at EA, newly assigned chief design officer Patrick Söderlund has opened up about the mistakes that the company made with Star Wars Battlefront 2 in an interview with The Verge. Söderlund admits that the sequel's progression system was handled poorly at launch, with microtransactions essentially crippling the game unless you dropped real cash on loot boxes.
"I’d be lying to you if I said that what’s happened with Battlefront and what’s happened with everything surrounding loot boxes and these things haven’t had an effect on EA as a company and an effect on us as management," Söderlund says. He goes on to state that the publisher had two choices: "We can shy away from it and pretend like it didn’t happen, or we can act responsibly and realise that we made some mistakes, and try to rectify those mistakes and learn from them."
Of course, it wasn't that long before EA reworked Battlefront 2's progression system almost entirely, and again, Söderlund describes it as a learning experience. "We have taken significant steps as a company to review and understand the mechanics around monetisation, loot boxes, and other things in our games before they go to market," he explains.
So if the whole ordeal really was a learning experience, what's going to happen with high profile titles down the line? What about the likes of this year's Battlefield and BioWare's ANTHEM? Simply put, Söderlund says that the same mistakes won't be made again: "For games that come next, for Battlefield or for ANTHEM, [players have] made it very clear that we can’t afford to make similar mistakes. And we won’t."
It's all well and good saying that it won't happen again, but are you still cautious of EA's business practices going forward? Let us know what you make of all this in the comments section below.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 47
Anthem would have to look like an interesting game to begin with for me to get irritated about its monetisation model.
And don't take this to mean that there'll be no in-app purchases in Anthem or any of EA's upcoming titles for the matter; their company is built around extracting revenue from games over a prolonged period of time now. Anthem is a game literally designed to make money over a period of years. There'll still be all the same crap in there, they're just going to have to find a way to hide it.
Whatever, EA. Do you want to make some mega dollars? Release a Mass Effect remaster collection, you morons.
@get2sammyb Anthem does look dull as dishwater, eh. I am concerned for Bioware's future if it doesn't do well.
@mookysam Anthem, so far, has somehow managed to look more boring than Destiny. Which is a real achievement.
Maybe this E3 will turn things around, but I'm not holding my breath.
''We didn't get away with it, but we'll try to find another way to charge you more than what you're paying upfront.''
Words and statements and interviews all sound great in the moment, and we're far enough away from those next big releases to hope that this isn't just a desperate ploy to sway launch day fence-sitters.
That being said, I'm sure I'm not alone in my approach to wait and see whether the words translate into action. I'm curious about ANTHEM and would love it to succeed (not least to save BioWare from oblivion) but I simply cannot trust EA to pony up for a pre-order, especially with a new IP that can do whatever it wants and set whatever precedent it needs to in order to make money. I'll wait for reviews and then I'll wait some more, to see what shape the game is in a week or two after launch.
It's gambling, instead of cash you win random duplicate worthless digital guff.
At the end of the day they wanted to have their cake and eat it, and thankfully people wised up to microtransactions and loot boxes and Battlefront 2 will forever be known for changing peoples opinion on the matter.
I'll believe it when I see it!
You guys know there has been a bunch of other updates to the game, right? Customization, Ewok Mode, season 2 leaks?
Antheemmmmeh.
Not caring anymore.
After no Kotor and the "mess" effect I can't stand Bioware anymore.
Anthem really appealed to me. I liked the look of the world and the potential that the 'limited' game-play video showed. Of course the basic concept does open itself up to a lot of monetization potential for EA - as any loot based game - and I have no doubt that this will have some form of micro-transactional content.
Hopefully though, the experience with Battlefront 2 will keep this to a minimum and purely cosmetic. They did learn from the 'online-pass' so they could learn from this too.
No doubt though they will try and find some other method to increase profits without needing to invest or work hard for it.
This doesn't mean no monetization at all, it just means it won't be loot box style and/or affect progression in the same way as BF2 tried. Anthem exists to cash in on the games as a service model. I agree with the comments here - it just looks bland and generic to me.
I'm curious about the next Battlefield. I'd love a follow up to BF4, the modern day military stuff. There really hasn't been that many this gen, seemed to be all about boost jumping future stuff & the current WW1 & 2 titles.
After what EA has pulled over the last couple of years I am now very cautious about purchasing their games.
I was bored of Anthem before the demo was over when it was revealed at E3. So.
They really got burnt by the Battlefront 2 launch fiasco, not only by consumers but I think Disney Co. were not too pleased by the huge negativity around the precious Star Wars brand.
If they get back into making epic games like the first two Dead Space games and the earlier Mass Effect games, then sure, I will consider giving them another chance. Or if they really put the effort in and make a flawless remaster of those games. Otherwise, no.
To be honest, when they first showed the gameplay footage, Anthem looked more appealing to me than Destiny 2. That said, I want to see more of it and maybe even wait for reviews first before deciding.
So EA have realised that making a game to just be a game and with all of it's systems geared towards this end is better than just creating bu*****t to empty our wallets. It's as if developers haven't been aware of this fact for the last 30 or so years, well done EA but let's see if you can actually do it first
Still acting like they did not know what they where doing no more preorders for EA. Well my last game i got on the release was Mirrors Edge 2. 😁
@JoeBlogs Lets be fair they where looking for good publicity that BF2 did really hurt them bad i loved it. 😁 😆
The damage control is real.
Not really interested in Anthem. At this point I’m just waiting for EA to **** this up again ^^.
I must say the new overhaul to the progression system is a warm welcome. It feels right and it's how it should of been at the beginning. The only problem is that it was easier to upgrade star cards before so a lot of people before the patch are now a little OP.
i'll keep an eye on their future games but no way will i be pre-ordering ANY EA game for a LONG time
they thought that people wouldn't care because it was a Star Wars game but it came back hit them like a Force Lightning bolt
and in Palpatines words
"We have taken significant steps as a company to review and understand the mechanics around monetisation, loot boxes, and other things in our games before they go to market"
So they just want to find a way to be less obvious. At no point does this mention pulling micros out, its more about damage limitation prior to release. Honestly just go into administration already.
EA
Challenge everything (they do as they are a stain on gaming, destroy developers, buyout competition and pi$$ me off)
They have been in this business for what, 30 years? How can they make the same mistake again and again.
anthem doesn't interest me at all.
it's a clear EA attempt at being the next destiny.
plus the whole co op and MMO genre isn't for me anyway.
EA has become more of a toxic brand to me. Next time they release a game that looks interesting, I'll be hesitant and and look at it very carefully before even thinking of buying it.
Don't trust EA on anything they say! Like Admiral Ackbar said "IT'S A TRAP!"
Funny how it takes a blow to their bank balance for them to pay attention to what we're saying...
An ex-bioware employee has said "It's definitely a thing inside of EA, they are generally pushing for more open-world games. And the reason is you can monetise them better. The words in there that were used are 'have them come back again and again'".
they see people spending $15,000 on mass effect multiplayer cards and rather than see it as a problem, see it as a means of exploitation. if it were up to me, FIFA packs couldn't be bought for real money.
but at this point, i'll just wait to see if EA have anything interesting to release before i get bothered about whether it contains OTT monetisation schemes. battlefield 4 was pretty good (about a year's worth of patches later).. but otherwise it hasn't been worth playing since bad company, and i don't hold much hope for this years installment if it's based on WW2 as is rumoured. anthem looks kinda meh.. visually nice, but the E3 demo did it little favours imo, plus bioware's strength is not shooters. if destiny's shooting/gun-play had of been as average as mass effect's it would have died about a month after launch.. on other hand, i just can't imagine that anthem will have a narrative as naff as destiny's.
If their serious about dropping loot boxes then drop them from FIFA cos that was where it all began.
@TheTetrisGuy There isn't any real customization in this game. You can't call a new victory pose or a new emote customization. Or that random "new" class alien skin everyone else has on... they lack so much from SWBF15.
There is no "leak" for season 2 as it's all part of the plan to try and keep players since the player base is getting smaller and smaller.
EA fat cats - 'Let's make our version of Destiny 2'
Destiny 2 flops.
EA fat cats - 'Let's NOT make our version of Destiny 2. Battle Royal anyone?'
If EA could only stop what they are doing and start everything from fresh with new ideas and i.p's but unfortunately this won't happen. We all know fifa 18 is technically fifa 15.3. So there's no stopping making the same game every year as they know the sheep will always buy. We can't even have any competition football games because EA own all the licences which is crap
I have less of a problem with directly paying for items in the model of Warframe, but loot boxes where you essentially gamble on what is in them are a big no; for me it's no different to saying "we will give you free whisky with each purchase", it encourages addiction.
With regard to Anthem, I thought that they were having doubts about it in light of the epic failure of Destiny 2? At least in terms of the type of game it's eventually going to be; D2 really doesn't seem like a game any developer would want to compete with at the moment, unless they want a race to the bottom of the pile.
"Same mistakes won't be make again"
How many times since the PS3 era have they said that and completely did what they have been doing all along. Milking gamers by cutting out content for DLC and adding pay to win mechs to games to get more money or and destroy franchises by interfering eg Mass Effect Andromeda as for Anthem it's a Destiny clone to bring money over a yearly period .
Okay cool. I probably won't buy either of those games. Mass Effect Collection though? Make that.
Big lie I feel...
I'll believe it when I see it. At best there's a pride cycle, are prideful and do stupid crap, they atone and do better for a little bit, they get comfortable and start being leeches to gaming again as they've become prideful again. EA will need a big leadership change before people start trusting them again.
There shouldn't be microtransactions in full, $60 games. Period.
I'm glad I'm not really interested in most Western third party games, or this would annoy me to no end.
Read: they're looking for other mistakes to make. XD In the age of production costs driven up by clueless audience whims and sensationalist marketing, all these battlefronts won't just go recuperate themselves, greed or no greed.
But after gamers eschewed sane wallet voting in favour of staging a hypocrisy parade around our own consumer greed, I have no sympathy for this side anyway. I'm not much for corporate hijinks and freemiums, but I'm very much against fans.
Anthem does nothing for me really at the moment what I want from Bioware is new Dragon Age & a MassEffect with the A-Team on it! makes me sad to think Mass Effect might be missing for a long time now. Remaster of the Trilogy would be great as well EA/Bioware!
Whoever keeps falling for their "apologies" are asking to get burned. They apologize for their bad behavior when their next game is releasing. Thanks to Activision, I wait two years before even considering buying a product from them.
i have star wars battlefront 2 on ps4 and it is awesome to me despite the online only progression system and loot crates it is still my 7th favorite game ever and my favorite star wars game ever
@JoeBlogs i'm not online on ps4 yet so i have no loot crates or any microtransactions at all
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