EA buys 20% (well, 19.9) stake in UbiSoft

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2004/12/20/ap1720133.html

Who will stop this monster???!!

They are as bad as Microsoft in my book, just churning out the same old game with a new front end!!

Where is the love hey?

The fact that they're able to churn out crappy games is because people are willing to buy it. "Oh my gawdz The Sims rox lolelrz it's just like real lifez0r!?!~1" Or something similar.

So even if they are rat bastards who deserve nothing better than to be smothered in the fiery brimstone of El Diablo, the people who buy it are equally rat bastards.

The fact that they're able to churn out crappy games is because
people are willing to buy it. "Oh my gawdz The Sims rox lolelrz it's
just like real lifez0r!?!~1" Or something similar.

So do all the millions of add-on packs.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Hugh</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>The fact that they're able to churn out crappy games is because people are willing to buy it. "Oh my gawdz The Sims rox lolelrz it's just like real lifez0r!?!~1" Or something similar.

So even if they are rat bastards who deserve nothing better than to be smothered in the fiery brimstone of El Diablo, the people who buy it are equally rat bastards.

</DIV></DIV>
HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! The Sims sux0r5 ba11z!!! I fudging hate the sims. Next game they make: The Sims: Queer City.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! The Sims sux0r5 ba11z!!! I fudging hate the sims. Next game they make: The Sims: Queer City.

Hey...I'd buy it.

I predict that, in less than 20 years, all games will sound like Barbie Adventures 15: Ken's Revenge, Socky Sock and Homosexual Pirate Island and I was a teenage monkey's-bladder etc.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Andrei</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>I predict that, in less than 20 years, all games will sound like Barbie Adventures 15: Ken's Revenge, Socky Sock and Homosexual Pirate Island and I was a teenage monkey's-bladder etc. </DIV></DIV>
Lol that's so great! By then we will all be middle-aged or better arguing over Valve's new content delivery system that hooks straight to our neural network. Imagine...
SP user: "I just think it's ridiculous that I have to connect to the internetron to THINK about a single-player game!!!"
Vash: "Shut up and get used to it, idiot."

Lol your game titles sound a lot like the movie dscriptions on TV nowadays: [color=yellow]"A drunken ex-cop and his homosexual partner track a transvestite junkie mob boss after the suspicious shooting of a reformed hooker at an upscale crack-house during the Macy's Parade." Seriously, some of them are THAT BAD...[/color]

omg, when will it stop that they buy up good company's!

EA are the suck imo. I read somewhere an article written by an employee detailing the way that EA treat's its software houses, Infact I think it may even of been KFS that posted the link in the first place.

It was, it was someones livejournal which told of how EA basically
blackmail people into rushing out projects under hard conditions. Nasty
company, mostly terrible games and overuse of licences and not quality
software to sell games.

It's a shame to see another company swallowed up (partially) to EA's
Microsoft-esque ways. Can't say i'm too surprised that it's Ubisoft,
correct me if im wrong but their lack of quality titles recently
(ever?) probably means financial rocky ground, and inevitably takeover..

still sad though.

Maybe you guys are forgetting that UbiSoft almost has worse buisness practices then EA.

How can we forget something we didn't know? :razz: All I knew about Ubisoft
is that they make s**t games, cept maybe Prince of Persia - even the
sequel to that is a crock of s**t though.

Buh? Ubi has recently published, developed, or is publishing, games including the following:

beyond good and evil
prince of persia sot/ww
far cry
brothers in arms
r6 series

Even if you don't like these games, we're talking huge successes financially. They run multiple MASSIVE development studios (something like 500-600+ in their Montreal studio across multiple teams) and wrapped up in there have some of the top minds in the industry (well, Michel Ancel :razz: ).

As someone pointed out on another forum, what happens now is this: Ubi stock has surged from the buyout by EA. This is going to make a lot of people sell their shares and take the profits. Then EA snaps up what's left. And poof. And I don't expect the results will be good.

Ubi, Activision, and Take Two are the only ones that come to mind as being able to challenge the EA publishing machine. And if EA's going to pick them off one by one...

flies Activision flag high

UbiSoft has some games I like, Gwil ...

It's just, when you sign a contract with UbiSoft (apparently) it has an
article that
says once you no longer work there you cannot work at any other game
company for five years. They basically black list your name. In a five
year span, you're basically f**ked. So, I don't know if you
would consider that better or worse then EAs slave labor-ing.

EA are the suck imo

I liked the battlefield series.

It's just, when you sign a contract with UbiSoft (apparently) it has an
article that
says once you no longer work there you cannot work at any other game
company for five years. They basically black list your name. In a five
year span, you're basically f**ked. So, I don't know if you
would consider that better or worse then EAs slave labor-ing.

God bless the UK. I doubt you would get away with that over here. The
fact that you are not allowing someone from working seems "outrageous".

Michel Ancel

Who is he?, I've never heard of him. Will google it in a minute though.

btw $loth, My father was under the same contract with a past firm, and he's an insurance broker...

holds that activision flag too, They've never done anything wrong in my eyes, turok, quake, doom, all good with me.

btw $loth, My father was under the same contract with a past firm, and he's an insurance broker...

I just think that by saying that you cannot work with a rival once
you've stopped working for us type of thing is sort of child-ish.

EA are the suck imo

I liked the battlefield series.

It's just, when you sign a contract with UbiSoft (apparently) it has an
article that
says once you no longer work there you cannot work at any other game
company for five years. They basically black list your name. In a five
year span, you're basically f**ked. So, I don't know if you
would consider that better or worse then EAs slave labor-ing.

God bless the UK. I doubt you would get away with that over here. The
fact that you are not allowing someone from working seems "outrageous".

Erm, UbiSoft is a European based company.

Sloth, it doesn't matter, it makes it so people don't quit and they do
whatever they can to not get fired. No suprise if EA practices leak in,
what are the people going to do, leave?

I bet there's several law suits out against both companies.

LOL Crono.

I'm pretty sure there is ways to do that in the UK as well. Just
because the US is the evil empire, it doesn't make us "civilised"
European states completely infallible - far from it in fact.

It's not international law that dictates stuff like that, its the ruthless and vindictive nature of capitalism.

If I remember correctly, that 5 year thing was in my contract with Bits Studios - but then they sacked for no reason so I ignored it and applied to other companies. :razz:

I hate EA, but I'm not really a bandwagon hater. They may have
bought Maxis in '95, but that didn't make me hate them. It's when
they had Maxis stop making classics like SimCopter and make awful
expansion packs for the Sims.

I dislike EA a lot, but I'm not a hater of any other company really. I wouldn't even dislike EA if it wasn't for the fact they keep buying up independant developers and rival publishers. I'm surprised to see Ubi having such a chunk bought out, and seriously hope they don't fall under EA. They have a good reputation amongst gamers for making, as far as I can think of, original and forward thinking titles, whether you enjoy them or not. Sure we might be seeing a fair amount of sequels from them but most are worth buying. I certainly wouldn't have imagined many people would criticse Ubisoft for pumping out rubbish Gwil, they probably have one of the best line ups of games out of all publishers.

I find it sad when many of the games companies I knew as a child fall to the ever growing giants; when will they be happy with what they have?

I dislike EA for their tendency of buying up companys that try to compete with them but I do like some of their titles like Battlefield Vietnam and some of the Medal of Honour series and especially the Comand and Conquer series

I dislike EA for their tendency of buying up companys that try
to compete with them but I do like some of their titles like
Battlefield Vietnam and some of the Medal of Honour series and
especially the Comand and Conquer series

Command and Conquer was (originally)
made by Westwood. Which was bought out by EA many years ago.

It's really sad what happened to Westwood. I still remember Dune II... What happened to G.O.D.(Gathering Of Developers) by the way?

EA...God damn, I hate EA. The C&C series was a fantastic piece of
work, and anyone who had completed both C&C: Tiberian Dawn and
C&C: Red Alert (the original two titles, based on the same engine
and made by Westwood with no influence from EA) could see that they
tied in (storyline-wise) very well, and that there was something that -
if kept at this sort of quality - could be continued almost
indefinitely. This isn't something that I'd usually support but these
were so good that I didn't really mind. When C&C: Tiberian Sun and
Firestorm came out - by this time Westwood was being eaten by EA - the
storyline was still strong but it was a little eratic - and the game
wasn't really of the same quality as RA and Tib. Dawn. Then came
C&C: Red Alert 2.

Now, as far as a game can be judged in it's own terms, RA2 is a
middling to good piece of work...good fun, good music, lengthy single
player etc. etc... but it totally wrecked the storyline. RA2, by the
way, is after EA had bought Westwood (or at least very close). The RA2
storyline works entirely off the more obvious elements of the RA
storyline - ie. it completely ignores the tie-ins with Kane, GDI, the
Brotherhood of Nod's influence, etc.etc.. and works in a purely "Cold
War Battle" sense. It's incredibly irritating to see it ruined.
Finally, C&C: Generals - which has absolutely nothing to do with
either a Soviet vs. US scenario OR the original (and incredibly potent)
Nod vs. GDI story - comes out and grinds dirt into the memory of these
classics. Generals was by a huge extent the worst piece of work I've
ever seen from "Westwood", although by this time it was definitely just
EA. They also fired the actor who played Kane, even though he enjoyed
it so much he offered to work for free.

Idiots.

I think that EA now wants to make a Red Alert 3...I can guarantee that
this will ignore the Tiberium references made in the original storyline
just as much as RA2.

By the way, I ignored the Dune series (Emperor: Battle for Dune was by
no means a bad game) because they don't come under the C&C series,
if I remember rightly.

EA are horrible, I must admit the first two addons for the sims i was
willing to buy, but SEVEN!!! thats ludicrous, 7X20=140! ?140 for seven
addons, that is just plain cheeky, and by the end of the second, it
sucked anyway, they get a beutifully crafted game, that runs smoothly,
and turn it into an unbalanced s**tty hole of crapness for lots of
fools. because of it, im steering away from the sims 2.

I must admit Generals is nice and all, but is a huge tangent, and gives too much tension to be fun, (if your not skilled)

RA2 was nice, isometric and all, but I'd rather have something coherent,

Classics, ah yes, great stuff, shame they broke on win2k/xp... :sad:

The only bright side is that at least they will have no decision making ability at Ubi due to the small amount of shares, plus you never know the US anti-trust might not give clearence for the deal (unless there are back handers!!)

The only bright side is that at least they will have no decision making ability at Ubi due to the small amount of shares, plus you never know the US anti-trust might not give clearence for the deal (unless there are back handers!!)

20% is small? Ubi's stock soared yesterday. What do people do when stock goes up? They sell and take the profits. What does that mean? More stock available for purchase.

In maneuvers like this, companies often buy a set percentage of stock to drive the price up, forcing sales, letting them wedge their way up to the 51% and up mark.

There's still too many publishers and developers out there to consider this a monopolizing move, even though it's clear EA will take any steps necessary to not compete (which is healthy for all companies and consumers involved) but instead annihilate.

Things do not look good.

Hmm, well i was thinking about working at EA, but then i began to read at some of the stories coming out of the company about the way they treat their staff and i was like "hmm maybe not"

Perhaps they will get so big that they will eat their own greedy fat behind?! :biggrin:

I want to work at valve when im older XD

Command and Conquer was (originally)
made by Westwood. Which was bought out by EA many years ago.

I know C&C was originaly made by Westwood but EA got C&C when they got Westwood so it became there product.

I want to work at valve when im older XD

Say hi to gabe, if he's still there, and tell him to lay off the doughnuts :wink:

Everyone is forgetting Nox. I love that
game.

not up to reading all 4 pages but this seems about as big an issue as everyone around here crying that Wal-Marts is killing all other business. Wal-Marts is not the bad guy, look at the checkout lanes, they are always full.

i do not see how this can be harmful to the gaming industry, but i am never surprised anymore.

That's an issue anywhere with a Wal-Mart. :smile: All things considered, though, their marketing strategies are pretty tame.

But to keep the analogy going... What would your opinion be of Wal-Mart if they forced 80 hour weeks on their employees, even with nothing to do sometimes? If they gained exclusive rights as the only store to sell any NFL, PGA, or Nascar merchandise and started making plans to acquire exclusive rights for sales of all NBA and (as is speculated) MLB merchandise? And if they started buying small local businesses for the sole purpose of shutting them down? Or if they bought a 20% share of Target with the intent of gutting it for only what they need and throwing everyone else out on the street?

EA is doing what makes them money, and they do that very well. They're a recognizable company with a wide range of games appealing to incredibly wide audiences. But their continued efforts in this direction are highly detrimental to the quality of games - putting employees under 80 hour work weeks mandatory with no overtime, firing employees who try to take christmas day off, and secretive 'loyalty' exercises (asking if a person would like to move to another project within the same company, and if they say yes firing them the next day) don't improve the quality of games. It results in a tired and burned out work force that cannot hope to create a quality product, and it is chasing some damn good talent out of the industry entirely because people believe that there is no better way, that it has to be this way everywhere else. Why do you think EA trying to replace its dwindling veteran talent with fresh kids straight out of high school and/or college?

I know people who have worked at EA or on a project for EA, and the horror stories I hear are a disgrace to what should be a great industry. And if they can go for Ubi, who else might they be able to go for? As an Activision employee, that is a very scary prospect!

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Dred_furst</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>EA are horrible, I must admit the first two addons for the sims i was willing to buy, but SEVEN!!! thats ludicrous, 7X20=140! ?140 for seven addons, that is just plain cheeky</DIV></DIV>

Ever played Everquest? They have 7 (might be 8 ) expansions released, and with every one they release a new pack containing the original and up the the latest expansion. I know MMORPG's need addons, but cmon. I stopped partway through.
As for EA, well, this discussion makes me feel guilty for having and somewhat enjoying the Sims 2. They are already planning an expansion I believe though :rolleyes:

sighs

Andrew, if a company is abusing its employees, of course i would not like it.

still.. i am not sure about the particulars so its best i bow out.

i would like to say though, many companies abuse their people to a point.. thats just expected. but its up to the people working for them to decide which line is crossed and when.

I hadn't read that post of yours yet Andrew and just came back to this
thread to mention the exclusive deal with the NBA. This is really
getting out of hand, I dread to think how much more they can consume
before it ends. I also read today that they are aquiring a great deal
of shares in DICE, which might not change much considering their
biggest games (Battlefield series) are already EA titles, but god knows
what will happen with their Rallisport Challenge series :sad:

I think that a LOT of EA games sucked... like ALL the sports ones, I hate sports games, whats the f**king point? Just go and actually PLAY a sport. Anyway, MOHAA et al was good although the last expansion was really buggy. Overall I wish that EA would stop with this nonsense.

on another unrelated note:

How about that snow Orph? Dang! How much did you get?

Yeah because everybody has the ability to just go and play Ice Hockey, or drive a NASCAR :razz:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Yeah because everybody has the ability to just go and play Ice Hockey, or drive a NASCAR :razz:
</DIV></DIV>

Haha! NASCAR is hardly a physical sport (if sport it be at all). If there're no tennis courts, basketball courts, or places to play football (the soccer kind) around you, then you live in a very strange place indeed. I am not talking about playing an ORGANIZED sport like Professional Football, I am talking about playing basketball in the street or something, which they DO have a game for. I think it's sad that instead of going out and riding thier own skateboard and making trouble of thier own, some folks must play a game that simulates this.
ANd just because i live in Missouri, doesnt mean I'm a big ol' NASCAR fan. Stereotyper... :rolleyes:

Anyway, MOHAA et al was good although the last expansion was really buggy.

MOHAA was developed by 2015. Most of that team left to form Infinity Ward, the newest Activision-owned studio, and they made Call of Duty there. 2015 went on to make Men of Valor. EA has only been responsible for the MOH expansions and Pacific Assault. :smile:

Haha! NASCAR is hardly a physical sport (if sport it be at all). If
there're no tennis courts, basketball courts, or places to play
football (the soccer kind) around you, then you live in a very strange
place indeed. I am not talking about playing an ORGANIZED sport like
Professional Football, I am talking about playing basketball in the
street or something, which they DO have a game for. I think it's sad
that instead of going out and riding thier own skateboard and making
trouble of thier own, some folks must play a game that simulates this. ANd just because i live in Missouri, doesnt mean I'm a big ol' NASCAR fan. Stereotyper... :rolleyes: <>

<>Some of us like both real skateboarding AND skateboarding games -
the games aren't really a simulation at all, they are more akin to
twitchy 3D platformers. Grabbing one mate and playing a two player
footy game isn't really comparable to getting together two teams of 5
or more people to get a real game either. Sports games serve a purpose,
and that purpose isn't to replace real sport.

EDIT: Andrew, were 2015 responsible for the original PS1 MOH games as well?

well, some of the skating games were excellent, i must admit, but not
as simulatiopn as he said, but for sheer crazyness. If it were a
simulation, it would suck imo (skating in real life doesnt suck btw)

I just don't prefer games like skating and football and basketball. I would rather do them for real. I'd probably rather kill ppl for real too sometimes, but luckily for my enemies, i DO like those types of games!!!

not up to reading all 4 pages but this seems about as big an
issue as everyone around here crying that Wal-Marts is killing all
other business.

Looks like they've been watching series 8 of south park :razz: