Since Visceral Studios abrupt closure in the past weeks and with the Linear Star Wars game shifting to another studio with the major focus turning to towards a multiplayer based title with a ton of the controversial but still revenue generating microtransactions here there in the game hence, During a recent Waypoint Podcast a Former EA employee, Gameplay designer for Mass Effect 3 Manveer Heir said that the EA was turning its attention to multiplayer titles.He stated“the linear single-player AAA game at EA is dead for the time being.”
Whille adding that games at EA are pivoting towards multiplayers genre since it rakes in additional revenue through microtransactions the practice has been highly criticized in recent times by gaming enthusiasts. However at this point the developers can usually get away with charging exorbitant prices.
He further added, “You need to understand the amount of money that’s at play with microtransactions,” . “I’m not allowed to say the number but I can tell you that when Mass Effect 3 multiplayer came out, those card packs we were selling, the amount of money we made just off those card packs was so significant. That’s the reason Dragon Age has multiplayer. That’s the reason other EA products started getting multiplayer that hadn’t really had them before, because we nailed it and brought in a ton of money. It’s repeatable income versus one-time income. I’ve seen people literally spend $15,000 on Mass Effect multiplayer cards.”
With him Explaining over Bioware’s upcoming title Anthem, “It’s not a traditional looking BioWare game, right? If that’s what you’re seeing from a place like BioWare, owned by EA, a place where I worked for seven years; if that’s what you’re seeing from Visceral, now closing and going to this other Vancouver studio, what it means is that the linear single-player AAA game at EA is dead for the time being.”
While the mentioned statements are from an Ex-Dev Heir confirmed that he does not speak for EA nor Bioware but his opinions gives the community some insight on what the industry focuses on rather than a satisfying game which pleases fans and their developers alike.
