EA: Closing Visceral Games an “Economic Decision” as Players Don’t Like Linear Games As Much Today

Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen explained in more detail the reasons behind the closure of Visceral Games.

[Snookies12]

Complete BS.

[NewMonday]

Who I'm I gonna believe EA or you?

You are just some random dude on the internet, EA has professional people that study the market, they know players love $2000 pay to win micro-transactions.

(sarcasm)

[Kingthrash360]

Just shows how out of touch EA is.
Close already

[chrisx]

These ea guys are delusional

[ULTp0ltergeist]

You're all getting old, they indeed see the numbers and have already groomed the next generation. It's too late! Well still enjoy our open world RPG games at least.

[kneon]

EA are correct, they just left out one word, gamers don't like MEDIOCRE linear games.

The bar has been raised, either step up or move out.

[rainslacker]

People spending more money on MP games isn't the same as players not liking SP games as much nowadays.

Nor does it mean that their metrics take into account if they dislike bad SP games, or Sp games in general.

For the most part, everyone likes SP games, while some also like MP games. Some like MP more, but I don't know a single MP only gamer.....whereas I know quite a few who never touch MP.

I seriously couldn't think that EA could screw up their reputation more since that first reddit post a week ago. But it's like every day they just make it worse by saying stupid things like they are here.

Whats funny, is that EA's stock value just went down....so apparently, the notion that people don't like all the way these companies can make more money doesn't seem to stop them from actually doing it....yet SP games...which can be profitable, and even keep this stupid MT stuff, goes to the chopping block.

[badz149]

"...as Players Don’t Like Linear Games As Much Today"

as Uncharted 4 went out to sell over 10 mil copies, Horizon ZD well over 3 mil by now, Zelda and Mario like 5 mil each...

seriously...WTH is this EA guy talking about?

[freshslicepizza]

EA is about making money, how much does Candy Crush and League of Legends make per year? Forums are mainly made up of the hardcore so of course they don't agree.

Games as a service is where the money is, not linear titles people finish in 10-20 hours and trade them in. How does a publisher maximize profits as much? They don't even see revenue when they game is resold. So it's become about keeping gamers engaged as long as possible.

[UltraNova]

EA is full of shameless shit. They have the man power, the technical knowhow, the resources and all the money in the world to cater to both communities (SP and MP) at the same time and still make a shit load of cash for their efforts.

Long story short, they could easily make a great SP campaign and a great MP mode for all their games and cover both bases.

But yeah they think we are stupid basement dwellers and will swallow all their bullshit, while they lean on MP games and their build in MT exploitative nature so they can minimize dev cost while maximising profit.

Well F*** YOU EA.

[zb1ftw777]

EA or Gamer?

Hmmmm... I'll choose the gamer in this occasion thanks.

EA are bullshit.

[ravinash]

Yes EA, because your so good at telling what us gamers want. /s

[andrewsquall]

@ULTp0ltergeist Yeah, those disappointing Star Wars Battlefront II numbers. Sony are the ones grooming the next generation and will show us the way. Its starts when they say so.

But EA is right about one thing, I never buy crappy linear EA games.

@freshslicepizza All you did was name 2 games that have made money in that area. Meanwhile we have flops like Lawbreakers, Battleborn and Evolve that fight against your case, even Marvel Heroes is a great example of the latest online focused failure.
The difference here is EA want to make MORE money and as much money as fast as possible. You think that no profit is made on a great single player focused game that sells 7 million units???

[bow2yoda]

i would believe any guy on the internet before i ever believe EA. how many times have they been voted the worst consumer company in the world... hint way too many times!

[bow2yoda]

@ULTp0ltergeist your too young to understand how the numbers can be played with to make what ever seem the way you want it to!

[UnHoly_One]

I have a couple questions for you guys that are so convinced you know better than EA.

Where do you think they came up with this conclusion?

Do you think they are doing surveys asking gamers what they want? Reading forums and comments sections?

Or do you think it is based on sales?

What do you think might make sales of linear single player games be lower than other kinds of games?

Maybe Rentals?

Maybe people trading in used games?

What if everyone bought their games new and rentals weren't an option?

Do you think EA would have still come to this same conclusion?

Just food for thought.

[-Foxtrot]

Damn right it is

They closed them because they wanted to make another "Battlefront II" with Lootboxes and MTs but realized that game couldn't work with those features. So they closed them down so they could buy Respawn who would make another online, money grabbing shallow game.

However with the uproar and it hurting them sale/money wise their little plan has gone to shit...they basically closed Visceral for no reason at all...they know now if they try anything with Respawns game it's going to be called worse then shit, hell Anthem is the next one coming up so anything they try and do...we'll know about it.

[Profchaos]

There was some inside leaks a while back stating that anthem will take mt to another level

[andrewsquall]

And the funniest thing is they have nobody to blame but themselves ^_^

[Jon_Targaryen]

EA literally shat in their own money bed.

[moomoo319]

Respawn was really good about free content and only offering cosmetics for real money, no p2w or loot boxes. I hope to god that doesnt change lol

[Seraphim]

my exact words lol. BS indeed.

[strifeblade]

Thats an official statement, reality is its all business, sure they make money with single player games- but they deem it that they would make more money if they reallocate resources to multiplayer games with microtransactions would ultimately make them more money. Its that simple and its true unfortunately

[andrewsquall]

So in other words, its not illegal to be a greedy c*** so they are going to a greedy c***. Thank goodness no other dev makes this a top priority like EA does.

And now they are ultimately making less money on their newest game than they ever though possible due to bombing sales and forced removal of micro transactions by Disney. Hope it worked out well for them.

[scofios]

I take a new dead space over battle field or starwars any day

[_-EDMIX-_]

Exactly.

I don't disagree with their decision to close the studio down if the studio was not making them money, but it has nothing to do with linear games not being successful it's simply has to do with the visceral having a streak of releasing some bad games.

I would argue a development team is going to behave this way when they spend a lot of time developing content they may not like.

I personally think Electronic Arts should have lowered the budget for Dead Space and lowered the threshold of how much money they really thought they were going to make off of it and just allow the team to create the content they wanted to.

Dead Space 1 and 2 work-rate games Dead Space 3 failed because of EA's bizarre assumption that it was going to move Call of Duty numbers despite no history of horror games really moving that.

There's nothing wrong with the sales of the Dead Space series I would argue there's only something wrong about a publisher that was assuming they were supposed to move 20 million units or something.

I would say the last great game they made was Dead Space 2.

[phoenixwing]

@snookies couldn't agree more. It's complete bs

[butchertroll]

But i like linear games., EA

[Last_Boss]

These companies see how much they make from people buying the SAME fucking game every year.
Madden
NBA2K
Assassins Creed
Battlefield
C.o.D
They see the non structured gamer and get the gullible sales, which easily keeps their business afloat. Map packs, Micro Transactions, Loot Crates, have infested gaming like an STD. These companies think it's cute to put out games severely unfinished on top of each other, adding content like it's fresh.

P.S Drop all First Person Shooters, without a strict narrative to digest, and tacked on Multiplayer. Drop all sports games accept Forza & Gran Turusmo.

[Sirk7x]

Those games make publishers millions. It's easier to put out the same crap and market the hell out of it than make something new. We see the same thing every year. Drop hundreds of millions in advertising, promising that it's going to be a different and better experience, and then deliver another steaming pile of dogshit. TV commercials work every time. They know exactly what they're selling and plan this shit out years in advance

[Last_Boss]

@Sirk

Exactly

[SierraGuy]

Damage control ... apparently they lost 3 billion because of that Battlefront disaster.

[jeromeface]

good, i wish it was 6

[slasaru01]

EA games only deserve EA access

[TheEroica]

In fairness, EA may have statistical information guiding their choice to move away from linear games.... HOWEVER, what they and many other big developers totally FAIL to realize is that we don't have a sour taste for linear games, we have a dislike for uninspiring, samezy, zero risk, cash-ins in genres that are more than capable of delivering incredible gaming experiences. Genre has nothing to do with it.

[Chexs1990]

Plus, gaming has become such a mainstream phenomenon that the majority of those numbers are being primed by the everyday consumer, more so than the dedicated gamers.

[Bnet343]

Yeah this is complete BS. Am I the only one that is tired of open world games? There's so many of them. I don't want to keep fast traveling and running around. Sometimes I want a linear experience to not worry about 100 side quests to grind. I'm not hating on open world games but come on man change it up!.

[patterson]

I feel the same way. Plus linear games tend to have a more cohesive story backing it.

[bow2yoda]

snookies.. they think we like the model that put forth with battlefront 2

[BLow]

Exactly. Didn't someone working for one of the big 3 say something close to this(just insert single player instead of linear)? Both those terms kind of go hand in hand. Yes, there are exceptions but let's not get picky here. I can't remember his name though...

[Felsager]

Pretty Much.

EA had a fiasco with Battlefront 2. So other innocents have to pay.

Simple.

[xCB3RTOx]

Horse shit. Look at the GOTY contenders and tell me that gamers don't like linear, single-player games.

[kevnb]

What linear goty contenders are there besides maybe cuphead?

[jaydiggler]

Lol what? Horizon, Zelda, Mario to name a few

[Strange_Evil]

@jaydiggler... While I don't agree with EA and love single player games, all the games you've pointed out aren't 'linear'. They are open world single player games. There is a distinction between 'linear' and 'single player'

[Skull521]

Don't know much about Mario but Horizon and Zelda are both open world games, completely different

[Nitrowolf2]

@Jay

Those aren't anywhere close to being linear....

[kevnb]

Horizon is open world, Mario is sandbox, Zelda is open world... do you know what linear means?

[BlackTar187]

KevinB

How about UC4

Next year or so will be TLOU God Of War (Most likely) most likely the Sucker punch game.

[Bigpappy]

I don't think your boys understand what linear games are.

[kevnb]

Come on guys, uncharted 4 came out 2016.

[Prince_TFK]

A better question would be what MP game goty contenders are there beside PUBG (an unfinished game at that) ?

[dragonyght]

what we considered linear and what ea considered linear aren't the same

[Omnislashver36]

I think Linear here is being substituted for single player, and narrative driven. As in it has a linear narrative. In that case Jay would be right.

EA is basically just saying they only want online pay-to-win games with a linear narrative not being the focus. Which is frankly horseshit.

Even Open World games have an overall linear narrative these days, even if the progression is different. This is not what EA is saying though- they're talking about pay-to-win vs single player.

[nix]

i think linear also means that it follows a specific defined path no matter how big the world is. Sandbox games may be big but there's always a "main" story you HAVE to follow.

[DrumBeat]

Lol.

[Kribwalker]

some say wolfenstein 2 or Evil within 2 could be

[Cuzzo63]

You can't be serious. Lmaaaao
How many times has Uncharted been named GOTY

[Cuzzo63]

Let's not forget at one point The Last of Us had the most GOTY awards ever in gaming history before Witcher 3 surpassed it... A linear game.... Better do sum research

[DJStotty]

wolfenstein the new collossus, doom

[moegooner88]

Persona 5 easily.

[andrewsquall]

Okay then, Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice, its definitely nominated for something at the Game Awards but I'm sure it will win overall game of the year from somebody over any EA or Xbox game.

And that is the perfect example of a commercially successful and critically praised game that would have ironically been RUINED had somebody like EA been involved with its development.

[darthv72]

linear means it plays the same no matter how many times you play it. Games like zelda and horizon may have a start and a finish but you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything between start and finish. those are less linear and more open world.

Uncharted would be linear, halo would be linear, gears of war would be linear, god of war would be linear.... horizon and zelda may be single player but they are not linear. not in the sense of other linear games like I mentioned.

[plmkoh]

For the record, that would mean Dead Space weren't 'linear' either. The missions allowed you to back track to collect resources and there were distinct side-missions.

[darthv72]

@plmkoh, could you finish the game without backtracking or did the game require you to backtrack in order to reach the end?

there are linear games that require you to backtrack. Many of which are referred to as metroidvania style because of the nature of having to explore and then return to previous areas in order to progress towards the end.

[bow2yoda]

they purposefully ruined games like dead space and mass effect so they can push their communist propoganda!

[GamingSinceForever]

The players don't decide GOTY awards.

I also think that he is speaking from a financial standpoint and for that he is absolutely correct. Outside of Naughty Dog what other linear type games are selling multi-million copies?

[OB1Biker]

GOW

[andrewsquall]

Seriously why is that such an argument. What are you trying to get at here? Does that mean that every single genre or game that doesn't win overall GOTY are worth ignoring?

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice, the perfect example right now of a "stick that up your a** big publishers" linear game. And it didn't cost 50 million to make like the average EA game either.

[GamingSinceForever]

This is not a debate on whether or not single player linear games are more fun than open world multiplayer games, this is about what people today are mostly spending their money on. If EA decides that they want to take things in a different direction then let them. Unless you're a share holder at EA I don't think your couch developer non-business minded thinking matters squat.

Yes we are gamers but to them this is business.

I tell you what open up your own studious and make the games you think we all should play, but remember you must do it out of love because the money you put in likely won't come back.

Hell Blade is an example of a great game that not very many bought.

[snoopgg]

Doom did Wolfenstein new colassis god of war will days gone will last of us 2 will.

[VerminSC]

One of the best games of all time is very linear. The last of us.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Never mind the contenders for game of the year I think the best thing we should look at is simply their sales their sales alone prove that people want linear games but they also want good linear games.

I don't think it's fair for them to try to claim this decision is based on that yet ignoring that that is something that varies from developer to developer.

That's like saying first person shooters are going to fail because a specific developer release is a flop of a first-person shooter completely ignoring Call of Duty's ridiculous success.

[patterson]

Exactly this!

[Nyxus]

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[MadLad]

Nah. Nonsense.
I can promise you that gamers hate your linear, grid-driven, creativity crushing, anti-consumer business practices though, EA.
Perhaps work on that, being that I haven't played a single title of yours since DA:Inquisition ... and that was review code.

[ILostMyMind]

I'm start to be afraid of next Dragon Age.

[Prince_TFK]

If it will ever come out, that is. If it can’t have any sort of MPs baked into it, you can say goodbye to it as EA is not interested in single player game anymore.

[DrumBeat]

It'll be MP only, probably.

[bow2yoda]

lol unlock the main character for a low price of $100 bi-annually is what they are probably thinking lmao

[DrJones]

That was a bad game

[MadLad]

Outside of the open world feeling largely 'MMO-ish", I thought the game was really good. Solid writing, interesting narrative and characters, solid gameplay.
I really enjoyed the game.

[DrJones]

That generic main story though, and those bland characters

[MadLad]

We have to agree to disagree there lol. Even the simple idea of working towards building a strong Inquisition was an entertaining, driving force for me. And, honestly, I liked most of the characters. That there was a lot of personality on display, myself.

Different strokes.

[Gaming_Cousin]

Shove your economists up my ass

[Juiceid]

I’ll even double dip ‘em for ya

[SegaGamer]

Don't put yourself through the pain of shoving it up your own ass, shove it up theirs instead :p

[MadLad]

Interesting way to go about things.

[opinionated]

They should sell studios and stop buying them. If “players don’t like them” then why hold the IPs like dead space? Sell visceral with deadspace instead of liquidating them into nothing and letting your IPs collect dust on your shelf. I don’t get it, why not make a few bucks on something you consider worthless? The only thing I can think of is pride. They don’t want to see another publisher succeed where they failed. “Take my ball and go home.”

[Platinum_Fan]

EA doesn't buy game studios to make games they buy them to eliminate competition.

[opinionated]

It sure seems that way sometimes but I don’t think it’s that sinister. I believe they really are just that incompetent. They aren’t evil, they are just stupid.

No publisher sells their studios, I’m wondering why they don’t. A lower tier publisher like deep silver would love to pick up a studio like visceral. They picked up a bunch of studios and IPs when THQ went belly up. Why wait until they are belly up before they start this process though? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Trade studios and IPs like baseball players. Sometimes players play better with a new team and management.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Opinionated... No. They ARE that sinister.

Ask any one of the developers they bought in the past. No wait. They closed them after using them up or their assets. I know, ask Criterion how Burnout and Renderware is working under the EA umbrella.

[Mikelarry]

Gotta agree with platinum especially when you hear storied like below

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2...

EA fully deserves all the bad karma they are currently getting, not gonna lie to you if they upped and left the gaming industry i wont shed a tear

[ApocalypseShadow]

Opinionated the only reason they closed visceral was because they couldn't monetize the single player star wars game like they did battlefront. They say the developer count was sub 80 but that's plenty of people to make an outstanding game.

The only reason EA hasn't been as predatory like they were before is because they bought Dice and acquired the Frostbite Engine that keeps their company relevant. They bought Criterion to kill Burnout from overtaking N4S and acquired Renderware to one up other developers and maybe license it as many developers used it during PS2/Xbox days but developers ran to Unreal Engine to get away from EA.

They also used their licenses and marketing dollars to hurt developers like Midway then acquired their assets like NBA Jam and NFL Blitz.

Ask Visual Concepts what they think about EA buying up the NFL, AFL, ESPN and College licenses.

Yes, they are sinister.

[opinionated]

@apocalypse shadow

Their motives aren't sinister but I don't mistake them as genuine either. They simply don't care about games like you or I do. It's a business and for them it's seriously hit or miss. EA puts out some great games but they systematically ruin the sequels until it's dried out and then they shelf them and liquidate the studio. The list is endless but blackbox and visceral hit me the hardest. There is absolutely no reason why there isn't a skate 4 or a dead space 4 out right now. If it's worthless then sell it, let it get shoved in your face and be proven wrong.

I can see why they are doing what they do and while i don't agree, I don't think its malicious. It's just business, there is no "love of the game" in those board meetings lol. They are a publicly traded organization built to generate profits and discard the waste after it's been milked. They build products not studios. The products sell or they don't. Capitalism isn't evil to me. I don't understand why Respawn decided to join up with them, what a retarded move. You escape activision just to jump into that shitshow? Shop around lol.

They are obviously successful at what they do or they wouldn't keep doing it. I don't like it but I don't like the last of us' influence on other titles either. The market has spoken though right? It doesn't matter that I think the cinematic narrative is ruining franchises and I can accept that. I just won't buy those games if I don't want. There are plenty of games that I'm actually looking forward too as well.

[ApocalypseShadow]

True. But I do wish they loved games more than profits. Or at least made good games deserving of profits for themselves and investors.

[MrBeatdown]

"ask Criterion how Burnout and Renderware is working under the EA umbrella."

Better than a lot of other arcade racing developers. Blaming EA for Criterion's situation is ridiculous when great arcade racers like MotorStorm, Blur, Split/Second, PGR, and Midnight Club couldn't find enough success to justify sequels. Even NFS is no longer annual.

[-Foxtrot]

They keep them because they like to play on peoples emotions and nostalgia years later when they are almost forgotten about

Look at Dungeon Keeper...we all wanted a new game but not like what they did with the newest one, same goes for Battlefront.

[opinionated]

True. They don't seem like that's going to be their path in the future though. You could monetize the shit out of a skate game but not so much dead space. They already ruined it by trying that so just sell the shit to someone who would do it justice for a reasonable price that would tickle the boards nuthairs.

[rainslacker]

The reason they don't do this is because IP's such as that hold value. Even if they don't do crap with them, they are still worth something.

So, that keeps their stock prices up, as it means they have more assets worth investing in, even if that investment doesn't return anything at the moment. It's basically like securing the worth of the company.

They'd only sell an IP if there was a significant gain from it through a high price where it can improve their yearly earnings. Something like Mass Effect for instance is worth a lot of money, whereas Dead Space may not be worth anywhere near as much.

[Jon_Targaryen]

I fullheartedly agree. Remember, even Dante's inferno suggested a sequel that never happened TOO! Guess what, Killed off too soon.

[2pacalypsenow]

But gamers like Loot boxes and MT right EA? I mean BF II proved that

[UCForce]

EA is so annoying to be honest. No wonder why EA is always the worst company of America or the world.

[MegaMohsi]

wow these idiots just won't keep quiet will they

[AspiringProGenji]

🖕🏽

[Mikelarry]

lol that 3.1 billion in stock value you just wiped off begs to differ.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/1...

also this is why you dont always rely on data and test groups. they could have easily gone to any of the forums and would have seen that there are loads of people who still crave a linear experience. its just that they cant monitize single player games as much as multiplayer games

[kevnb]

I wouldn’t suggest people take forums too seriously, it’s only part of the gaming population.

[Mikelarry]

Maybe not as the only source but in conjunction with thier other data

[ApocalypseShadow]

EA is BSing.

Over 90% of my games are linear. If I do play multiplayer, it's rare and usually with friends or family. But that may be less than 10 times this year. I like story driven games from the early days of pitfall, mega man, castlevania, ninja gaiden, etc to today with uncharted, the last of us, HZD, Inside, etc

They want you to believe this so that they can push the idea that online, micro transactions, loot boxes with less work put in on voice actors, story, etc is a good thing.

I've boycotted these knuckleheads for 10 years. I'm hoping others see the light about this company and their buying up licenses, monopolizing genres, buying up competition or using their marketing dollars to kill their competition.

EA is a predator that wears a smiley face.

[rainslacker]

While I know there are a few people out there that only play one kind of game, I can't think of a single person who doesn't play SP or linear type games, in addition to whatever their primary genre may be.

I can think of a lot of people who play SP or linear type of games and won't touch MP in most cases, or ever.

Even the people that try to discredit others in the console war by saying something is linear, or it has no MP, and how they'd never touch it because of that, or some other such nonsense, you will see talking up such games, even saying they played it and saying it's a good game.

[FreddyFazbear]

Im one of those people and many of us who primarily plays SP games until the day i die and would rarely touch MP games with no narrative. EA really is crazy, out of touch, delusional or just have a hidden agenda to push MP games with MT

[DialgaMarine]

When did EA become the voice of opinion for gamers everywhere? Clearly your “economists” don’t know crap, considering the game that could’ve made multiple billions of dollars, had you morons just been a little less greedy with the MT system, is instead being avoided like the plague. Pretty sad when your games are basically the only new AAA releases that don’t sell out on Black Friday.

[kevnb]

The problem with dead space games is that people bought them, beat them and then sold them. Used game sales killed them. That and I can’t understand why level design has gotten so corridor like in many games, even doom way back in the day had more interesting design.

[HyperMouse]

Translation - we cant put MT's into single player linear games without too much backlash, so we just wont make them

[Pancit_Canton]

People like great quality games. Open world or Linear games has nothing to do with it. **** you EA

[Enigma_2099]

Wow.. the scent coming off this huge pile of BS... you can smell it from space.

[rainslacker]

Wonder if GameStop should just do a survey with every game sold asking people their preferred type of game, or what kinds of games they actually play.

I bet SP or linear type games would rank up there a lot higher than MP.

I can't believe based on what I see on forums, and the huge number of SP/linear type games I see in game stores, many of which often chart, that people just aren't as interested in them. When it comes to MP games, outside of PC, it's really just a few stand out titles that actually do extremely well, while most actually bomb hard because they can't get a sizeable userbase.

[FreddyFazbear]

SP games are what built the industry whether Open world or linear, SP is here to stay, back in the day MP are just a bonus mode found inside SP games after you beat the campaign for more replay value, now many companies are making MP games separate because its easy money and less work because no need for cinematics, voice actors except MMOs. Anyway GOTY contenders are singlenplayer games mario zelda horizon persona. and there are more who deserves the nomination. SP will stay and im confident im not the only one who prefers it over MP. There are 7 billion people on the planet and most gamers play SP. So EA is pure BS to push MT agenda because you cant put that on SP unless backlash like SWBF2

[MunchMiller00]

Oh look, it's Blake again. Oh look, Blake is talking like a greedy drooling idiot again.

[showtimefolks]

We don't like your linear games because they are average

We want strut driven experiences instead of games as service

Good thing I don't buy EA games anymore

[bolimekurac]

games as a service has nothing to do with micro transactions, its about keeping creating games that have legs for years

[Imalwaysright]

You tell yourself that.

[Freeball]

I think they mean, "We can't milk the sh**t outta people with MTs in SP games, so we're shutting them all down".

[DreadGara]

That's actually an old news.
That's why Dead Space series is dead.
I'm glad it did actually. Piece of shi* EA don't deserve to have such a great games after all, It would be really sad if we're to see new DS releases hammered with greediness.
Still I wish DS would still keep going, but absolutely not with EA. Maybe LJN? 😁

[Jon_Targaryen]

I see what you did there. ;)

[Dante101]

Ea should change their name to Evil A**es at this point What a terrible company GREED is the sin that will do them in.

[rainslacker]

It does seem the art isn't all that present in Electronic Arts anymore. Although I suppose the art of fleecing your customers is still a thing.

[FPS_D3TH]

But it’s a good thing we’ve been listening because we’re bringing you, the gamers, exactly what you’ve been unknowingly asking for... Microtransactions!!! Woooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

[captainrivaini]

It always shocks me how clueless EA are.

[Stogz]

God I hate EA so much...

[quent]

FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF FK OFF

[rainslacker]

Normally, you should be marked as inappropriate for this comment, but I feel you are spot on.

No other company in gaming has so systematically tried to force this narrative that gamers don't like games, and that we should be thankful for whatever they give us, and that the people they can fleece are more important than the larger consumer base. Every negative thing that the community complains about has either started with, or been heavily supported by EA at some point in time, and most of that has continued to this day.

[Kiknyonutz]

You're all idiots and are destroying video games...

[stuna1]

Where have I heard that statement from before!? Is Phil Spencer EA's undercover agent? But of course this falls right in line with Microsoft plans moving forward to make gaming a service.

Baby steps so as not to alert those oblivious to what's actually taking place! Full on multiplayer games, paid Internet access, riddled with DLC and Microtransactions coupled with a pay to win scheme! Talk about maximization of profits.

Isn't this why Phil got promoted in the first place!? He made money in subscription/game pass areas.

[ILostMyMind]

Really, EA, you should marry Microsoft.

[DreadGara]

They did, their child called EA access.

[Jon_Targaryen]

I wouldnt be surprised if EA stroked MS shlong while giving them the idea of ALWAYS online concept before the 2013 reveal.. We all know how that turned out!

[gangsta_red]

I don't think this is a good reason at all but gamers did have strong negative reactions to games that were linear like FF 13 and The Order.

But I think there is a difference between a good linear game and a definite bland one.

[HyperMouse]

Both of those games had horrible reviews and one would thing the fact they were not good games was more the answer to that

[gangsta_red]

A lot of the more popular and most anticipated games are pretty much open world and non linear, so with that I have to somewhat agree with EA that gamers are looking for more in their triple A gaming.

But I personally can still enjoy a good linear game and it's definitely not a reason for EA to shut down Visceral Games.

[Themba76]

big mistake i still like linear games open world games and multiplayer only games will get old quickly we need variety

[Jon_Targaryen]

Just look how boring the first Titanfall lost its appeal after the first week or so. Seeing that EVERYTHING was online and MP based, even the lazy named "Campaign" was just normal TDM stages! WTF?!?!

[plmkoh]

They must have pretty f'ked up perspective on the market. If the Dead Space franchise selling millions was not enough to save the business model, then it's not the market that is changing but your budgets that need adjusting.

[FullmetalRoyale]

I wonder how Ms. Henning feels about her decision to leave Naughty Dog. How someone so gifted could fall into EA’s trap is beyond me.

[rainslacker]

On the plus side, Henning will probably be the first person to call out EA on their BS. She has a really unique way of putting the business side into perspective, as well as saying what makes a good game for the consumer.

She's literally written the book on building the industry, how to design good games, and doesn't mind using examples of spurious thinking of the industry to try and justify "trends" which are wholly manufactured by the publishers themselves.

Maybe we'll get lucky and see a lot of other publishers start to market their SP experiences better, or at least individual developers saying how they're more than happy to offer up what this apparent dwindling market of linear games.

[Jon_Targaryen]

Yeah, no she lost that integrity the day she started working for EA.

[Phoenix76]

News flash

It's just been reported that Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen's head is so far up his own ass, that the lump in his throat is actually his nose!

Total BS from EA again

[jmtstan]

This is BS. Tomb Raider, Horizon Zero Dawn, Witcher 3, and many others are all successful single player games...

[Pandamobile]

Of the three you listed, only Tomb Raider is a linear game.

[FreddyFazbear]

You guys dont get it. EA refering to Linear games as SP games no matter if open world like witcher or linear like last of us. They are talking about SP games jeez.

[jmtstan]

oops sorry, didn't notice about the linear thing. Of course, if you're talking about linear, Uncharted series, Gears of War have quite good SP

[Relientk77]

EA you are absolutely stupid and greedy

[WeAreLegion]

Ya know, I don't usually give in to this stuff, but screw it. Blow me, EA. I'm not buying one of your games until you get new execs who care.

[Summons75]

Go home EA, you're drunk.

[PigsR4Eating]

I would have bought dead space 4 in a heart beat for 60 USD on release. Not factoring in any way over the top microtransaction injection in a single player co/op game.

[Blu3_Berry]

Yeah well players don't like games filled with loot-boxes and micro-transactions these days either. Your point?

[Ashunderfire86]

I laugh at EA, because their whole Games As A Service crap 💩 has backfired on them, when they failed to realize games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Zelda, and so many other single player games from Sony and Nintendo been doing great in sells. Maybe EA need to go back to the drawing board. Sadly they are going to be the worst company of the year for a third time.

[rollerdisc]

LOL

[DillyDilly]

Please Disney take away the Star Wars License from EA or at least take away EA's Exclusivity

[Jon_Targaryen]

Just give it to Suckerpunch or Team Japan. I dont care if its exclusive, at least it will be well looked after then!

[Shineon]

Dead space 2 was fun

[senorfartcushion]

I'd say complete BS but in Easy Allies's review that criticised the campaign for being linear. Reviewers are the people who keep using the word in a negative fashion.

See: IGN's Rogue Warrior review.

I am not liking what EA are doing and hate Loot Boxes with a passion (including Overwatch's) but EA can blame gamers and reviewers for not liking linear games and they can get away with it.

[rainslacker]

So....as with last gen, the gaming media is influencing what it is gamers want, by saying that something sucks and no one wants it, despite the fact that most of the people I see are perfectly fine with linear games. Last gen was JRPG's to push the WRPG genre and somehow make Japan irrelevant because MS couldn't get support, this gen it's linear games, because MS and EA want to push GaaS more?

Cool I guess.

[senorfartcushion]

Yes. I work in film (I produce) and it takes years for a message of complaint to set in. It actually takes seconds for them to jump onto the bandwagon that has the money attached i.e. a certain type of film makes lot i.e. Deadpool. That means that a lot of R rated Fantasy films will be rushed into production

[Prince_TFK]

Wtf LMAO. You can’t be serious with this, can you?

Oh wait, its EA. The epitome of a laughingstock in gaming world.

[laoboy_Smoke]

Its time for gamers to unite!
All I play are single player experiences u bastards!

[InKnight7s]

Who's here other than me is so worried and almost gave up on Anthem because of EA latest altituide since 2015? Anthem looked like the ultimate experience for shooters and semi super powers.

[Psychosious]

EA is stupid as sh7t... I’m completely done with them. Really haven’t bought from them in 2 years anyway, don’t mean much to me.

[Knightofelemia]

Typical EA business practice buy a company shut it down nothing new here. I feel sorry for Bioware and Dice sitting on a loaded gun wonder when EA will shut down those studios.

[ChickeyCantor]

they just want to focus on the mobile platform of monotization : microtransactions.

Can't do that with complete games.

[RyanShutup]

Good bye Visceral, it was nice knowing you. Respawn... you're next on the block. We're don't like it, but you did this to yourselves.

[leemo19]

EA clearly are out of touch of what gamers want. Gamers could careless if its linear,open world, turn-base etc.... just as long as the game-play is solid, enjoyable and not plagued with garbage MT that ruin the experience. Can't wait for E3 2018 just to hear the boooos at the EA conference.

[UCForce]

EA, you are BS.

[bluefox755]

Nonsense.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

You really don't get it..., do you EA?!! Dante's Inferno was a classic!!

[maybelovehate]

What they mean... is that it is too hard to monetize Single Player games.

[gleepot]

It's funny, them saying this in a year where single player games absolutely dominated the market.

[Dixiedevil]

It’s infuriating how out of touch these AAA publishers are with the people that buy their products. Unless I see raving reviews and I’m 100% sure it isn’t infested with the MT virus, im completely done with buying EA games. I was really looking forward to Anthem but I’m sure it’ll be completely fucked.

[Xenophon_York]

RIP Dante's Inferno reboot.

[TheVigilanteCode]

PR bullshit: "As players don't like linear games today."

Translation: "We couldn't shove pay-to-win or cosmetic microtransactions down our consumer's throats because most players when they complete a single player campaign don't return to it, like they do for multiplayer games on a daily basis, so we can nickel and dime them."

[Godmars290]

"as Players Don’t Like Linear Games As Much Today"

Because EA makes crap linear games maybe?

[kungfuian]

Electronic Arts' shareholders are running for the hills this month and for good reason.

The company's profitable business model is now at risk after angry gamers revolted over its aggressive in-game moneymaking strategy in "Star Wars Battlefront II."

EA's stock is down 8.5 percent month to date through Tuesday compared with the S&P 500's 2 percent gain, wiping out $3.1 billion of shareholder value. Its competitors Take-Two and Activision Blizzardshares are up 5 percent and 0.7 percent respectively during the same time period.

After EA gave a Dec. quarter sales forecast slightly below Wall Street estimates on Oct. 31, some analysts suspected it was due to the Stars Wars title. The shares fell 4 percent the following day.

[blacktiger]

Okay EA is dumb but regardless, they are somewhat right about Visceral. But about Battlefront 2 I hope EA never fks with Dice ever again because if they do, Dice can quickly become the best developer of all time to the most annoying and the worse developer of all time.

[PiCOSMOiP]

For anyone who thinks their reasoning is bullshit, look at what the average gamer buys...multiplayer games, micro transactions, DLC...I mean gamers set themselves up for this. It’s been years in the making.

EA portfolio is all about connectivity and online gaming. They don’t make good single player games anymore. Too much of a risk to them now.

[Pintheshadows]

EA continues to dig their hole.

[Xenial]

NO SURPRISES! THEYVE GAINE WORRST COMPANY OF THE YEAR MULTIPLE TIMES FOR A REASON.

Un-Capped - yeahh, that linear talk is all bs, and they ruined dead space because they were greedy.

[Snakefist30]

EA is definitely digging their own Grave!

[No Way]

No, Ea.. what I Don't like are effing MICROTRANSACTIONS in all my games! I'd MUCH prefer linear games. GTFO EA.

[DarXyde]

Interesting reasoning.

Excuse me while I, and millions of others, get back to The Last of Us and Uncharted.

[Elda]

That's why the PS4 is the leading console worldwide for it's single player experiences & Nintendo following suit.

[aftershock]

Bullshit they don't. There are millions of gamers who still enjoy a great single player experience.

[addictedtochaos]

Uncharted says hi.

[Yohshida]

Oh god, just dont EA. That is the worst excuse ever

[GeraltOfRevia]

Did they fall a sleep when the witcher 3 and the last of us were released ?

[Internal]

Which is it? An economic decision or your claim that gamers don’t “like” linear games? Two bullshit answers from their bullshit company.

[victorMaje]

That's the stupidest most unfounded statement I've ever had the displeasure of reading in all my years of gaming.
Hey EA, GTFO!

[Dirtnapstor]

Really?! When did that survey go out?

[strayanalog]

Publisher of the Year strikes again.

[Einhander1971]

BOOM there it is EA that's why I don't buy your games. Now you've closed down Visceral even more so. Your out of touch managed by corporate suits who don't have a clue about the games industry. Your a cancer to the industry that needs cutting out .

[Profchaos]

I think EA has forgotten how to make a quality single player story driven game. I can't remember the last decent game they released that I played that was purely single player.

They seem to throw money at hiring high end script writers like the bf hardline writer who still turn out garbage

[PizzaSteve]

EA maybe if you gave your devs time to make great linear games then they would sell great. But no you force then to release unfinished games.

[SirBradders]

I am not going near EA again. No passion for gamin just pure greed.

Every gamer should spread the word and boycott these into bankruptcy.

Companies need to remember we made them great and we are their clients, no 1 rule in business treat your client with respect.

[PATR1CKSOMMER]

Let me rephrase "Players don't like CRAPPY AND POORLY MADE SHIT GAMES, as much today". There... there we go.

[UKmilitia]

who the fk do EA speak too about these things?
what gamers dont like this type of game?
i dont want everything open world,infact we getting to many open world games

[Jon_Targaryen]

Point taken! Worst and most unnecessary open world game this gen: MGS V!!!! WE DIDNT ASK FOR THAT!!!

[justsomeoffdude]

These guys are so desperate to defend their "we cannot make profits from microtransactions in single player games" policy that they'll come up with bullshit like this.

[Cmoney007]

Shocked! lol
EA - The company that loves destroying developers that they buy. lol

[Last_Boss]

I'm done: Blacklisting
All EA, Activision, & Ubisoft games

[DrumBeat]

Great excuse to fuck people with microtransactions. Is this a serious response? I don't want to read anything EA have to say...

[Kornholic]

Thanks to the saturation of the market with too many open world games, I like linear games now more than ever.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Super BS

[dolfa]

RIP you deserved better.

[happy2b]

Just like how World game aren't relevant anymore.

[Cuzzo63]

Uncharted, Tomb Raider says differently

[RedDeadLB]

Meanwhile I've been waiting for a DS4 in Frostbite for a long time.

[Liqu1d]

Yet they're publishing A Way Out in 2018. What even was the last linear game from EA?

[Ittoittosai]

This is part a narrative EA has been pushing for the last 10yrs. It allows them to try and side step the fact their crappy and rushed game dont have real SP anymore because flatout it cost more money to produce SP than cheap MP only games. If they keep pushing the narrative they hope people will buy it and it will become the norm. Yeah people dont like SP is that why the witcher does so well? Or uncharted? Perhaps tomb raider? Horizen zero dawn? Or a number of other SP titles that draw large numbers of sales. Remember this is the same excuse they gave when pushed about the lack of SP in the original remade battlefront two years ago.

EA we are not buying your garbage excuses for closing worwhile companys and trashing once great IPs just to cash in. I hope the stock drops another 3 billion dollars maybe then you asshole will learn your stock holders arent the only ones that need to be considered.

[feraldrgn]

Oh wow, they really have no clue.
Like Boogie said, get out of the industry.

[FreddyFazbear]

Uncharted 4, witcher 3, Mario Odyssey, Zelda breath of the wild, persona 5, horizon zero dawn, nioh, nier automata, xenoblade chronicles 2, gears of war 4, halo 5 guardians, quantum break, cuphead, ryse, Bloodborne, darksouls 3, dragon age inquisition, Until dawn, Final Fantasy XV, Infamous second son, infamous first light, Uncharted lost legacy, Killzone shadowfall, alien isolation, The order 1886, Evil within 2, assassins creed origins, black flag, unity, syndicate, watchdogs, metal gear solid V phantom pain, Middle earth shadow of mordor, shadow of war, Batman arkham knight, Fallout 4, farcry 4, GTA V, deus ex mankind divided, the last guardian, resident evil 7......

Yep EA people dont prefer Single Player games whether linear or open world. All these games mentioned old and new from this gen deserves to be put in your faces until you guys suffocate!!. and there are plenty SP games i did not mention. EA, scum of the gaming industry!!

[dreue]

Economic decision my ass....fuck you EA....playes dont like linear games? like for me dead space was one of the great games i play i like all of them but the first and 2 where master pieces....so thanks to EA...we will not see any of that or a close one to dead space? ya thanks ea for just thinking about big money and fucking online only games....glade we still have nintendo and sony to bring games,as well as rockstar and cd projekt red.....so fuck you EA...last game i got was need for speed and it will be the last one from EA....i could not finish need for speed.... since textures take some time to load dont understand the reason....

[mafiahajeri]

Uncharted says hello 😁

[zcmilano]

How are people here even arguing this? Of course linear games don't sell as well as MMORPGs like Destiny 2. Gamers are funny.... whinge whinge cry cry, but you all buy Destiny 2 and create this issue in the first place.

Oh, and just so you know: n4g represents about 1% of gamers. All the other people that aren't dorky enough to comment here just blindly buy whatever is popular. You can't stop the machine.

[j15reed]

That,s exactly what I was thinking and also all those single player games combined probably doesn't even touch what the most popular multiplayer game makes. It's mostly Sony fans crying though because that's what their favorite company specializes in.

[chiefJohn117]

Dang that's messed up. Build a good linear game with enough content and ppl will buy

[llMurcielagoll]

More like "we don't get the money we want out of linear games compared to open world multi-player games"

[windblowsagain]

E.A just suck ass.

Ruin games, dead space 3 was a disaster due to E.A.

Uncharted with or without MP is a great game, Tomb Raider, God of war etc.

They just want to milk the MP for all your worth.

[lellkay]

Utter crap

[Damthatsword]

Bwahahahahh! What a giant steaming pile of Bs that is. No...you butchered your SP games. You made them into low quality garbage that made gamers not like YOUR single player garbage. I cant believe they still think this....this is embarrassing EA.

[DJStotty]

"players do not like the linear games we (EA) are making anymore"

Fixed for ya

[Ol_Boy]

EA: Closing Visceral Games an “Economic Decision” as We Can't Monetize Linear Games As Much Today

There I fixed it.

[SR388]

Oh and games today aren't??? Lol

[NotAfanBoyy]

More like EAvil Corp doesn't like Linear games because they're harder to monetize!

[chris235]

what? lol?

[tehpees3]

EA is completely full of it. Just because people are playing online doesn't mean they don't like single player.

The only reason people are playing online is because you forced them to and you blooming know it EA. Just stop.

[C-H-E-F]

LMAO, in the great words of russell westbrook.... Ya'll **homies** trippin. Gamers don't like thousand dollar P2W games that cost 60$ that aren't even complete games.

[Lexreborn2]

Then why did I buy dead space on 3 different platforms?

[Monduu]

yeah fuck EA

[mahmoods26]

Well, if you a great piece Kokatu did on the closing of Visceral, apparently they didn't like their new Star Wars game because it was too much like Uncharted and they didn't see it as viable because it didn't have something akin to a gravity gun from Half Life. I have no words.

[Jon_Targaryen]

And yet I bought Dead Space 1-3 TWICE, on 360 and the other on PS3. I dont know who their focus groups are F.O.C.U.S-ing on, but they need to get fired.

[DillyDilly]

It's time guys that we as gamers take EA down

[CrimsonWing69]

Dude I’m a hardcore gamer and I want both linear and non-linear games. Where are they getting the data that gamers don’t want linear games!?

[CrystalFantasy]

EA are visionaries

[Father__Merrin]

Single player linier games don't selll

[Npugz7]

Bullshit!! Uncharted and the last of us sold extremely well and they were linear so quit lying to yourself morons!

[Germaximus]

Couldn't be more wrong. I'm getting pretty sick of open world games for offering the same exact mission 1000 times over.

[NickAwesome]

Not true, people would love an amazing single player game in the star wars universe, they didn't even give them a chance

[JMyers]

STFU EA!

[Bleucrunch]

Hmmm I do not buy this at all, I think what happened was Visceral was working on a game that they could not include MT's on so they screw the project, developers and the studio. Why do developers not look elsewhere to make their games?

Those eight developers that were left on Visceral should have left and started their own studio. Be their own bosses.

[jeromeface]

We can't monetize single player games like we can multiplayer games is what they meant to say.

[vulsker]

Because EA knows what everybody wants. Us as gamers love to buy $60 games and then spend hundreds more for content already hidden in that purchase! F'n ay!!!

Seriously though...EA should just sell it's studios and shutdown!

[ApexWolf22]

RIP - Dead Space Series, I had secretely hoped for remasters, oh well...

[kingjames18]

How do they know if we don't like them if they aren't making them?

[OpenGL]

Players don't like EA games as much today.

[Sirk7x]

EA has made it pretty apparent that they just want the mass market kind of money that casual gamers spend, people who just buy Madden, CoD every year and soccer moms who spend way too much on mobile transactions. They probably despise the diehard gaming community by now, considering how hard they've been getting torn into, and educated buyers not only don't buy their shit, they teach others not to as well. I wouldn't be surprised if EA strikes back soon and launches a PR campaign saying that they make games for normal people who have lives, to make hardcore gamers look like losers and discredit them as finicky and hard to please. It's either that or clean up their practices, and that sure as hell isn't gonna happen.

[PGRfox]

EA should just close all of its studios, and give its games to someone who doesn't want ti Nickel and Dime us.

[NohansenBoy]

You know EA, not messing up Dead Space 3 would've been great and great for you, but I'm guessing Dead Space 3 failing helped you make this decision even though Dead Space 3 failing had a lot to do with no longer making it a horror game, putting a romantic sub-plot in the games story, and dumbing things like ammo down cause I guess all gamers now a days are just Call of Duty frag heads? You suck EA. I hope you win 2017's worst company of the year award.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

ND games are Linear as fu*k though and they still sell.

[Rhythmattic]

Oh, we have a open world elitist....
How dare a game have great gameplay, story and be somewhat linear...
FFS....

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Are you talking about EA?

[bigmalky]

Just go mobile EA. You're clearly losing it like Konami did.

[Rhythmattic]

EA ! Its in the game! (Small Print: not withstanding micro transactions to be purchased once game is purchased)

[rashada07]

How many shots to the foot is this now EA?

[patterson]

EA and Microsoft say the same BS, this is why I don’t support them.

[theeze0504]

Players don't like lootboxes or pay to win mechanics on a fully retail priced game that's tied to progression, but that doesn't count apparently.

Aside from their sports titles, EA can go the way of THQ, I really hope they lose the star wars license over this.

[ajax17]

Egregious Assholes

[Ethereal]

Stop listening to BS focus groups and mass surveys. While I understand that the gaming demographic has broadened immensely over the last couple generations, it doesn't mean that the real gamers out there don't like linear games. To be honest I am starting to prefer a focused narrative-driven game in an age where AAA gaming is continually trying to throw everything in the book at gamers for perceived "value". Gaming shouldn't simply be about checking off boxes on a checklist.

[gamer7804]

Wow EA, just Wow.... just say its because you don't know how to monetize single player games properly.... It's easier to throw out map updates and tweaks to a multiplayer game and make more $....

[bow2yoda]

wtf! i still play dead space! this is total BS!

[Artemidorus]

Order 66 indeed.

[Phantom68]

BS

[The_KELRaTH]

They said much the same for RTS games like the Command & Conquer series.

[cd1]

Nope!

[milohighclub]

Nah people like battlefront 2.

[milohighclub]

Pretty gutting, I was looking forward to dead space trilogyremaster. Probably just closed the best studio they had. How many more bad decisions can they make.

If people don't like linear games then why the fuck is everyone hyped for the last of us 2?

[shaenoide]

Translation : We dont like games we Can't put MT in.

[Joe913]

False!!! The Order was the last liner game that didn't really do well (on PlayStation) that I can remember all games after that sold pretty well. I know Uncharted has online play but come on not too many people buy Uncharted just for the online play it is for the story. If this was true people would not have trashed the first battlefront for not having a story.

[SamTheGamer]

I enjoyed Dead space series and i wanted a new Dead space game. EA is ruining game industry

[killswitch80]

Bullshit just harder to attach pay walls to Linear

[sadsatan]

I prefer linear games.

[agent4532]

Now let's not buy Star Wars Battlefront 2 to show EA we are not walking wallets.

[Tzuno]

This is internal believing, a load of crap.

[ZombieKiller]

Yeah they prefer loot crates that allow you to win with real money in an online only MP environment. Yeah, that is EXACTLY what gamers want.

Lol just shows how much they care in the interest of the gamer. They haven't the slightest clue in what gamers want

[Fearmonkey]

EA is practicing the political art of saying something as fact in the hopes everyone will buy and accept it. Complete and utter BS. I swear if it weren't for Dragon Age, I wouldn't care about anything EA makes anymore.

[KryptonKronos]

Oh off you fuck EA. Electronic Arsehole.

[Vithar]

EA knows what players want? LMAO

[shinoff2183]

All these single player games coming out, screw EA. Ill take story of a game anyday over a thirteen year old racist kid yelling in a mic

[II__BONE__II]

Thee MOST anticipated game coming "The Last of Us 2" is linear.

[InTheZoneAC]

EA just keeps proving they are so disconnected. They probably look at things like, "well people don't play Battlefield campaign, so they must not like linear campaigns"...

God of War, linear
Uncharted, linear
The Last of Us, linear
Ratchet & Clank, mostly linear
Dead Space, linear
Telltale games, linear
Littlebigplanet, linear
Resident Evil,linear
Tomb Raider, linear
Mario, most are linear
Zelda, some are linear
Splinter Cell, linear
Ghost Recon, all but one were linear

EA=DumbAf

[Tross]

It's true that online multiplayer is really popular nowadays, but lots of people still play singleplayer titles, many of which are linear. The vast majority of localized Japanese games and what studios like Naughty Dog and Quantic Dream generally produce come to mind. Besides, a studio like Visceral could have just been tasked with creating a sandbox type game as their next IP instead of just outright closing the studio. Either that, or given the number of popular singleplayer linear titles, EA just hasn't been marketing theirs very well to the right niche.

I'm sorry, but look at EA's track record and tell me that every studio they've ever closed was warranted due to people not being as into their games. If there is a legit issue the consumer has with a company's IPs past a certain point in time, the problem is usually EA. They're not known as a studio killer for nothing. They acquire devs who are often great, and either run them into the ground or sit on them and then close them because they're not making enough profit even though it's EA's poor decisions that are to blame.

[Vizigoth04]

I'm glad EA can't touch any of Sony's first party studios. They think they knew what us gamers like. As if there isn't a variety of tastes gamers have. Sony gets this.