EA to acquire PopCap Games

Healium

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.com

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/12/ea-to-acquire-popcap-games-for-750-million/

Fnz

But, but... Jeff Green had just escaped EA's clutches!

the_syco

Fúck

kowloon

So Plants vs. Zombies 2 will be €65 and the zombies will only be included as dlc

Overheal

Healium wrote: »

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.com

Stole my damn post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbeR6uYxU50

Robert ninja

Heh, I used to work at PopCap games 2 year back. My boss was always extremely busy travelling to make business deals. I asked him what was up, he said there were big plans to 'merge' the company with an even bigger game company that would open up its market audience by a feck load. He seemed very stressed about the whole thing. Thinking back on it now... I'm wondering if that was the fist seed planted in this whole situation now O.O

Fnz

Is anyone genuinely upset by this merger? EA and Popcap.... so what?

Overheal

Fnz wrote: »

Is anyone genuinely upset by this merger? EA and Popcap.... so what?

That's like asking me, knowing what I know now, if I would actually be upset if Westwood Studios (Or hell, even Maxis) was to be bought out by EA Games.


That's a resounding Yes, by the way.

Fnz

Overheal wrote: »

That's like asking me, knowing what I know now, if I would actually be upset if Westwood Studios (Or hell, even Maxis) was to be bought out by EA Games.


That's a resounding Yes, by the way.

So the concern is EA haven't evolved since those screw-ups and that Popcap will be subsumed? I dunno, for some reason I'm not too worried that those easily replicable, but highly polished, games are going to disappear.

iirc, haven't both companies gone from being hated to being respected? It's a shame that EA haven't managed to maintain the 'cred' of Popcap but I don't see why, of the two, the loss of Popcap's independence is to be lamented. They do great work but I'd also like to see what they can bring to a more complex title.

Amalgam

EA are the Rupert Murdoch of game publishers. Best of luck to the Ireland based staff.

The EA logo puts me off, when I see it on retail packs. I try to read\view 'amateur' reviews first, before purchase..

Just as an aside. RTE Radio 1 FM ran a feature on mobile gaming with a PopCap featurette, in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

ShadowHearth

Well say bye bye to popcap games on steam and lovely Indy game bundles in the first place.

Anything that gets touched by EA logo turns in to turd.

everyone already knows popcap, why the feck it needs EA? Steam is great for such developers. iPhone and android does not need EA to have games on too!

It's a shame anyway. Rip

pixelburp

ShadowHearth wrote: »

everyone already knows popcap, why the feck it needs EA? Steam is great for such developers. iPhone and android does not need EA to have games on too!

MONEY.

Simple as that really. I'm wondering what this will mean for the PopCap offices in Dublin though. This takeover could involve "rationalisation" as management a-holes like to call it, and the Irish office find itself under fire.

Kiith

A few years ago, this would have really bothered me. Not so much anymore, as EA have improved a lot in the last few years. They aren't perfect, but at least it's not Activision...

hooradiation

God, the fucking hysteria here is a wondrous sight to behold.

Grumpypants

Good deal for Pop Cap 1.3 billion everyone gets paid and if they have sense they will take the money and start all over again.

EA these days are much better than they used to be, and don't forget Maxis did release a load of garbage as well after Sim city.

ShadowHearth

hooradiation wrote: »

God, the fucking hysteria here is a wondrous sight to behold.

Well we have to say thank you to EA for killing coolest and cheesest franchise ever - c&c... So domt blame people for being paranoid.

On the ather hand alive came out recently and it was very good package. Sort of weird how EA approved that game.

Sarky

This news makes me feel... conflicted. Much like finding out your girlfriend is actually your long lost half-sister or something. I'm still awfully fond of PopCap, but I'm always dubious about this sort of thing. EA may have improved recently, but they still don't have a great track record.

K.O.Kiki

ShadowHearth wrote:

On the ather hand alive came out recently and it was very good package. Sort of weird how EA approved that game.

Weird NOTHING.

EA actually take chances on new franchises, and they deserve way more credit from forumites for the contributions they have made to gaming.

If this was Activision, I would GENUINELY be worried.
EA though? They will let creators try out something new in the hopes that it makes money.

hooradiation

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Well we have to say thank you to EA for killing coolest and cheesest franchise ever - c&c... So domt blame people for being paranoid.

On the ather hand alive came out recently and it was very good package. Sort of weird how EA approved that game.

I am honestly hard pressed to see what possible evil EA could unleash on the popcap business model of taking existing flash games, polishing the hell out of them and selling them for $Texas.

Basically, the acquisition of a developer of well polished, consumer friendly games by a publisher of well polished consumer friendly games seems to be the least shocking and drama inducing thing in the world so all this wailing and gnashing of teeth is lost on me.

ShadowHearth

hooradiation wrote: »

I am honestly hard pressed to see what possible evil EA could unleash on the popcap business model of taking existing flash games, polishing the hell out of them and selling them for $Texas.

Basically, the acquisition of a developer of well polished, consumer friendly games by a publisher of well polished consumer friendly games seems to be the least shocking and drama inducing thing in the world so all this wailing and gnashing of teeth is lost on me.

EA polished, good quality? you mad m8.

they were doing fine with no EA, games were high quality and polished allready. EA will be just a "wall" pushing them to release game sooner, cut parts of games that were planed for full game just to get a few more quid, make pricing which wont make any sence.

EA only now gives some breathing space for developers, but its not that great yet. well atleast it wasnt capcom and activision... or there would be a dlc to make game saves or a monthly sub for plants vs zombies 2...

NTMK

As long as ea dont turn popcap into another pandemic or westwood i'm ok with it

Healium

ShadowHearth wrote: »

EA polished, good quality? you mad m8.

they were doing fine with no EA, games were high quality and polished allready. EA will be just a "wall" pushing them to release game sooner, cut parts of games that were planed for full game just to get a few more quid, make pricing which wont make any sence.

EA only now gives some breathing space for developers, but its not that great yet. well atleast it wasnt capcom and activision... or there would be a dlc to make game saves or a monthly sub for plants vs zombies 2...

Disagree. EA pretty much always release polished, quality games.

My worry is that EA will end up jacking up PopCap game prices, more DLC, and more expensive DLC! Also more sequels, and I'm sure Kinect will be slapped onto certain games, and EA seem intent on "appealing to a wider audience" with every game. PopCap games pretty much appeal to everyone, I'd hate to see them mess around with PopCap's tried-and-tested formula to somehow squeeze more money out of PopCap

Overheal

They have no idea what awaits them

Overheal

Let’s Pour One Out for Westwood Studios, Creators of the Real-Time Strategy Genre

Luke Plunkett — Of all the studios Electronic Arts has bought over the decades, few were as talented or important to the history of video games as Westwood Studios.

Yet despite essentially pioneering the real-time strategy genre as we know it, creating one of the most popular franchises of all time and doing not one, not two, but three excellent movie adaptations, Westwood no longer exists.

Popcap, when you're done counting your money, you may want to bear that in mind.

Westwood was formed in 1985 by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle, and spent its early years porting console games to the personal computers of the day. It would be three years before its first original game, RPG Mars Saga, was published by Electronic Arts in 1988.

Westwood first began to make a name for itself with a pair of games based on the Battletech universe. In 1988 it released BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception, and followed it up in 1990 with BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge, a small-scale strategy game that was mostly played out in real-time.

That same year saw Westwood release its first commercial blockbuster, Eye of the Beholder, a role-playing game for the PC which was published by SSI. It would be followed a year later by a sequel, Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon.

Yet for all its success and critical praise, Eye of the Beholder was just another RPG. What Westwood released next would change PC gaming forever.

In 1992 the studio unleashed Dune 2. A sequel, in name at least, to Cryo Interactive's adventure game based on the 1984 Dune film by David Lynch, it was nothing like its namesake. Building on the real-time work Westwood had introduced in BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge, Dune 2 was the world's first true, modern real-time strategy game, using a system of base construction, resource harvesting, combat and mouse control that titles such as StarCraft II still employ to this day.

Other games before it, including Westwood's own Battletech sequel, had displayed RTS tendencies. Some could even be called proto-RTS games. But none could tie everything together like Dune 2 did, taking a genre that had traditionally been reserved for slow pacing and number-crunching and making it exciting.

For the remainder of the 1990s, it was nothing but blue skies for Westwood. Role-playing games The Legend of Kyrandia and Lands of Lore were both big hits, and Westwood were also behind 1994's The Lion King, a platformer building on the strong success of previous Disney cartoon adaptation Aladdin.

In 1995, Westwood returned to real-time strategy gaming with their own IP, called Command & Conquer. With its hammy FMV cutscenes, extensive CGI action and fast-paced missions, it took RTS gaming to the masses, launching a series which to this date has sold over 20 million copies, an incredible achievement for something based mostly on the PC.

In between sequels and expansion packs to C&C, including the equally-popular spin-off Red Alert series, Westwood found the time to release, of all things, an adventure game based on 1982 flick Blade Runner. It too was a hit, especially with critics, proving not only that you could make good games out of movies (a rarity even to this day), but that a studio could do it multiple times across multiple genres, something that had never been done before, or since.

You'd think with that kind of track record that Westwood would still be around, making smash hits in every genre they touched, but sadly, it was not to be. Bought by Electronic Arts 1998, aside from Command & Conquer and Dune games the studio's output soon dries up, the Westwood name split across two studios which released things like failed MMO Earth & Beyond and under-appreciated action game Nox.

In 2002, shortly after the failure of Command & Conquer Renegade, Westwood was severely downsized by EA, and a year later the studio itself was closed, those remaining staff absorbed into EA's other studios.

It's a shocking demise for a developer that during the 1990's was, pound-for-pound, perhaps the most successful Western studio going around. What makes it especially sad is the waste of Westwood's expertise in its years under EA's ownership.

When I consider what separates the good developers from the great ones, I usually look at the variety in a studio's back catalogue. It's all well and good to make good shooters, for example, but if good shooters are all you can do then you're a one-dimensional developer.

If you can do a good shooter, though, then turn around and do a good RPG and then a good adventure game, you're one of the greats. That kind of variety shows that the studio is strong at a fundamental level, able to understand the nitty-gritty of game design and apply it to anything, regardless of the genre or setting.

Westwood displayed this kind of versatility like no other developer. From strategy gaming to role-playing, adventure games to platforming, licensed adaptations to its own IP, nearly everything it touched turned to gold. And it's that dependability, that knowledge that Westwood could take anything and make a great game out of it, that I miss the most.

http://kotaku.com/5820685/lets-pour-one-out-for-westwood-studios-creators-of-the-real+time-strategy-genre

Then of course there was Bullfrog, another dead studio.

hooradiation

ShadowHearth wrote: »

EA polished, good quality? you mad m8.

I'm perfectly sane, but I do understand people have been peddling the fairytale of EA being run by slacked jawed morons selling crap to even slacker jawed morons for so long that they actually have come to believe this nonsense is an accurate representation of reality.

K.O.Kiki

Overheal wrote:

[snip]the Westwood name split across two studios which released things like failed MMO Earth & Beyond and under-appreciated action game Nox.

In 2002, shortly after the failure of Command & Conquer Renegade, Westwood was severely downsized by EA, and a year later the studio itself was closed, those remaining staff absorbed into EA's other studios.

Studio's output drops, releases badly-selling titles, goes bust, staff are relocated?

My, that just sounds like GOOD BUSINESS SENSE to me.

Retr0gamer

The problem with the EA bullfrog and westwood buy outs was that EA made working for them absolute hell and they ended up losing all the good talent that left for better jobs so within a year the two developers were shadows of their former selves. They did the same with Origin as well. EA have come out and said they messed up with those buy outs and have been pretty good with DICE and Criterion as well as others. Pandemic were shut down because they were producing some pretty shoddy titles. Some of EA's practices are definitely questionable and the BF3 Origin thing is just stupid but they aren't as bad as they used to be, certainly not like Capcom, Konami or Activision at the moment.

johnny_ultimate

I have no problem with this TBH, EA for the most part have been promoting largely high quality titles recently and has actually become quite selective. Internally, they're pursuing a quality over quantity policy - still yearly updates of the annual sports games, but otherwise genuinely pushing good stuff.

And if it gets Popcap to stop making hidden object games / making Peggle & Plants vs Zombies available on every format known to man, all the better :pac:

Sarky

Christ on a bike, but I miss Bullfrog. Syndicate/Wars, Dungeon Keeper 1&2, Theme Park/Hospital, Populous...

Thanks for reopening old wounds, Retr0.

sink

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Studio's output drops, releases badly-selling titles, goes bust, staff are relocated?

My, that just sounds like GOOD BUSINESS SENSE to me.

I think the article was making the point that it was the corporate culture of EA that turned the Westwood fruit sour. EA at that time had no appreciation for creativity and customer satisfaction. Their entire ethos was 'ok that sold well lets churn out as much of that as we can on a annual basis', 'creativity, originality, gameplay, we don't even know what those words mean'.

EA have since realised that that is playing a short term game at the expense of long term health and have changed their ways. They now run a very successful partners program where they give developers a great deal of freedom to innovate and make the best games they can.

Activision however has taken EA's old approach and ran with it, buying up studios, keeping devs chained to their desk and whipping them with deadline after deadline. Rinse and repeat what sold well last year in pursuit of maximising next years sales figures, without looking to creating the future of this ever evolving entertainment industry.

pixelburp

Bullfrog games. The number of hours I spent on Theme Hospital & Syndicate. I think I was one of the few people who enjoyed Syndicate Wars.

God, remember those days.

And populous! Aw man, it's all coming back

Where did I put the whiskey, I'm depressed now, ha.