The Untold History of EA's Long (and Rich) Pay-2-Win Love Affair

[Rossy167]

[video]https://youtu.be/PTLFNlu2N_M[/video]

I haven't seen this posted here before, I hope I'm not repeating, but this was brought up on this week's co-optional podcast and I had to check it out. It's so far by a long shot the most nuanced and well researched video I've seen on lootboxes, if only because it actually talks about what's going on rather than shouting about evil game publishers and directing anger in the wrong directions.

[redBadger]

I posted a few days ago. Good video and worth a watch regardless

[Rossy167]

[QUOTE=redBadger;52941058]I posted a few days ago. Good video and worth a watch regardless[/QUOTE]

My bad, guess I completely missed it. Time to lock the thread then.

[Peon Greenjoy]

The only reason this shit is allowed to be in the games is because it's not regulated by any law.

[IAmIroningMyDog]

[QUOTE=Peon Greenjoy;52941099]The only reason this shit is allowed to be in the games is because it's not regulated by any law.[/QUOTE]

But that might change soon in some countries :dogcited:

[Spazi]

Why the hell are they killing dev companies when they could be downsizing their projects, still making a profit off of them and having them with their proven IP's when this gambling bubble blows the fuck up in their faces

[hexpunK]

[QUOTE=Talishmar;52942389]Why the hell are they killing dev companies when they could be downsizing their projects, still making a profit off of them and having them with their proven IP's when this gambling bubble blows the fuck up in their faces[/QUOTE]

Microtransactions make more money for significantly less risk than releasing new titles constantly. A close to, or just over a majority of the income for the bigger publishers right now is microtransaction based.

Consolidating development studios into a single super-studio and having them shit out microtransaction riddled shitshows like Battlefront 2 and any modern EA Sports title is literally the safest way they can maximise profits. They have almost zero incentive to actually innovate and release new titles until the general public stop buying into micros. Companies generally tend to focus on the here and now once they've completed their growth phases, EA have been out of that phase for quite a while now and could theoretically coast on their earnings for a while if things go south. They'd need to restructure and replan a bit if things do go against them, but they've got enough of a buffer to take that hit.

[Gorou]

I like how he questions Wall Street's expertise on the games industry. As if Wall Street wasn't filled with apathetic gold diggers, whose sole calling in life is to leech money off of other people's work by gambling it away towards whatever company they think is gonna make it big that year.