Electronic Arts (EA) has unveiled a significant restructuring plan that will see the cancellation of Respawn Entertainment’s in-development Star Wars first-person shooter (FPS) and the reduction of its workforce by approximately 670 employees, or 5% of its total staff. This move is part of a broader strategy to refocus on owned brands and support existing games, amidst a shifting landscape towards open-world, community-driven, and live service games. Strategic Shifts and Project Cancellations EA Entertainment president Laura Miele, in a note to staff, detailed the company’s future business priorities, highlighting the difficult decision to shut down the early development Star Wars FPS action game. Miele emphasized that the decision reflects a strategic focus rather than a commentary on the development team’s talent or passion. Rumored to feature a Mandalorian protagonist, the fate of this Star Wars FPS, as well as EA’s Star Wars strategy game, now hangs in the balance as…
electronic arts
Stig Asmussen Departs Respawn Entertainment and EA
Stig Asmussen, the renowned director behind the successful titles “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” and “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,” has announced his departure from Respawn Entertainment and its parent company, Electronic Arts (EA). Asmussen’s decision to leave comes after a commendable career in the gaming industry that spans nearly a quarter of a century. A Storied Career: Asmussen’s journey in the gaming world is nothing short of illustrious. Before joining Respawn, he played pivotal roles in the creation of the original “God of War” trilogy at Santa Monica Studio. He began as the lead environment artist, transitioned to the role of art director, and ultimately took the reins as the creative director for “God of War 3. In 2014, Asmussen joined Respawn Entertainment as a game director. His first major project with the studio was the 2019 hit, “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.” The game’s success was followed by “Star…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Soars Beyond Expectations, Becoming a Strong Contender for 2023’s Best Game
In EA’s latest earnings call for the quarter ending March 31, the recently released Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was not included as it launched on April 28. However, EA emphasized the game’s exceptional early performance. EA revealed that Jedi Survivor has been “very strongly” outperforming their internal projections, with millions of players already engaged. The game has even exceeded the success of its predecessor, Fallen Order, which is notable considering Fallen Order accumulated 10 million players within its first year and 20 million players around 1.5 years after launch. This success led to the creation of the sequel now being enjoyed by gamers. Jedi Survivor has been praised for building on the strengths of Fallen Order, resulting in a significantly improved gaming experience. The game has been compared to the leap in quality between Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2. While some sequels falter due to excessive changes or ill-conceived additions,…
EA Shareholders Vote Against Pay Packages
A majority of EA’s shareholders have voted against EA’s proposed compensation package for its top executives. What does this mean exactly? Early in July, the CtW Investment Group, one of EA’s pro-labour shareholders, urged investors to vote against the Say on Pay proposal and if it had passed, this would have given EA total control over how it compensates the top execs outside of their salaries. But in the beginning of August, there was the annual shareholder meeting and 68% of shareholders voted to reject the executive pay proposal. Over 171 million votes were cast against it, compared to 59.6 million in favor according to regulatory SEC financial filing made the same week. “Shareholders issued a resounding rebuke of Electronic Arts’ deeply flawed executive pay practices that does not incentivize executives to create long-term value,” said CtW executive director Dieter Waizenegger. “This vote is a clarion call for the board to stop piling…
Possible Direction of EA’s New Star Wars Game
EA is working on a new Star Wars game. For those who don’t know, EA has partnered with Disney to have exclusive rights to the Star Wars license until 2023. This means they are the only studio who can make Star Wars games at this time. Some fans aren’t happy about that, but it is what it is and we can’t really do anything to change that. So for now, at least, we have to work with what we’re given and that means embracing EAs role in all of this. Despite some canceled games and a rocky start to Battlefront II, they’re not doing all that bad in the gaming department. What might we see in the future? FlickeringMyth.com speculates on what future Star Wars games we might see. A Star Wars Battlefront III, perhaps? What would that look like? And what would be the benefit to a new game,…
Why Does EA Keep Canceling Star Wars Games?
If you’ve been around our site for a while, you’ll know that we’ve written about quite a few anticipated Star Wars video games that were later canceled. Some were put to rest before they ever had the chance to be developed and others had us ready to purchase when they pulled the plug. One thing they all had in common: they left us disappointed. So, why does EA keep canceling Star Wars games? Well, it would seem they have different reasons for doing so. Since EA secured the publishing rights on Star Wars games from Disney, they have canceled at least three Star Wars games. The most recent one being the Battlefront spin-off. EA has given various reasons each time they cancel one of these anticipated games but the common thread seems to be timing. The latest Star Wars game, code-named “Viking” was rumored to be a Battlefront spin-off with…
EA Games and EA Access Coming to Steam with Launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
In a bit of a surprise announcement, Electronic Arts recently stated that all of the publisher’s games and it’s EA Access subscription service will be making an appearance on Steam. It all begins with the launch of the long-awaited Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which is slated to release on November 15th, 2019. In the months following the release of Fallen Order more and more of EA’s titles will be added to Steam. It’ll be a slow and steady process, but, eventually, even the likes of mega-hits such as Apex Legends and Battlefield 5 will be available for download via Steam’s service. In addition to individual games being added we’ll also see EA Access made available via Steam. This is currently tentatively set to start sometime in the Spring of 2020. EA Access is a subscription service that gives players the ability to play a plethora of titles for one,…
Should EA Lose their Star Wars License?
Here’s a question that’s been going around for a while now, since the future of Star Wars games is looking pretty bleak and EA seems to have canceled yet another one. Many fans are saying “enough is enough” and they want Disney to fix this issue they very clearly had a part in by allowing other companies to make Star Wars games. Is it fair to say that EA should lose their license, based on how they have performed? Well, someone very close to the Star Wars universe seems to think so. Gary Whitta, the co-writer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has said what a lot fans have been thinking. For Electronic Arts (EA) to have the “one of a kind” Star Wars licensing deal taken away, due to their mishandling of the franchise. Whitta details his thought process and frustrations during a video interview with Kinda Funny Games, referring to…
Troubling Times for EA Star Wars Games
We’ve written quite a bit here about the rise and fall of so many Star Wars games. In recent years, this has always included talk of Electronic Arts. That’s because EA are the only ones who can make Star Wars games, at least for now. On May 6, 2013, Disney and Electronic Arts announced that the two companies had signed a ten-year deal to make Star Wars games. This would be a deal that many would later question, as it doesn’t seem to be working out for either party as well as they had hoped. It’s certainly not working out for the fans the way that we had hoped. Kotaku recently published a piece that talks about this exact problem – EA’s Troubled Decade of Star Wars Games. Here’s part of what they had to say: ““Back in 2013, Star Wars was in a rough place. The most recent movie had been 2005’s Revenge of…
Celebrate EA Play to Give 2018 and get a Droid Mini-Pet
As part of EA’s Play to Give campaign, BioWare as part of the EA corporation, is partnering with three charitable organizations: the United Nation’s HeForShe, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, and Ditch the Label. These nonprofits strive to create a world where everyone can play and feel welcomed. Check out the news below: Celebrate EA Play to Give 2018 From Friday, June 1, 2018, through Sunday, June 3, 2018, anyone who joins the battle in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ and completes three group missions will earn the new MB-6 Micro-Defender Droid Mini-Pet and celebrate the EA Play to Give campaign!* Through EA Play to Give, we’re celebrating the importance of inclusion and play and the positive connections it makes for all the diverse players around the world. Help us celebrate what everyone in our galactic community contributes to our galaxy! Next weekend, team up with friends new and old in…
Microsoft to acquire Electronic arts and Valve?
Here is an interesting rumor that made the news yesterday. “A reliable source close to Microsoft” with reports of “internal shifts” told Polygon , that Microsoft is creating the necessary situation for an acquisition of Electronic Arts, Valve and Korean outfit PUBG Corp. The reason for the buy up should be to get more exclusives games to the XBOX One. A large acquisition of this nature, especially of publishing titan EA, would be a substantial step in bolstering Microsoft’s gaming software division. Buying Steam would alleviate their problems with the Windows Store. EA is about a 25 billion dollar company. Valve is not a publicly traded company but it is estimated to be about 10 billion dollar company. (estimated based off primary shareholder being worth around 4 billion and holding over 50% of share and aligned with previous estimate growth) Bluehole would be a relatively small acquisition and not sure if it brings…
Electronic Arts downgraded by Morgan Stanley on disappointing ‘Star Wars’ Sales
Morgan Stanley downgraded Electronic Arts from Overweight to Equalweight with a price target of $120.00 (from $126.00). Analyst Brian Nowak comments: “Recent disappointing Star Wars Battlefront 2 third party data (NPD and GfK ) cause us to lower our Star Wars unit estimate from 13mn in F3Q to 10mn. These lower unit expectations flow down to the bottom line.” I find this quite interesting as Star Wars: Battlefront was the most downloaded playstation game in december 2017. Most analysts also remains optimistic. Of the 19 brokerages covering EA, 16 rate the shares a “buy” or “strong buy.” In addition, EA’s average 12-month price target of $128.52 represents a 16% premium from the stock’s current perch, and is in uncharted territory for the shares. This implies that more downgrades and price-target cuts could be on the horizon. Brian Nowak also had some thoughts on the rollout of “Star Wars Battlefront 2” microtransactions: It’s unlikely…
Petition to Revoke EA’s Star Wars License
We all know how upset players have been with EA over the controversial launches of both Star Wars Battlefront I and II. When we all thought Battlefront II was going to be better, the redeeming game even, they threw a curveball and added loot crates. There was such an uproar over that, they actually had to suspend the idea (at least for now). For many Star Wars gamer fans, this was the last straw. EA has the rights to Star Wars games but it would seem they keep fumbling the ball with one mistake after another and the fans are the ones suffering. That’s why there is now a petition asking Lucasfilm to revoke EA’s license for making Star Wars games. Right now, it’s an exclusive license which means no other companies can make Star Wars games. So far, over 60,000 people have signed the petition and it’s still climbing. What…
EA Is Now Ironically Stuck With $60 ‘Battlefront 2’ And No Good Way To Re-Monetize It
forbes.com had an interesting article the other day, regarding how EA now is “stuck” with a game they can’t monetize as they want to. Here’s a summary of some of the points: Battlefront got backlash for having a $50 season pass and launching with barebones content. In Star Wars Battlefront 2 they changed the system and promised free DLC while using microtransactions and loot-boxes to monetize the game. Thanks to the backlash, they have removed microtransactions . . . but they’ve stated that they’re planning on reinstating them. If they do bring back microtransactions tied to progression then they will still face backlash. If they bring back lootboxes with only cosmetic items they’ll still draw ire. They’ve already enticed responses from multiple governments on the issues of lootboxes. That leaves them with really only one path forwards that won’t bring back a ton of backlash: Implementing an online store with microtransactions…
Visceral studio closing down. Unnamed Star Wars game moved to EA Vancouver
EA posted an update on the VISCERAL Star Wars project late last night. According to EA’s Vice President Patrick Söderlund, the studio is being closed down, and the game is being moved over to other EA studios, which will see the game through until its release. The Star Wars title was announced in 2013, and had that former Uncharted and Naughty Dog director Amy Hennig on the team, who was co-writing the title with Todd Stashwick. Posted by Patrick Söderlund Our industry is evolving faster and more dramatically than ever before. The games we want to play and spend time with, the experiences we want to have in those games, and the way we play…all those things are continually changing. So is the way games are made. In this fast-moving space, we are always focused on creating experiences that our players want to play…and today, that means we’re making a significant change with one of our…
EA Announces Exciting New Game: Star Wars Rise to Power
The Game of War fad has brought many popular multiplayer base-building strategy games to the forefront of our minds and now EA will be bringing a Star Wars game to the mix. Welcome Star Wars: Rise to Power. It’s currently in closed pre-alpha testing phase and EA is looking for testers. Registering doesn’t guarantee you’ll get in, but if you want a chance, you better head on over and get signed up. So what IS this game? Here’s what they have to say about it: “Star Wars™: Rise to Power is a mobile strategy game set in the Star Wars™ universe. Still in development, we are inviting Android users on Google Play to join a Closed Pre-Alpha Test where they will have the opportunity to play the game, provide valuable feedback, and help shape the next great EA Star Warsmobile game. In Star Wars: Rise to Power, the war between the Empire and the dawning…
EA Star Wars: A Look Ahead
EA Star Wars has given us a new video that talks about what we can expect in the future from EA regarding the Star Wars franchise. In just about 3 1/2 minutes, we see some great highlights of what is to come, as well as the team behind these amazing games. You’ll hear from representatives of DICE, BioWare, Motive, Visceral Games, Capital Games, and Respawn Entertainment. There’s not really any footage into any of the games, although we do see some brief footage of the design process. We do hear story from people from these teams, what Star Wars means to them, and how they put that passion into the games they create for us, fellow fans. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video for yourself below, then take a minute and tell us what you think. Take a look at what’s going on with some of…
Hesitating Over EA Access? Maybe It IS a Good Deal
If you’re like most of us gamers, it seems like there is a ploy around every corner to get more money from you and it can be difficult to know where and how to spend your money wisely. Believe me, I know all about this as I was addicted to Humble Bundle before they came out with their monthly subscription offer and I have been known to spend real-world cash in WoW, Steam, and various games that I play. Hey, some people go to expensive movies, concerts, or dinner dates and some people get their entertainment online. The point is, EA Access may have seemed to a lot of us like another money grab from EA but is it really? Could it be that it’s actually worth it after all, at least for some gamers? Let’s explore this idea for a bit, shall we? Connor over at MMO Fallout makes…
EA Teases Future Star Wars Games and More
You know how we love Star Wars games and we know you do too. Now EA is giving some indication that we might have some more Star Wars games on the way soon. CFO Blake Jorgensen said this week that Battlefront, mobile game Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and free-to-play MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic did “extremely well” in 2015 and will continue to perform well in the time ahead. He then goes on to say that the sky is the limit for Star Wars games and the brand, which really is not a surprise to anyone at this point. EA has the license to the brand for the next 10 years and with the new films coming out as well, we can bet they will do all they can to make the most of this opportunity. “We see it as a great start–building a strong base of people that…
EA Answers Questions about Star Wars Battlefront Beta
With the Battlefront beta on the way in just a few short days, publisher EA and developer DICE are putting the final touches on the game and the team has offered some more info about what we can expect from the testing period, as well as what might be missing when it begins next week. “Vehicles in Star Wars Battlefront come with their own weapons and abilities that make them authentic to the Star Wars universe,” says Mathew Everett, Battlefront’s community manager. He also took time to answer some of the most common questions from the community about the beta: Q.) Will I be able to play Missions offline? A.) For the Beta, an Internet connection is required to play Missions. However, when Star Wars Battlefront ships on November 17 you will be able to play Missions offline. Q.) Will there be any AI bots in multiplayer in addition to…
Electronic Arts Says The Days Of Inferior Movie Tie-In Games Are Over
The new upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront is expected to be one of the highest selling games of the year and the fact that the new Star Wars movie is being released a month after the game helps its chances even more. While it’s likely that the franchises corporation planned the release strategically, Electronic Arts COO, Peter Moore, states that the games does not need any assistance from circumstance. The days of several average movie tie-in games must go along with big cinematic releases are gone, according to a recent interview that Moore told MCV. “That’s not what we do anymore,” says Moore. “We are a superior medium. We can tell stories better than any direct movie, which is linear with passive engagement from the viewer. We take great pride in the fact that you are playing your Star Wars fantasy. When I got in this industry, yeah, we were a…
The Business Case for BioWare’s Ops Announcement
BioWare announced the future of Operations in Star Wars: The Old Republic this past Thursday. Most people weren’t thrilled about the announcement and it was mainly because they are scared about the game’s status if people stop playing. They announced that there would not be any new Operations content for the next 12 months. We think the reason for this is simply, Star Wars: Battlefront. The game is sharing a parent company and intellectual property with Star Wars: The Old Republic. We are sure that there many people that intend on playing Star Wars: Battlefront and this makes sense that EA would use a business plan to maximize their revenues from both of the games together. They both have strengths and weaknesses that seem to mesh well together. Star Wars: Battlefront has very little single-player appeal but it does have a massive multiplayer component. Star Wars: The Old Republic struggles…
Electronic Arts Cuts Staff At Visceral Games To Focus On New Star Wars Title
According to Game Informer, it has been confirmed , that EA has laied off a smaller number of staff over at Visceral. “We made a small staffing change in our Visceral studio today to support the needs of the studio’s two current development priorities: content for Battlefield Hardline Premium and an unannounced Star Wars project,” an EA representative told us via email. “We are working to ensure the smoothest transition possible for the impacted employees.” Electronic arts did mention anything about Amy Hennig and Todd Stashwick, who are leading the work on a still not official named Star Wars game, so we don’t know if they are affected by these changes. EA declined to share specific numbers impacted by the change. In April, Visceral’s Steve Papoutsis left EA after 14 years. Scott Probst currently leads Visceral’s efforts, including work on follow-up content for Battlefield Hardline and the upcoming Star Wars game.
If EA Created a New Star Wars Game
We love Star Wars games around here and most of you will know that there has been no shortage of ideas for them but very few that make it to completion and then stick around for any period of time for people to actually enjoy them. This can be very frustrating for the Star Wars gamer fan. How many games in the past couple of years have we seen scrapped? (Stop it already developers!) So here is a question to ponder: If EA was to create a new Star Wars game that isn’t part of an existing series (like Battlefront, Rogue Squadron, etc.) what would you want it to be about? If you could write the plot and script for a new Star Wars game, what would your game be about? Would you be looking for something with more of a Star Wars Galaxies feel to it or would you…