The Return of the Evil Alliance?

Long story short:

-EA is cutting 1,500 jobs (approx. 17% of their staff), with Mythic (Warhammer Online) apparently being the hardest hit. Other notable cuts are at Viceral (Dante's Inferno, Dead Space), EA Tiburon (Madden) and Black Box (Skate 3, prior NFS titles. This is the second major resructuring at Black Box since July). These cuts should save EA $100 million annually, and come less than a year after EA slashed 1,100 jobs.

-In addition, "over a dozen" games have been cancelled, with CEO John Riccitiello stating "anything that doesn't measure up to be in a very high profit contributor and unit seller got cut from this point going forward."

After years of pushing quality as the number one focus, it's disheartening (to say the least) that EA could very well be going back to their old "Evil Alliance" ways. As for the 12+ games that have been canned, it's hard not to imagine that Dead Space 2, Mirror's Edge 2 and NFS: Shift 2 could very well be among them.

I hate to drag Activision into this, but between their rivalry with EA and their recent overwhelming success it's impossible not to -- EA focused on quality while Activision focused on profit margins, and the gaming community has evidently spoken. :(

As much as I hate to say it I hope this continues to where EA can't afford the NFL exclusivity license next time, so that maybe we can get some competition and I can finally play a football game again since it's been like six years since the last one. Monopolies are never good for the consumer, and dare I say that karma can be a real %$#@& sometimes eh EA? Oh and btw how is that Wii strategy working out for em?

Ouch! 12+ games canned, man that sucks. Aswell as the job losses. :(

It is a very sad day indeed (both for the people that lost their jobs and gamers in general). If I find out that Dead Space 2 and/or Mirror's Edge is among that cut list....I will be very :(

while I think it is likely, IH ope that mirrors Edge 2 wasnt canned :(

As much as I hate to say it I hope this continues to where EA can't afford the NFL exclusivity license next time, so that maybe we can get some competition and I can finally play a football game again since it's been like six years since the last one. Monopolies are never good for the consumer, and dare I say that karma can be a real %$#@& sometimes eh EA? Oh and btw how is that Wii strategy working out for em?

nosedive7

EA had one of the better Wii strategies, and released solid titles like Dead Space Extraction, Tiger Woods 2010, MoH: Heroes 2 and Boom Blox.

[QUOTE="nosedive7"]

As much as I hate to say it I hope this continues to where EA can't afford the NFL exclusivity license next time, so that maybe we can get some competition and I can finally play a football game again since it's been like six years since the last one. Monopolies are never good for the consumer, and dare I say that karma can be a real %$#@& sometimes eh EA? Oh and btw how is that Wii strategy working out for em?

PBSnipes

EA had one of the better Wii strategies, and released solid titles like Dead Space Extraction, Tiger Woods 2010, MoH: Heroes 2 and Boom Blox.

Boom Blox was developed by EA? I thought htat was Lucas Arts :?

Boom Blox was developed by EA? I thought htat was Lucas Arts :?

dragonfly110

Nope, developed by EALA.

Heaven help them if they canned Mirrors Edge 2.....seriously one of my favorite games this gen.Ibacai

It's pure speculation on my part, but like I said it's hard to imagine otherwise. Mirror's Edge 1 didn't exactly light-up retail, and it wasn't a huge critical success either.

[QUOTE="Ibacai"]Heaven help them if they canned Mirrors Edge 2.....seriously one of my favorite games this gen.PBSnipes

It's pure speculation on my part, but like I said it's hard to imagine otherwise. Mirror's Edge 1 didn't exactly light-up retail, and it wasn't a huge critical success either.

Success or no, I think it's an awesome game. :(

Ibacai

Well from what I've played it was great, and even if it was as bad as some reviews said it certainly had boatloads of potential.

Which is the absolute worst part of this news: the games that will likely be cut are the ones that were right on the cusp of being great. Hopefully EA decides they've already invested enough time and money in games like Mirror's Edge 2 to keep them alive.

I hope everyone enjoys their copy of CoD 6 tomorrow morning. :(

[QUOTE="Ibacai"]Heaven help them if they canned Mirrors Edge 2.....seriously one of my favorite games this gen.PBSnipes

It's pure speculation on my part, but like I said it's hard to imagine otherwise. Mirror's Edge 1 didn't exactly light-up retail, and it wasn't a huge critical success either.

[QUOTE="Ibacai"]

Success or no, I think it's an awesome game. :(

PBSnipes

Well from what I've played it was great, and even if it was as bad as some reviews said it certainly had boatloads of potential.

Which is the absolute worst part of this news: the games that will likely be cut are the ones that were right on the cusp of being great. Hopefully EA decides they've already invested enough time and money in games like Mirror's Edge 2 to keep them alive.

I hope everyone enjoys their copy of CoD 6 tomorrow morning. :(

Not surprising. They haven't been doing great lately. I think it's a bit much to start demonizing them again just because they're having some financial problems.Cherokee_Jack

It's no so much the financial troubles as it is this quote:

"Anything that doesn't measure up to be in a very high profit contributor and unit seller got cut from this point going forward."

Basically, it's the same logic that Activision used when they cut games like Brutal Legend and sold off Massive (World in Conflict). Admittedly I'm very likely being overly pessimistic, but the potential ramifications of such a policy are devastating.

Welcome Back EA. You were certainly not missed.