Why is EA stock down?
- Thread starter BoardsofCanada
- Start date
McRobbiezyg
Registered User
- Oct 21, 2007
- 3,075
- 63
This is not the kind of stock I would invest in, it's too volatile. You've got to follow it all the time. A game is not delivered on time, the stock plunge. When another one is not well received, it's plunging again. I saw a business report earlier this week the new Apex Legends was not well received, so EA stock must have went down again.
Marshall
A ribbon reflector
Long story somewhat short - gamers are pissed at EA for implementing more pay-to-win mechanics in their games (usually called microtransactions), in essence selling gamers a product that they have to pay more to compete at. Focusing more on shoe-horning multi-player modes (which is where microtransactions flourish) into games where it doesn't fit well while sacrificing the overall quality of the titles they release has resulted in their sabotaging some of their most famous brands (Mass Effect very notably.)
So, a lesser product with pay-more-on-top-of-what-you've-already-paid mechanics results in cranky gamers. Who don't buy EA games.
This is obviously a massive over-simplification that doesn't cover some PR blunders, over-saturating their own market, and ruining the brands of proven companies they've bought. (BioWare, for example.)
I tend to agree with one of the above posts - I got out of investing in the games market awhile ago, selling off my Activision/Blizzard stock - it's gotten too volatile for me.
So, a lesser product with pay-more-on-top-of-what-you've-already-paid mechanics results in cranky gamers. Who don't buy EA games.
This is obviously a massive over-simplification that doesn't cover some PR blunders, over-saturating their own market, and ruining the brands of proven companies they've bought. (BioWare, for example.)
I tend to agree with one of the above posts - I got out of investing in the games market awhile ago, selling off my Activision/Blizzard stock - it's gotten too volatile for me.
Last edited:
BoardsofCanada
Registered User
Because Madden and FIFA have stagnated, NHL has regressed, NBA Live doesn’t get sales, the UFC brand has lost steam. Their Star Wars games have been general flops, and the most recent one had a bunch of controversy.
Also, from what I can tell, they are extremely hesitant to make any sort of changes to development teams.
When you look at the NHL games under Rammer, versus the NHL games under the previous dude, the year to year slow down has been so apparent.
David Littman was the senior producer from NHL 2008 to NHL 2014 (though he was with the company since 2000) and that was largely seen as the golden years because the leap and bounds between games was apparent.
Rammer took over in 2015, and the first game under his watch NHL 2015, was an absolute debacle. And since then, the emphasis has been on Hockey Ultimate Team, and only Hockey Ultimate Team.
David Littman introduced Ultimate Team to the NHL series, but the difference is, he focused on all parts. The attempt at the live the life mode, the constant improvements to franchise, the online team play and such were great. He listened to fans and put in GM Connected.
Then Rammer took over and GMC was squashed, Be a Pro hasn’t been touched (and live the life was squashed), GM Mode was ditched for a Franchise Mode, which still isn’t as functional as the level Littman had it (still no all-star game, no trade deadline day feature, etc). The focuses have entirely shifted purely to HUT, and trying to push this world of chel stuff, when most people just want to play EASHL five’s or three’s and have a
The “small development team” excuse is bullshit, because David Littman had the exact same size team, and managed to get a shit ton more done.
Also, from what I can tell, they are extremely hesitant to make any sort of changes to development teams.
When you look at the NHL games under Rammer, versus the NHL games under the previous dude, the year to year slow down has been so apparent.
David Littman was the senior producer from NHL 2008 to NHL 2014 (though he was with the company since 2000) and that was largely seen as the golden years because the leap and bounds between games was apparent.
Rammer took over in 2015, and the first game under his watch NHL 2015, was an absolute debacle. And since then, the emphasis has been on Hockey Ultimate Team, and only Hockey Ultimate Team.
David Littman introduced Ultimate Team to the NHL series, but the difference is, he focused on all parts. The attempt at the live the life mode, the constant improvements to franchise, the online team play and such were great. He listened to fans and put in GM Connected.
Then Rammer took over and GMC was squashed, Be a Pro hasn’t been touched (and live the life was squashed), GM Mode was ditched for a Franchise Mode, which still isn’t as functional as the level Littman had it (still no all-star game, no trade deadline day feature, etc). The focuses have entirely shifted purely to HUT, and trying to push this world of chel stuff, when most people just want to play EASHL five’s or three’s and have a
The “small development team” excuse is bullshit, because David Littman had the exact same size team, and managed to get a shit ton more done.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
Oleksiak
Registered User
Because they put literally zero effort into putting out a quality product and try to nickel and dime customers with microtransactions. NHL19 was the first one I've skipped in years and I won't be buying another until they clean up their act.
Mlotek
Registered User
Surprise, we have to let these 100 people go, so the exec can get a $25 million bonus.
Priority is increasing exec bonuses instead of creating good products or keeping staff happy. Increase bonus with microtransactions and firing staff.
robertmac43
Forever 43!
- Mar 31, 2015
- 23,636
- 15,780
As cheesy as it sounds they don't do anything with a "labour of love". They put in as minimal financial investments as they can each year and then hope people buy in to the Ultimate Team modes so they can get huge profits.
EA used to be one of the premier game studios, everything was a quality product. Now they're just a huge corporate behemoth that hasn't cared about anything other than maximizing profits for quite some time. Their reputation is in the toilet and they don't care as long as people at the top are still making money. All of the great game studios of the early 90's (for PC anyways) have either followed this path or have been bought up and liquidized at some point.
I personally won't be happy until EA's stock reaches 0. That's the best valuation of their company.
Tak7
Registered User
Simply - sales.
EA is spending a lot more money on marketing, and are making less money; a large part of this is because of where we are in the calendar year (summers are always slower for video game sales).
But also, subscription models such as Origin Access Premier, and EA Access are reducing the amount of the player base who are purchasing EA titles at full price at release; many are using the subscription to purchase at a reduced rate, or holding off until sales / vault access.
I won't pretend to be a gaming or business insider, but I also think there's some truth to the suggestion that EA don't know where their niche or role is in the changing console landscape, especially with new consoles just around the corner.
EA is spending a lot more money on marketing, and are making less money; a large part of this is because of where we are in the calendar year (summers are always slower for video game sales).
But also, subscription models such as Origin Access Premier, and EA Access are reducing the amount of the player base who are purchasing EA titles at full price at release; many are using the subscription to purchase at a reduced rate, or holding off until sales / vault access.
I won't pretend to be a gaming or business insider, but I also think there's some truth to the suggestion that EA don't know where their niche or role is in the changing console landscape, especially with new consoles just around the corner.
ColbyChaos
Registered User
Maxis and Westwood studios being annexed into EA was the day the Sims and CnC died
Didn’t battlefield 5 underperform as well?
Anyway, I’ll never forgive what they did to BioWare. Andromeda wasn’t a bad game at all outside of the stupid facial animations, yet they totally abandoned their fanbase instead of sticking with their product due to a somewhat disappointing reception. Didn’t buy anthem, but it bombed even harder and had plenty of issues in development as well.
Seriously, f*** you EA for ruining BioWare. The original Mass Effect will always remain a classic, and it’s too bad they have fallen so far.
McRpro
Cont. without supporting.
I'm not a huge gamer anymore but I will never purchase an EA game again for all the reasons people have mentioned.
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