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EA Uses "Moral Compass" on Lootboxes, Contradicts Self

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As we all know, EA loves its lootboxes. While they are not the ones who first envisioned them, nor popularized them, they are taking the hardest backlash for them due to the way they monetize their games, even high-tier ones like Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017). And yes, if you already didn't find out by now, they could simply not resist putting them into Command & Conquer: Rivals.

A few days ago, gamesindustry.biz interviewed EA vice-president of strategic growth Matt Bilbey on matters such as game streaming, VR, game-licensed movies, but what stood out was the last subject - lootboxes. Bilbey states that EA is working with entities such as the Belgian Gaming Commission, which lobbies for legal restrictions on such practices:

Quote

I believe what we're working through with those specific groups at the moment is an education. Not meant in a patronizing way, but just helping them understand how we design the games and the notion of choice and our commitment to making the games fair and fun. We learned a lot from Star Wars: Battlefront.

Additionally, he says that they have an internal "moral compass" that would supposedly ensure "fairness":

Quote

I ran a team internally with Patrick post-Battlefront to actually redesign our game development framework and testing platforms to ensure we're giving our game teams the right guidance--we'll call it an EA moral compass--at the beginning of development so that we're designing our live service early, we're testing it early, testing it with gamers who are giving us feedback so we ensure those pillars of fairness, value, and fun are true.

PC Gamer's brief analysis pointed out EA's self-contradiction. In May 2018, not even a full month after EA chief designer Patrick Söderlund claimed they wanted to avoid another Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017) scenario, EA CEO Andrew Wilson stated in an earnings call that the company would "push forward" with lootboxes.

With EA refusing to take the hint from players and even some countries' governments, the future of their games seems bleak indeed.

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8 hours ago, Plokite_Wolf said:

With EA refusing to take the hint from players and even some countries' governments, the future of their games seems bleak indeed.

I can see that EA wants to gamble and fail themselves, and wants the world to know that they are still claiming to be the "worst of the worst". Worst Company in America? I am about to call it Worst Company on Earth. They are one step away to be as terrible as The Trump Organization when it comes to greed and politics.

Edited by PurpleGaga27

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30 minutes ago, PurpleGaga27 said:

I am about to call it Worst Company on Earth.

You apparently never heard of banks, oil companies, weapon and tobacco lobbyists, companies which use resources gathered by literal modern-day slaves...

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Well, they are for sure the worst gaming company in the world, no doubt about that.

11 hours ago, Plokite_Wolf said:

With EA refusing to take the hint from players and even some countries' governments, the future of their games seems bleak indeed.

Good, the sooner this company dies the better. Maybe then C&C will be finally freed from its hellish prison.

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7 hours ago, neojames82 said:

Good, the sooner this company dies the better. Maybe then C&C will be finally freed from its hellish prison.

I will be really glad to see EA reach to some desperate situation and sell c&c (and other franchises to other companies) in order to stay alive, but I just can't see that happening in the current state unless 80% of their customers will put a ban on them and really stop buy anything that relate to EA for several years...

In this cruel reality we live at the "bad" guys always keep run their business :/

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This is what happens if you let greedy low IQ people run your company.

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EA's moral compass has a magnet attached under one side. Probably put there by one of the shareholders.

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On 10/08/2018 at 8:38 PM, Plokite_Wolf said:

You apparently never heard of banks, oil companies, weapon and tobacco lobbyists, companies which use resources gathered by literal modern-day slaves...

May I add the entire diamond industry too?

Onto happier thoughts: HAHAHAHA! SHE'S GOING DOWN!

Edited by TAK02

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49 minutes ago, HOPE1134 said:

Can I have sauce on that? 

You can have as much sauce as you like, sir. :)

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41 minutes ago, neojames82 said:

You can have as much sauce as you like, sir. :)

So there is no source then. 

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In an ironic twist of fate:
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2018/08/14/ea-chief-design-officer-patrick-soderlund-leaves-company

I think it was Andrew Wilson that wanted to continue in the usual EA direction and Patrick Soderlund disagreed, thus leaving. The "People make a mistake of saying 'this is what you really want'", I feel, is just him repeating Wilson's wording and having to defend his company's line, which has been mistakingly attributed to him (He does say "For us" before spewing out that line). The line was also cut out from the rest of his sentence, thus removing the appropriate context. It's possible the person who wrote the article did that on purpose, to make it seem like Patrick and EA think we're idiots. It's just too vague and lacking enough context to be sure of Patrick's original intentions when he said that. It's possible the sentence was also deformed and the wording changed. We have no transcript to prove those are Patrick's exact words. I really suspect he was just spewing out what Wilson and the staff in charge of EA (and/or the biggest investors) wanted him to. It also explains why Wilson stated they wanted to continue Lootboxes when Soderlund seemed to imply that they weren't going to or that it wasn't a good decision to continue in that manner.

Look at the official statement, too:
"Today we are announcing that Patrick Söderlund has made the decision to move on from EA."
Interesting wording, no? He made the decision himself, he wasn't fired. "Move on", I don't know what to say, except that it doesn't sound happy. It sounds like they're implying something negative, that they're unhappy with him leaving or as if he disagreed with them and that's why he left, instead of staying and getting into a conflict. They do pick up the pace afterwards in the press release, however...

Edited by Alex06

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3 hours ago, Alex06 said:

Interesting wording, no? He made the decision himself, he wasn't fired.

Major names in major companies don't get fired, they "choose to move on." Basically they are blackmailed, leaving them with one and only one option; to quit. That's simply how it works in the business world.

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4 hours ago, Alex06 said:

The "People make a mistake of saying 'this is what you really want'", I feel, is just him repeating Wilson's wording and having to defend his company's line, which has been mistakingly attributed to him (He does say "For us" before spewing out that line)

There is no way you can read it and see his disagreement on that. He said it in an official capacity, so that was his official standpoint.

 

1 hour ago, Nmenth said:

Major names in major companies don't get fired, they "choose to move on." Basically they are blackmailed, leaving them with one and only one option; to quit. That's simply how it works in the business world.

I mean it's logical, firing is more expensive than convincing someone to quit on their own.

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On 15/08/2018 at 7:12 AM, Alex06 said:

In an ironic twist of fate:
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2018/08/14/ea-chief-design-officer-patrick-soderlund-leaves-company

I think it was Andrew Wilson that wanted to continue in the usual EA direction and Patrick Soderlund disagreed, thus leaving. The "People make a mistake of saying 'this is what you really want'", I feel, is just him repeating Wilson's wording and having to defend his company's line, which has been mistakingly attributed to him (He does say "For us" before spewing out that line). The line was also cut out from the rest of his sentence, thus removing the appropriate context. It's possible the person who wrote the article did that on purpose, to make it seem like Patrick and EA think we're idiots. It's just too vague and lacking enough context to be sure of Patrick's original intentions when he said that. It's possible the sentence was also deformed and the wording changed. We have no transcript to prove those are Patrick's exact words. I really suspect he was just spewing out what Wilson and the staff in charge of EA (and/or the biggest investors) wanted him to. It also explains why Wilson stated they wanted to continue Lootboxes when Soderlund seemed to imply that they weren't going to or that it wasn't a good decision to continue in that manner.

Look at the official statement, too:
"Today we are announcing that Patrick Söderlund has made the decision to move on from EA."
Interesting wording, no? He made the decision himself, he wasn't fired. "Move on", I don't know what to say, except that it doesn't sound happy. It sounds like they're implying something negative, that they're unhappy with him leaving or as if he disagreed with them and that's why he left, instead of staying and getting into a conflict. They do pick up the pace afterwards in the press release, however...

Point is, I'm pretty sure Patrick also toed the company line just as much as everyone. I just think that EA needed a "target" for all the disdain that the C&C fan base was giving the company for the reaction to Rivals. I am also under no allusions either, just because he is gone doesn't mean that suddenly we are going to get the C&C we actually want. They are unfortunately many heads on the EA hydra that want Rivals to be the future of C&C so just cutting off one head isn't enough.

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