4 Ways EA Can Improve in 2018

Show It’s Committed to Improving Current Games

2017 was definitely a rough year for EA, with multiple games releasing to a not quite so enthusiastic response from fans. This includes the rocky release of Mass Effect: Andromeda which was criticized for being not only buggy but bland, as well as the loot box fiasco that Star Wars Battlefront II brought. Sadly, Mass Effect: Andromeda only received a handful of updates, meaning the game only saw minor improvements. The rocky release even saw EA put the Mass Effect series on hold, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Star Wars Battlefront II had a disastrous problem with its loot boxes and microtransactions, something that almost immediately upset fans. This led to EA almost immediately pulling all microtransactions from the game, and it still hasn’t reintroduced them. Additionally, the negative conversation around Battlefront II clearly had an effect as the game only sold 1.3 million copies in its first week, compared to the 3.6 million the first Battlefront sold in the same time frame.

Because of this, it’s absolutely imperative that EA shows they’re committed to improving current experiences for players, not just focusing on what’s new. Battlefront II still needs work done with its microtransactions, and EA can really double down by giving players a continuous stream of new content, much like Titanfall 2 received. They need to provide incentives for players to keep going back to their games, and making all follow-up content free like with Battlefront II is a good way to do that. There’s a lot of goodwill that EA needs to win back from its fanbase, and debacles like Mass Effect: Andromeda really make people lose faith. Combine that with lukewarm receptions to games like Need for Speed Payback and the Sims 4 for consoles, and you definitely see some work that needs to be done. Really working on improving their current games would show that EA cares about quality and not just churning out the latest product.

Less Aggressive Design

If 2017 showed us anything about EA it’s that their design has certainly taken a turn for being far more aggressive in terms of microtransactions. It seems that fans, at least EA fans, are just starting to get fed up with the design, and the fact of the matter is, in many ways, it hampers the actual design of the games as well. In the case of Battlefront II, like we say in our review, the microtransactions bury what would otherwise be a strong team-based multiplayer shooter.

The backlash to Battlefront II’s microtransactions is, of course, the biggest blowback EA saw in 2017. However, fans were also upset at the microtransactions featured in FIFA 18’s Ultimate Team mode. Need For Speed Payback also featured microtransactions that were swiftly altered shortly after the game’s release, and continue to be worked on.

This aggressive design seeped its way into almost all of EA’s biggest games last year, and it detracted from almost every one as well. Now we know there’s no chance of getting rid of microtransactions, but EA has to find a way to make them less invasive. At the same time, its explanation of Vader in pink just doesn’t work for canon, doesn’t fly with people when you’re talking about a game where Darth Maul can fight Han Solo and Kylo Ren.

Making microtransactions cosmetic in some way has worked for other developers. Just look at the success of games like Overwatch and Team Fortress 2. In the end, microtransactions aren’t going away, but the design philosophy is clearly hurting EA’s image and even sales at this point, so they need to find a different way to do things.

Listen and Talk to Fans

Listening to angry fans isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you need to at least show that you care. If there’s anything more disastrous than the reception of Battlefront 2’s loot boxes, it’s the AMA that EA held on it. In November, EA and DICE put three developers forward on Reddit hoping to answer fans questions and “repair the bridge.” Unfortunately the opposite happened, and fans left feeling more frustrated than ever, even to the point where they felt that DICE didn’t even acknowledge some of the complaints they had with the game. This is troubling to say the least, and ruins EA’s already shaky image even more with fans.

Moving forward into 2018, EA has to find some way to show fans that it’s listening and communicating. Even games that do moderately well at release are going to lose their fan bases quickly if it feels like EA just doesn’t care about them. Constant communication is going to be a must, and we need to be updated on how Battlefront 2 and other games are being expanded or improved upon. EA will also need to be openly communicating about its future releases and how microtransactions are going to feature in them. Considering we didn’t know about Battlefront 2’s loot boxes until right before release, fans are going to be skeptical of big releases like Anthem in the future.

Continue to Broaden Its Horizons

EA has a stable of successful series they can use like Battlefield, Madden, FIFA, and Need for Speed. However, the company can really succeed by trying new things. Experimental indie-style games like Unravel, A Way Out, and Fe are a breath of fresh air from the stream of sports and shooting titles that we normally see. These kinds of titles could also see success on the immensely popular Nintendo Switch, although EA is still hesitant to support the console despite its momentum. Not everything needs to make its way to Switch, but there’s a hungry market on Nintendo’s system that EA could really tap into, and luckily Fe is coming to the console.

At the same time, experiments with their biggest series have paid off in the past, like with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. Taking a few chances from the norm might just pay off in the end for EA, especially with Mass Effect now on hiatus. Anthem is going to be one of the big new titles from the company for the year, and with BioWare behind the game, it certainly has the chance to blow up into something huge. Star Wars will also be something to focus on for the company, and the best thing they could do is show us a Star Wars game coming out that’s drastically different from Battlefront II.

Broadening its horizons means more than just trying new things, of course, it also means bringing some of its other series back around and not just focusing on the norm. Every year sees the usual releases for sports games, and we can expect a Battlefield every few years, now offset by Battlefront. Bring back series like Dragon Age, Army of Two, and maybe even Dead Space, even with Visceral Games now defunct. EA is a massive developer with a lot of talented teams and resources, it’d be a crying shame to only see the same things come out from them year after year.