EA Is Cracking Down On Battlefront II Forums, Devs Forbidden From Talking

From GameWatcher: "Star Wars Battlefront II had a famously bad launch, what with the lootbox controversy and pay-to-win mechanics stealing all the thunder from what should have been the biggest gaming-related Star Wars event of the year. Electronic Arts quickly apologised for the situation without changing anything, but a stern call from Disney caused the publisher to immediately backtrack and remove the game's microtransactions."

[theXtReMe1]

LoL. Theres a way to get gamers respect, go against the constitution and try to silence all of your critics for calling you out on your attempted money grab, using an establshed beloved IP. I hope Disney rips your contract in two and gives the rights to a developer who actually cares about the Star Wars franchise, for more than an easy pay day.

I applaud Disney for calling them out and forcing their hand. Because EA never wouldve listened to the gamers who buy their games.

[ZeekQuattro]

I don't give Disney any credit. Remember they picked EA dispute its history of running franchises into the ground. Plus Disney has mobile games full of loot crates some of which are Star Wars related. Disney was only shitting bricks because of the backlash Battlefront 2 was/is getting otherwise they are all for loot crates. When things die down as they almost always do the loot backs will be back with revengeance. lol

[Ittoittosai]

Um disney didnt pick anyone EA had the rights from Lucus Arts from before.

[ShadowWolf712]

...loot crates are fine in F2P honestly, MT's are how they make their money.

[Notellin]

@Ittoittosai Actually you are incorrect. Disney acquired Star wars in October of 2012. The EA/Disney deal was extended and agreed upon in May 2013. So Disney did have the option not to extend.

[Spoticle]

@Ittoittosai Shut up Meg.

[ShadowWolf712]

That's uh... not "going against the Constitution". Free speech gives you a right to speak, not a right to a platform. Cracking down like this is scummy, but it's not a violation of anyone's Constitutional rights any more than your rights would be violated if you were banned from Facebook or N4G.

[ZeekQuattro]

Loot crates and F2P go hand in hand. I was only saying Disney are okay with them but not when there is a spotlight on it.

[DragonKnight]

Uh, it's not the denial of a platform when EA are forcing devs to keep quiet. Unless a pre-existing NDA exists preventing developers from talking about a game that's currently out, they are silencing free speech of each and every dev.

[Stevonidas]

@ShadowWolf712

It concerns me greatly just how many people disagreed with you, despite everything you said being exactly right.

[rainslacker]

Absolutely right. It's censoring what can be said(or at least what is shown) on their forums, but people are still free to speak how they wish. There are other places that can be done, and EA has no authority over that.

@Dragon

They can restrict their devs. Or at least they can sanction them should they speak without permission on topics they aren't allowed to talk about, as they're actually representatives of the company, and things like that fall more into ethical conduct and NDA's. however, those devs are still free to talk elsewhere should they choose, but the consequences probably would result in termination, and then they'd still be held to typical NDA's which would persist after employment. Should such an NDA be broken, the dev could potentially face a civil suit. In most cases, only certain people within a development house are allowed to interact with the community anyhow. NDA's are a legally binding contract which the industry takes pretty seriously though.

[InTheZoneAC]

Disney only said something because their greenlight for microtransactions has led to this outrage by the community for calling out the gambling for kids tactics.

Disney only cares that people are aware of the situation, otherwise they'd be fine targeting stupid kids/parents for their stupid addictions

[_-EDMIX-_]

? Disney oked the game in the first place

[michellelynn0976]

And if you don't care. Why do you and a few others always comment with the same nonsense? Hmmm

[Vectrexer]

I think it was more like pressure from gamers the ones who actually spend the money on the game who made both Disney (the one's soon to release a movie as well) and EA make the changes. Too little too late given the cheap price the game can be had for new.

[opinionated]

Nothing to do with the constitution. Nothing whatsoever.

[fiveby9]

Although I agree with your sentiment, to be precise, it is not a constitutional right to discuss in forums against your employer's wishes. Freedom of Speech in the U.S. is about individual rights and government censorship. A company is well within the U.S. Constitution to bar employees from certain conduct. But I do agree it is really bad handling by EA to be so restrictive. I would also like to see a proper Star Wars game made in the hands of a different publisher.

[fenome]

It would've been nice to see what Visceral was going to do with it before they scrapped the game and the whole damn studio with it "because gamers don't like single player games" translates to "That doesn't seem like something we can milk, so you're all fired".

You know there are a ton of devs who are die hard Star Wars fans that would really put in so much effort to really just wanting to make a great game in this universe, it's a shame that EA are the only ones allowed to at the moment. It's not even that their teams aren't good, it just seems like EA rule with an iron fist that's clenching money.

About the constitutional shit, yeah, you can say what you want but there can always be consequences. People get fired all the time for popping off on Twitter or Facebook, it is what it is.

[Zer0Flinch]

Lol you think Disney isn’t all about the money LOL they paid 2 Billion dollars for the franchise. You talk about EA not caring about the franchise, have you seen the new movie? It’s obvious Disney is just making way for more revenue streams from Star Wars, they don’t care about the story either just the money the story makes.

[-Foxtrot]

EA: "It's fake news...move along people...nothing to see here"

[Godmars290]

It not fake news, its dictated opinions. Authoritarian statements.

[warriorcase]

It's a joke mate. Relax.

[81BX]

It's more of a nothing burger at this point!

[Godmars290]

@warriorcase:
We've gotten to and are well past a point in which publishers try to control the opinion of their games as they focus on profits rather than the actual value of a game. $60 games being designed to manipulate a small minority "willing" to be gouged for more money at the cost of any appeal it might have had towards the general majority. And its a joke.

Yeah, guess it is.

[sizeofyou]

warriorcase was saying -Foxtrot was making a joke...but your lecture is on the right side of the argument nevertheless... 🤣

[Razzer]

Thankfully their forums are not the only place people can speak. Like.....here, where they have no authority.

[Godmars290]

@Razzer:
Their forums are still where most of the general market goes to. And places like here have "fans" who willfully defend "their" IPs even and especially when the likes of EA something greedy that compromises game quality.

[rainslacker]

EA really should have let this lay. Seems everything was settling down, which is typically of controversies after a week or two. This one went a bit longer, but overall, it ended quicker than I thought. While there still may be talk in their forums, I can't imagine it is like it was a couple weeks ago. Everytime they do do something to try and avoid any conflict, they just end up stirring the pot again. You'd think they'd know full well they can just ignore this stuff and it'll eventually go away. Since there isn't much way to fix things right now, it doesn't make sense to keep aggravating the issue.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Looks like EA is working their way to another lawsuit.....

[UltraNova]

EA: Been there done that 😎

[Razzer]

Lawsuit? For what? Being a-holes? That is not against the law in most countries.

[bluefox755]

Put those devs in their place EA! Why should they be able to talk...or have creative freedom!

[JackBNimble]

Not that I care at all, but EA is their employer so unless they go indie, EA is their boss.
EA owns their creativity and the product, so I am sure EA has the right to say to their employees not to talk about their product in public forums.

[PapaBop]

Just like EA has the right to make their games in a way that lures children into online gaming but it doesn't make it morally acceptable.

[JackBNimble]

I'm not defending EA, just stating a fact. I don't buy their games and if you don't like their practices then you shouldn't buy them either.
The company I work for has a policy that employees cannot go on Facebook or any other media outlets and talk about the company or risk being fired.
I know of one guy I worked with that was threatened with the possibility of a defamation lawsuit.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I mean just to play Devil's Advocate you kind of have to understand that these developers know exactly what they're getting into when they're working for a company.

They're not independent developers they're very much owned by Electronic Arts.

Sorry to say but if somebody wants creative freedom the best way to obtain it is to seek a publisher that is actually openly known to give that to an extent or to Simply Be Independent. I mean I want you to consider that you could say the exact same thing for almost any major corporation you work for.

[uth11]

so EA is evil for a practice every other company in the world does? got it.

no company is ok with employees giving unofficial public statements, its why devs online are usually anonymous

[DillyDilly]

If Disney gives a damn they take away the license from EA

[ClanPsi1]

If Disney gave a damn they wouldn't have shut down LucasArts.

[bloop]

If Disney gave a damn they might have gotten someone to proof read TLJ script before they released that abomination.

[Benjaminkno]

@bloop
That movie demonstrates that’s disney could give a shit less about Star Wars in general.
Star Wars is dead to me.
the fact that they shut down Lucas Arts tells me everything I need to know about the games.
Last Jedi was indeed a disaster

[RacerX]

As a tribute, I went back and re-watched episodes 4-6... Dang what a great adventure, friendship, and storyline! Great and memorable characters! I mean, come on... Luke Skywalker and Han Solo are iconic household names. The best names they could come up with now is Rey and Finn? This one tiny detail, begins to highlight some much deeper issues... Mainly starting with a CASH GRAB by Disney.

Seriously, every little boy wanted to be Solo or Skywalker, every girl the Princess! Who wants to be a reject stormtrooper? Credit to Kylo Ren though. All my nephews want to be that guy LOL

[The 10th Rider]

You're talking about a company that cut the X-Men from Marvel VS Capcom because they didn't own the film rights. Disney couldn't give a flying f*** about the video games as long as they sell well enough and don't impact the films or merchandising.

Even if Disney came out tomorrow and said they're breaking off the contract with EA you can bet it would be because they don't want to be associated with EA's PR mess and it has nothing to do with Disney actually caring about the video games.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed

What I think is so funny is that people have yet to even stop to consider that Disney is the one that even gave them the license in the first place. Trust me Disney does not care that Electronic Arts is implementing these type of tactics I would argue that's the exact reason why they even gave them the license. Electronic Arts also scored them the best selling Star Wars game in history this all has to do with money and I just don't believe Disney's going to walk away from money.

[Ittoittosai]

People keep saying Disney gave EA the rights blah blah blah. EA had the rights before Disney owned LucasArts and Star Wars the least they did was green light EA's ideas EA has had the right to battlefront from the early 00's on.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Itt- either provide a link to prove that the licensing deal was something that was current or stop spreading misinformation.

https://www.hollywoodreport...

So you have to understand that licensing deals expire they're not something that just remain 100%.

Put it this way do you remember when Nintendo had the James Bond license? Do you remember when Electronic Arts had it? Do you remember when Activision had it?

Sooooooo yea.

When this deal first happened nowhere that I ever read they were just reminding you of a current deal that existed it's specifically told you that it was done by Disney. ...

It specifically said 10 years

I read nowhere that they're saying they're going to keep them with the license for 10 "more" years and I haven't read anything about them "continuing" a deal.

I mean dear God did you just disregard that Ubisoft made a series of Star Wars games?

So this deal was made by Disney, I have read nowhere that shows otherwise.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Disney does care, they care about making money it's why they gave the license to Electronic Arts in the first place.

I want you to consider that Electronic Arts is just sold the best selling Star Wars game in history......

Disney is not going to walk away from those type of gargantuan numbers.

[Strafe]

You want everyone to consider. That's why you use the word so much. You have to consider that you use the word 'consider' a lot. You have to consider that you think it makes you look intelligent in your long rambling speeches, but you have to consider that it doesn't.

I mean you have to consider that.

[uth11]

Disney only gives a damn about money

[Rhythmattic]

uth11
And how to be defrosted.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Wheres the Anonymous hacker group when you need them? :D Would be great if they can keep attacking all EA's websites non stop with DDoS. Some people at EA (or any corporations that do this shit) should be removed, what I really mean is taken out. Not just fired. You all can see where I'm going with that statement ^_^

[rainslacker]

I think that's really beyond their purpose. Not to say that some random hacker groups wouldn't do it though. I don't really agree with such tactics though. I'd rather EA just keep screwing up so people see how bad they are, and if it gets bad enough, maybe they'll get some new management in there, and if the investors are smart, they'll get people who know how to gaining revenues with consumer satisfaction.

[DrJones]

You are insane

[Jon_Targaryen]

Not so sure if I believe this. If Disney really wanted this franchise o shine then she would've taken it to developer who would've given it justice. Not to sound like a Fanboy. But I think ND or Guerrilla Games would've given us awesome experiences. Anything those guys touches turn to gold.

[_-EDMIX-_]

From a gaming standpoint I don't disagree with you I would definitely love to see what those teams could do from Star Wars but at the same time we're also talking about business so from a business perspective I actually think Electronic Arts is one of the top Publishers they could have sent that intellectual property to and I don't believe I would be wrong if you consider Star Wars Battlefront as now went on to be the best selling Star Wars game in history.

I mean it's almost like saying I know that Call of Duty moves 20 million units doesn't necessarily mean I love every entry of the series it's simply understanding that this publisher and many Publishers like Activision in Electronic Arts know how to move those type of numbers.

[uth11]

i doubt they would make it exclusive, and i guarantee it would generate controversy no matter who they gave it to.

[rainslacker]

Personally, I think Disney should have remained the publisher, and just licensed out the games to different developers. There are plenty of qualified developers out there to pitch different star wars game....some which may have a great love of the franchise, or would at lest do it justice....and plenty of good developers who could make whatever trite that Disney decides to create in the "cannon". Giving exclusive rights to a single publisher seems to just limit the possibilities, and gives too much control of the games to a single entity(see SP game cancelled because it wouldn't be profitable enough to the publisher). Activision has shown that a company owning a single IP gives them no real incentive to try and make something decent in the franchise in question.

[opinionated]

I agree. As a developer do you see the industry moving towards smaller more independent studios?

I hope so but from what I see it could go either way but it’s unlikely. Yeah a bunch of big names are trailing off and starting their own more personable studios but how many have actually paid off? I see some greats like jaffe and inafune just completely tank. Cliffy b’s game tanked. Platinum was struggling before Nier this year. Respawn giving up their independence.

Are there any success stories? Lol It’s not hard to see why Disney put their brand into an entity like EA. I hate that though, i agree that it’s complete garbage but it’s not hard to see why. I hope Levine and Kojima come out of the box swinging and put more faith in that investment. I hope they don’t fall back into the trap like these other studios.

Is there even a choice though? Is it possible for an industry to comfortably maintain independence on AA games? Or is the buyout inevitable? An economic certainty, give or take a few exceptions to the rule. We can’t actively get consumers and property holders to rally around these models, nobody cares. The only thing people rally around is insignificant bullshit. Whatever half baked controversy they are poking at that week lol. People love to mob up and tear the shit down but they never rally around building it up. Rally around a developer you want to make a Star Wars game. Try making it happen without screaming at them with venom pouring out of your mouth. Hey disney, this dev said they’d love to do it and this many want it. Maybe they will look into or maybe they won’t but at least you tried, right?

Without the crushing negativity that caused them to tape their studios mouths shut to make their lawyers job easier lmao.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

If the headline is true, it'll back fire big time. The internet doesn't like being dictated too. Eat a schlong EA.

[TheOttomatic91]

Man seriously F**K EA

[Einhander1971]

EA not interested, bottom line is they shouldn't be making Star Wars games.

[BuildTheWall]

What a way to keep your remaining Battlefront 2 players loyal to the game / boost sales. I don't think that this kind of $hit is a smart unless you are hoping to not sell any software.

[uth11]

the people who actually play BF2 get irritated that they can't even discuss the game online without being attacked, downvoted or drowned out by the haters.

so if EA actuall cracked down on anything and it made a difference they would probably be grateful

[ginganinja]

Sheesh. It seems half the stuff on the internet at the minute is kids whining about what people have done to 'their' star wars.

[Artemidorus]

Many years ago this GIF were made on a forum. How true it really is now.

https://goo.gl/images/bLoqC...

[MADGameR]

What a stupid move. Going against gamer's rights to speak out. Welp, this news will go out on Youtube and many social media outlets and it's going to end up back firing HARD. RIP EA

[princejb134]

Find it hilarious how a lot of people still support these type of developers that only shit on us.
That's like been bullied in school and still hanging out with the bully just because he's the cool kid

[Psychotica]

I didn't buy it for the simple reason that the first one was boring..

[AizenSosuke]

Lol there goes any future purchase ea.

[Fist4achin]

Just plain sucks, but anything Star Wars related is going to be a cash cow. Oh well, not a dime from me anymore...

[glenn1979]

EA is such a scumbag of a company

[DarthSocio]

I've only just got around to playing it. The most starking thing I've noticed is just how poor the writing/dialogue/voice acting is. The story feels non existent and very rushed which explains the claim that the ME we got was basically made in the last 12 months of its 5 year development. It's sad Bioware would treat Mass Effect like this.

[Bleucrunch]

So EA is allegedly banning Devs from speaking about a game that they have developed? Ok why do some gamers still support this company??? Does no one see how flagrant this is?

Sheesh Some of you gamers really need to wake up and realize that the outrage is legitimate towards EA and their disgusting greed man. Sheesh....again!!!

[agent4532]

Why do gamers keep buying EA games. For one year I ask gamers not to buy microtransanction, loot box, ridden games even if is a popular franchise

[SegaGamer]

EA has a strong grasp on the casual market, much stronger than any other company, that is why they will continue to sell games no matter what they do.

[Tanseeker]

Cut off clear communication and censor peoples voices... Watch as everyone abandons the game completely.

[Gwiz]

wow EA,you are steeping low man.

[MaxiPower90]

yeaooo the gaming industry is finally growing some balls. up the revoloution. boycott everything.

[ZombieKiller]

Lol the only interaction I've had with EA is reading these articles displaying the pathetic business practices they perform.

Never EVER will I buy one of their games. There is too much competition out there to give this company money IMO. Seriously screw EA.

[RegorL]

I wonder if half of that article is true...

Suppose you worked really hard to make a game. It releases.
And EVERY user (not necessarily customer) complains about one particular issue, even after it has been fixed.
Would you really happily go to the forums on your free time, or would you leave handling that mess to those hired to handle forums specifically? I would stay away...

[TacoTaru]

Where's Anonymous when you really need them?