Tag Archives: EA

Freemium ‘As Profitable As A Console Game’ say EA

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As something that Train2Game students may get involved with in future, it’s interesting that Free-to-play games can be as profitable as regular console games. That’s according to EA Games label head Frank Gibeau

“We’re aggressively investing in things that are very low cost like free-to-play,” said. “The free-to-play group inside of EA Games is growing extremely fast – we’ve got 17 million users.” He told GamesIndustry.biz.

“Frankly when they get to scale, have huge audiences, are very profitable, they’re not cannibalizing the main games and they actually reach markets that we’re not currently serving. With Need for Speed World, Russia and Brazil are number one and two – the Ukraine is in there too. I can’t sell packaged goods in those territories.”

The free to play Need for Speed World now has over 5 million registered users, with Micro-transactions providing the game’s income.

“But I’m reaching an audience with Need for Speed content. It’s an engine that’s not as advanced as Frostbite 2 but it’s certainly got great production values and great game designs, and it’s free-to-play with micro-transactions. It’s a very exciting time from our perspective because it’s not all about consoles. It’s about smartphones, tablets, free-to-play, browser, social,” added Gibeau.

The free-to-play model has already established itself as a successful mode for social media titles, as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this week.

Train2Game students who want an in-depth look at how developing a free-to-play title could bring them success should see this previous post on the Train2Game blog

So Train2Game, do you think it’s possible for free-to-play titles to become as profitable as console games? Is it a development model you’d consider pursuing?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

EA admit Game Design of Dragon Age 2 drove Origins fans away

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Dragon Age 2 Publishers EA have admitted that “innovations” in the game cost them fans, and therefore providing a lesson to Train2Game students about Game Design.

While innovation is key to the games industry, the admission demonstrates that Train2Game students who produce games that are too far out there may risk unpopularity.

Many fans were disappointed with a particular Game Design element of Dragon Age 2 that reused the same locations multiple times.

“We were clearly disappointed with some of the response from the fanbase, because we want them to be as excited about it as we are,” EA Games Label boss Frank Gibeau told Eurogamer.

“We’re very proud of the game. We tried to innovate and do some different things with the combat system and some of the way we told story. For some fans it worked well. In fact, we brought a lot of new fans into the Dragon Age franchise.

“But to be honest, we lost some fans as well. They were not pleased with some of the innovations and things we’d done. We understand that and we’re listening.”

It’s not the first time the Train2Game blog has reported that fan feedback will be taken into consideration with the Dragon Age franchise. As reported by the Train2Game blog last month, Bioware admitted they’d be listening to fan complaints.

Some Train2Game students will no doubt be pleased that EA say they’ll listen to this criticism when it comes to developing Dragon Age 3.

“As we think about where we take the franchise next, we’re going to take that into consideration and really engage them,” Gibeau continued.

“Ray [Muzyka] and Greg [Zeschuk] have built a long career being close to their fanbase and understanding what they want.”

“If they do something in a direction that is innovative and fresh for some but not for others, they’ll take that into consideration as we think about the next design and where the game goes from here.”

Last year, the Train2Game blog highly praised Dragon Age: Origins, particularly when it came to Game Design.

For more on why Bioware decided to take Dragon Age II in the direction they did, see extracts of an interview with Mike Laidlaw on Game Design hereon the Train2Game blog.

How important do you believe it to be for developers to listen to fans? Where is the fine line between innovation and alienating fans?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Eurogamer] 

FIFA 12 features ‘biggest’ game design changes of current-gen series

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FIFA 12 official screenshot

Regular readers of the Train2Game blog will be aware that FIFA 11 has been a permanent fixture in the charts – coming in at No.7 in this week’s table – since it’s record breaking release in October last year.

Despite the games immense success in its current form, the team at EA aren’t lying back and hoping to repeat their success by using the same formula. On the contrary, Lead Gameplay Designer Aaron McHardy says the EA Game Development team have started from scratch.

“It’s the biggest change we’ve made since we rebuilt the engine for next-gen consoles” he told Official Xbox Magazine. “I mean we rebuilt the engine from scratch, so that’s as big as it can get, but since then with FIFA 12 we’ve ripped out a big chunk of the game and it’s a massive change.

“It solves a lot of problems for us this year, it gives us better accuracy, better momentum more realistic outcomes, solving a lot of situations that we just tried not to get into before.”

McHardy then went onto explain how FIFA 12’s new Impact Engine will change large aspects of the game.

“Now we’re opening up the game so you can get into these situations and see new cool and interesting things, but also it lays foundation for places for us to go in the future.” he said “When you think about the resilience of the player and the ability for someone to take a hit and continue dribbling, we didn’t have that ability before in our game because you were either dribbling or you were stumbling.

“Now we have that grey area and it’s something we can play with down the line, just to give you some vision of where we see these kind of things going in future.” He concluded.

So Train2Game, what do you think of EA’s decision to start FIFA 12 from scratch? Do you think the bold move will pay off? And if you could completely rebuild one game series, which would it be and why?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: CVG]

EA: Battlefield 3 will be game of the year. Do Train2Game students agree?

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John Riccitiello Train2Game blog image

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 proved to be popular on the Train2Game forum, but EA believe Battlefield 3 could be even more popular. The publisher believes Battlefield 3 will be the best game released this year, but also admits it isn’t the current market leader.

“I’ve made no excuse for the reality that I want market leadership in the first-person shooter business.” EA CEO John Riccitiello said while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference

“In many ways I feel that we created the first mass market first-person shooter with Medal of Honor and unfortunately with the transition to the PS3 era we lost that. We’re after it now.”

“There’s a great thing about an annual franchise, whether it’s us or our competition; when you’ve got that annual franchise it’s a meal ticket, it can generate a great deal of income.

“One of the problems with an annual franchise is you don’t take the time to reengineer the underlying codebase so that it’s as ‘next-generation’ as it can be,” he added.

“We think there’s a window of opportunity here. We’ve been investing for three years to build Battlefield 3. I think it will stand up as the best product in the industry this year… and we’re going dead at ’em.”

Of course, Battlefield’s biggest rival in the in the FPS Genre is a certain Call of Duty series. Black Ops was the UK’sbest selling game in 2010, compared to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 which was No. 10. Both of the franchises are nominated for Multiplayer and Use of Audio awards at the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards

Battlefield 3 is scheduled for release towards the end of the year and will feature a new engine and 64 person multiplayer on PC while consoles will support up to 24 players.

So Train2Game, do you think EA can make Battlefield 3 the best game of 2011? Will it be better than the next Call of Duty? Or do you believe that the best game of the year won’t be a first person shooter?

As usual, you can leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively you can let us know your thoughts via the Train2Game Facebook page, or the Train2Game Twitter account.

[Source: CVG]

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see the official Train2Game Game Jam website or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.

A great opportunity for Train2Game students to meet EA Game Developers

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Dragon Age 2 Train2Game blog image

Train2Game students have a fantastic chance to meet some of the biggest Game Developers in the world this Saturday, in the first in a serious of Guardian Gamesblog live events.

The first one gives attendees the opportunity to speak to those at the heart of some of EA Games’ most anticipated upcoming titles.

Crysis 2 Executive Producer Nathan Camarillo, Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed Lead Designer Andy Tudor and Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw will all be talking about the games industry. They’ll be covering the following areas:

Nathan Camarillo: Creating stunning graphics and expanding into the multiplayer universe.

Andy Tudor: Creating realism and simulation in Games

Mike Laidlaw:  The importance of narrative and storytelling in gaming

Attending Guardian Gamesblog Live will also allow you to play Dragon Age 2, Shift 2 Unleashed and Crysis 2 before they’re released.

“The aim of the Gamesblog Live events is to give our readers the chance to meet the most talented developers in the world and find out how modern video games are created.

It’s the perfect chance for gamers, and people interested in getting into the games industry, to meet the experts without having to be crushed to death at big US events like E3 or GDC.” Writes Guardian video games correspondent Keith Stuart.

Of course, people interested in getting into the games industry naturally includes Train2Game students!

The first Guardian Gamesblog Live event takes place on Saturday 19th February at The Guardian offices in London and costs £12. You can find out more information and book your tickets here.

It really is something any Train2Game student who can easily get to it should attend!

However, if you’re not able to make the event, you can see Mike Laidlaw talk about Dragon Age 2 in this very interesting developer diary, as featured on the Train2Game blog last month.

So Train2Game, will you be attending Guardian Gamesblog Live? Do you think meeting high profile Game Developers could help you in the long run? Have you attempted to contact developers for advice before? And if you could ask for advice on getting into the games industry from anyone, who would it be?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, tell us what you think via the Train2Game Twitter and Facebook pages.

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see the official Train2Game Game Jam website or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.

Dragon Age 2 demo confirmed

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Dragon Age 2 Train2Game blog image

Train2Game students will be able to get a taste of Dragon Age 2 later this month when EA release a demo on February 22nd.  Completing the demo will allow players access to a special weapon for the full game.

The official press release from EA says the Dragon Age 2 demo will let players experience two different sections of the game and as any of the three playable classes:

“In the demo, players will venture through the game’s prologue, choosing from three different character classes. They’ll also learn more about Hawke and hone their skills and abilities that will make them the ultimate hero.

After finishing the prologue, players will enter a key new location in the world of Dragon Age, Kirkwall, befriending Isabela, a romantic interest in the game who is also a deadly smuggler. Upon completion of the demo, players will unlock a special weapon, Hayder’s Razor, an ancient dwarven blade which increases health, mana, and combat abilities, in the full release of Dragon Age II.”

The Dragon Age II demo will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC from February 22nd, while the full game is released on March 11.

Train2Game students interested in the Game Design of Dragon Age 2 should check out this Developer Diary, previously posted on the Train2Game blog The information that’s been revealed about Dragon Age 2 so far seems to suggest that it’ll match or even beat the expert character development and story telling of the original game.

So Train2Game, will you be checking out the Dragon Age 2 demo? What do you think about EA’s promise of a special weapon for completing the demo? And will releasing a demo increase the sales of the game?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, you can let us know what you think via Twitter.

[Source: EA]

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see this Train2Game blog post or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.

Star Wars: The Old Republic ‘can be profitable with 500,000 subscribers’

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Star Wars The Old Republic Train2Game blog image

EA claim their upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will be profitable with 500,000 monthly subscribers.  That’s according to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello who was speaking in a conference call.

“At half a million subscribers, the game is substantially profitable, but it’s not the kind of thing we would write home about. Anything north of a million subscribers, it’s a very profitable business.”

Riccitiello said the publisher is “incurring significant development costs” for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but suggested those costs would “”essentially turn on a dime” to profits when the game is released.

There is no official word from EA about a release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but a report from MCV Online suggests it’ll be available worldwide from September this year. However, increasing rumours of delays could mean it isn’t released until March 2012.

Riccitiello also criticised some games industry news outlets for ‘irresponsible reporting’ of the games development costs.

There’s been a fair amount of talk on various blogs describing [Old Republic development] spends that are vastly higher than anything we’ve ever put in place,” he said.

“Don’t read gamer blogs as having any substance. They bring a chuckle, but they also bring a frustration for those that are being responsible with the management of EA’s R&D dollars.”

For more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic see this post on the Train2Game blog, and this one on the Thoughts of Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Star Wars: The Old Republic? Do you believe it’ll be a successful MMO? Will you subscribe? Or do you think the competition from World of Warcraft – with its 12 million subscribers – is just too strong?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, let us know what you think through the Train2Game Twitter account.

[Souce: Gamasutra]

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see this Train2Game blog post or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.

Playfish social games played by 55 million people a month (and other fun facts for Train2Game blog readers)

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Playfish Madden Superstars Train2Game Blog Image

Casual game developer Playfish has released some figures that Train2Game students may find interesting.  The EA casual firm now has 55 million users a month, a very impressive number given that the studio was founded in just November 2007.

Playfish has revealed a lot of other statistics that could very much encourage a Train2Game student to take a look at producing casual Facebook games in future. They certainly quite fascinating, especially with the fun facts and images included by Playfish.

  • 55 million people play Playfish games every month.
  • More than 340 million Playfish games have been installed and played worldwide.
  • More than 90 million items are virtually transacted daily in Playfish games
  • There are nearly 57 million restaurants in the game Restaurant City
  • Over 2.2 million American football teams have been created in Madden NFL Superstars
  • Almost 80 million people own virtual pets in Pet Society.
  • 1.7 billion apples have been purchased and fed to virtual pets since July 2008
  • 187 million pairs of shoes have been bought in Pet Society.
  • 10.9 million people have built their own ancient Roman city in My Empire.
  • 10.6 million football clubs have been created using FIFA Superstars
  • And nearly 25 million people own hotels in Hotel City.

The numbers are very impressive indeed, but pale slightly next to the Facebook giant that is Zynga. As reported on the Train2Game blog last week, their latest social game Cityville now has over 100 million users playing.

That news came just a day after a report stated that one fifth of consumers are now playing casual games online. And with an increasing amount of users purchasing in-game items, there is an increasing incentive for Train2Game students to look into producing social games in future.

For more information about in-game purchases, be sure to check out the Train2Game interview with industry consultant Nicholas Lovell.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of Playfish? Have you played any of their casual games? If so, what do you think?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Souce: Playfish via MCV Online]

Could Train2Game students develop games for an Apple console in future?

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Apple Train2Game

Train2Game students are very aware that Apple’s iPhone is one of the best platforms to start in the games industry. The App store provides a portal for small independent developers to distribute games to a very wide audience, and some like Cut The Rope go on to be very, very successful indeed.

(Games Industry consultant Nicholas Lovell recently told Train2Game about how indie games developers can distribute their games)

There was a time where nobody would have expected a mobile phone produced by Apple to become such a force in the world of mobile gaming, so what else could the company try their hand at? Well, according to EA Senior Vice President Patrick Soderlund Apple could develop a games console and challenge Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation.

CVG asked Soderlund if Apple were to move from mobile gaming into mainstream gaming, if they could challenge the established giants. The EA Vice President replied:

If it was anyone but Apple, I’d say that’s going to be very hard,”

“I still think it’s going to be extremely hard for them but they’ve surprised many people before.

“Look at what they did with the iPhone, right? They are a truly brilliant company so I would give them a relatively good chance to succeed if they tried.”

In October, there were rumours that Apple were going to purchase one of the giant games companies, while Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime is on the record saying that Apple are the biggest threat to Nintendo.

Naturally, if Apple did decide to produce a games console of their own in the future, it could eventually provide another platform for Train2Game students to develop games for.

So Train2Game, do you think Apple will attempt a move into mainstream gaming in future? If so, do you agree with the VP of EA that they could actually succeed?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Fight Night Champion gets first trailer and release date

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Fight Night Champion frasier lennox

EA has released the first trailer for Fight Night Champion, which not only shows that the latest game in the boxing series looks very impressive, but also reveals that it’ll be released in March next year.

Fight Night Champions will also be the first EA Sports game to get a ‘Mature’ rating according to the info box on the games’ website. The Fight Night Champion trailer also points to what looks like a more immersive career mode with dialogue and cut scenes.

You can see the first Fight Night Champion trailer below, courtesy of IGN.


So far, EA Sports website says that Fight Night Champion will include the following new features:

Full Spectrum Punch Control
Control your boxer’s punches with precision and accuracy like never before with a new synergy of gameplay controls. From overhand punches to strategic counter jabs and one-punch knockouts, overwhelm your opponents with your refined skill set.

Physics-Based Gameplay
Move around the ring and time your attacks with precision. Building off the best-in-class gameplay engine featured in Fight Night Round 4, you now have an even wider range of abilities when it comes to counterattacks, setting up combos, and attacking your opponent.

Legacy Mode
Create your alter ego and put him in the ring against past champions. Work your way up the ranks through training and scheduled bouts, and establish your name as the fighter to beat. Take your boxer online and see how you size up against the best in the world competing for local or worldwide belts in the all-new Fight Night Nation.

Online Gyms
Create an online gym with your friends and battle it out to see who’s the ultimate champion, or turn boxing into a team sport and challenge other gyms in Rival Matches to unlock items, win trophies, and more.

Authentic Content
As the first-ever ‘M’ rated EA SPORTS title, Fight Night Champion showcases the truest graphical representation of the sport, lifestyle, and culture of boxing with authentic and dynamic blood, realistic body damage and deformation, and mature content throughout. Experience the violence and brutality that is true to the trade.

Fight Night Champion is coming March 1st 2011, and EA Senior Vice President of Worldwide Development Andrew Wilson is confident it’ll break new grounds:

“The EA Sports Fight Night franchise has consistently delivered one of the best sports experiences with each iteration

“EA Sports Fight Night Round 4 was a genre defining game, and led the way as the industry transitioned to physics-based sports games. EA Sports Fight Night Champion will again forge new ground and deliver a sports experience unlike anything seen in the genre to date.”

So Train2Game, are any of you boxing fans? Did you enjoy Fight Night Round 4? And regardless of your interest in the sport, how impressive do you think the graphics of Fight Night Champion look?

You can leave your thoughts about Fight Night Champion here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.