Report: EA secures rights to Titanfall 2

[GotBored]

Why in the world would EA apologize to Sony for making Titanfall an MS-exclusive?

 

Sorry mode doesn't mean they specifically apologized it could mean they are sucking up to Sony now especially with the current sales figures of the PS4 compared to the XOne.

 

Also this is a direct quote from Jorgensen (CFO of EA)

 

"(In regards to making Titanfall a Microsoft exclusive - Windows PC, Xbox One, X360) Well, I think you should assume that we made that decision when it was back a few years ago when we decided to go exclusive. We had some forecast at that time from where we thought both Xbox and PlayStation would be and that?s what we based our decision on."

 

Basically EA thought the Xbox One would outsell the PS4 back then but it didn't turn out that way,

[XorpiZ]

Sorry mode doesn't mean they specifically apologized it could mean they are sucking up to Sony now especially with the current sales figures of the PS4 compared to the XOne.

 

Also this is a direct quote from Jorgensen (CFO of EA)

 

"(In regards to making Titanfall a Microsoft exclusive - Windows PC, Xbox One, X360) Well, I think you should assume that we made that decision when it was back a few years ago when we decided to go exclusive. We had some forecast at that time from where we thought both Xbox and PlayStation would be and that?s what we based our decision on."

 

Basically EA thought the Xbox One would outsell the PS4 back then but it didn't turn out that way,

 

But why would they suck up to Sony? It's not like Sony was ever gonna turn down EA, if they wanted to release Titanfall 2 for PS4.

 

I don't see the relevance of that quote. Companies make forecasts all the time. Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. Still makes no sense, why the "analyst" would claim EA was in "sorry mode".

[HawkMan]

As long as this doesn't turn into a yearly franchise I'm happy. Hopefully the additional $$ they'll be getting will mean a better game. 

 

If it's a good game and they can release a good follow up every year... why not ?

[McKay]

Best enjoy Titanfall 1 while you can. Titanfall 2 will be rushed out the door with pay to win dlc. Shortly after this release titanfall 1 will get left in the dust. 

[GotBored]

But why would they suck up to Sony? It's not like Sony was ever gonna turn down EA, if they wanted to release Titanfall 2 for PS4.

 

I don't see the relevance of that quote. Companies make forecasts all the time. Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. Still makes no sense, why the "analyst" would claim EA was in "sorry mode".

 

Because consoles are the big earners for game publishers and Sony owns a large chunk of the console market and that chunk is expanding. Sony also pays publishers for exclusivity rights, early DLC and other content, marketing benefits, etc.

 

Basically they rely on Sony for a large portion of their profits because Sony needs to licence them to allow them to release games for the consoles, Sony is also one of their clients when it comes to exclusivity or timed exclusivity. When Sony markets a console they also have to show gameplay, its beneficial for EA if Sony chooses their games to showcase = free exposure. 

 

Its not really a hard concept to grasp, don't bite the hand that feeds you..

 

I've seen many people complain about posting of sales numbers and saying they are irrelevant, but they aren't and the reason why is because developers/publishers will always favor the one that sells more because it has a larger base for potential profits. As you can see from what the CFO of EA said, they made a exclusive game for a console which they believed would be the market leader based on forecast research so consider what is likely to happen now that they have solid numbers and the PS4 is the market leader?

[spenser.d]

Sony wins.. because MS has lost what could have been a solid exclusive for the microsoft platforms.  Now I am not saying they won't have other exclusives or anything.. but they have essentially just lost one.

They didn't lose it yet though. Xbox One is the only place to play Titanfall, probably for at least a year. The fact that it's coming out on other platforms sometime after that doesn't really come into play as far as Microsoft being able to push the game for their platform and get more sales is concerned. Obviously they won't be able to do the same thing next time around but so what? It's already too late by then anyway. It was never going to be another Halo or something like that.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

If it's a good game and they can release a good follow up every year... why not ?

 

That's a big if.

 

For me, I'm looking at something like FIFA, yearly releases and although it does change from year to year, the differences aren't huge and  I can no longer justify buying it every year and will buy it every other year. 

 

If they can deliver an excellent game every year, with enough changes to justify consumers forking out their cash then fine. I don't want to buy the same game, with a few new maps/weapons/burn cards etc. They can do that via DLC and not a full release.

 

I guess time will tell. 

[HawkMan]

Best enjoy Titanfall 1 while you can. Titanfall 2 will be rushed out the door with pay to win dlc. Shortly after this release titanfall 1 will get left in the dust. 

 

And what do you base that assumption on. 

 

I've seen many people complain about posting of sales numbers and saying they are irrelevant, but they aren't and the reason why is because developers/publishers will always favor the one that sells more because it has a larger base for potential profits. As you can see from what the CFO of EA said, they made a exclusive game for a console which they believed would be the market leader based on forecast research so consider what is likely to happen now that they have solid numbers and the PS4 is the market leader?

 

Do you know what's more important than sales numbers ? Attach rate. 

[McKay]

And what do you base that assumption on. 

 

Pretty much every franchise EA has ever made. They publish a good new IP, and if it's successful they milk it till it's shrivelled up and dead. I'm half expecting Dead Space style microtransactions in the next one.

[HawkMan]

They didn't lose it yet though. Xbox One is the only place to play Titanfall, probably for at least a year. The fact that it's coming out on other platforms sometime after that doesn't really come into play as far as Microsoft being able to push the game for their platform and get more sales is concerned. Obviously they won't be able to do the same thing next time around but so what? It's already too late by then anyway. It was never going to be another Halo or something like that.

 

At this point, you're probably looking at two years, it might become a annual release later, but not yet. maybe an expansion.

 

annual release requires two studios or a big studio with two departments one working on even years and another working on the odd years. For a first release this never happens since the success isn't guaranteed, and they would alreadyhave had to start dev of the 2015 version a year ago at least.

 

At best we might see a holiday 2015 release, but that's still pretty much bi-annual. 

 

I expect the next version will use a new engine as well an actual next gen game engine that can actually make use of the power of next gen and powerful modern game computers. 

[XorpiZ]

Because consoles are the big earners for game publishers and Sony owns a large chunk of the console market and that chunk is expanding. Sony also pays publishers for exclusivity rights, early DLC and other content, marketing benefits, etc.

 

Basically they rely on Sony for a large portion of their profits because Sony needs to licence them to allow them to release games for the consoles, Sony is also one of their clients when it comes to exclusivity or timed exclusivity. When Sony markets a console they also have to show gameplay, its beneficial for EA if Sony chooses their games to showcase = free exposure. 

 

Its not really a hard concept to grasp, don't bite the hand that feeds you..

 

I've seen many people complain about posting of sales numbers and saying they are irrelevant, but they aren't and the reason why is because developers/publishers will always favor the one that sells more because it has a larger base for potential profits. As you can see from what the CFO of EA said, they made a exclusive game for a console which they believed would be the market leader based on forecast research so consider what is likely to happen now that they have solid numbers and the PS4 is the market leader?

 

I don't think you're reading my posts.

 

Sony obviously wants Titanfall 2 on PS4. EA may or may not bring Titanfall 2 to PS4 - we don't know that. It doesn't make sense in anyway, that EA should bow and scrape for Sony. That's why the quote from the article you posted makes absolutely no sense.

 

I'm not quite sure why you're talking sales numbers. It has no relevance for the discussion we're having.

[HawkMan]

Pretty much every franchise EA has ever made. They publish a good new IP, and if it's successful they milk it till it's shrivelled up and dead. I'm half expecting Dead Space style microtransactions in the next one.

 

EA isn't making it, they're distributing.

 

Also where's the pay to win in SimCity, BF3, NFS*, TitanFall(they're publishing it you know), Fifa....

[McKay]

EA isn't making it, they're distributing.

 

Also where's the pay to win in SimCity, BF3, NFS*, TitanFall(they're publishing it you know), Fifa....

 

EA as the publisher have lots of say in the games they Publish. I never played Sim City or NFS but in BF3 and 4 you can buy Shortcut packs for classes where you unlocked lots of weapons and gadgets you'd normally have to level up to unlock.

 

The Mass Effect series got hit by tonnes of overpowered weapon/armour downloads.

[JonnyLH]

There's just too much money involved with them releasing it on another platform, I think MS will try their best to keep it exclusive but I very much doubt it will happen.

 

Good on Respawn though, they deserve to be as successful as they can, realising a game like this multi-plat would send them sky high into the AAA developer list.

[HawkMan]

EA as the publisher have lots of say in the games they Publish. I never played Sim City or NFS but in BF3 and 4 you can buy Shortcut packs for classes where you unlocked lots of weapons and gadgets you'd normally have to level up to unlock.

 

The Mass Effect series got hit by tonnes of overpowered weapon/armour downloads.

 

So? that's not pay to win. some of the best players play with guess what, the base weapons. also you don't unlock everything with the short cuts, in fact it's just the base unlocks, you still need to level them up and get all the scopes and stuff the hard way. 

 

Mass Effect is primarily a Single player game, I've completed them all without any add ons or boosts.

 

had you at least talked about their mobile games you could have had a case, but so far you don't. Of course, these aren't mobile games so...

[Showan]

Going forward it does NOT matter...  Titanfall on Azure server has set a standard.  I played on a Europe server the other night, and performance was still up to par.  

Titanfall 2 on the PS4 will sell a ZILLION copies, but if the experience sucks from server overload.  Microsoft will look even better.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

At the end of the day all these arguments aside MS simply can't rely on 3rd parties to give their console(s) exclusives. That's always been the case and will continue to be so.

With Destiny being multiplat its no surprise EA want it as well. Keeps MP franchises alive for longer, especially with DLC hording.

[Hedon]

Meant that Titanfall 1 is going to be on PS4 as well, not just starting with Titanfall 2. 

 

'Titanfall' will never come to the PS4, but its sequel might

 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/29/5044342/titanfall-will-never-come-to-the-ps4-but-its-sequel-might

 

 

 

Electronic Arts, said today that the game is an Xbox console exclusive in perpetuity. "In the case of Titanfall, it's a brand new [intellectual property], and it's exclusive only ? through the life of the title ? for Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC," he said.

 

 

Vince Zampella @VinceZampella

Follow

Always MS exclusive at launch, great partner and focus is good for a startup. EA made a deal for the rest, we only found out recently =(

[firey]

Going forward it does NOT matter...  Titanfall on Azure server has set a standard.  I played on a Europe server the other night, and performance was still up to par.  

Titanfall 2 on the PS4 will sell a ZILLION copies, but if the experience sucks from server overload.  Microsoft will look even better.

What is stopping others from using Azure platforms? I mean any company that wants to use Azure as a base server system can... it's not only MS.

[XorpiZ]

What is stopping others from using Azure platforms? I mean any company that wants to use Azure as a base server system can... it's not only MS.

 

I'm quite confident Sony won't be using Azure. Prime material for MS-commercials otherwise: "Multiplayer on Xbox One. So good, that even Playstation runs on it." or something like that.

[firey]

I'm quite confident Sony won't be using Azure. Prime material for MS-commercials otherwise: "Multiplayer on Xbox One. So good, that even Playstation runs on it." or something like that.

This is true.. Sony could also swing it and say "good enough for Microsofts customers, made for ours".  My point was though.. that Azure isn't a closed off so only MS can use it.   As long as it is licensed by a customer it is valid. I'm sure that a good marketing team could make the choice of using it a null point. 

[JonnyLH]

This is true.. Sony could also swing it and say "good enough for Microsofts customers, made for ours".  My point was though.. that Azure isn't a closed off so only MS can use it.   As long as it is licensed by a customer it is valid. I'm sure that a good marketing team could make the choice of using it a null point. 

Not really, Azure is made for enterprise and its not being officially sold for the usage which Titanfall needs. It's a custom job by MS, im pretty sure it won't be standard Azure.

 

Well, they could use the VMs but with the scale that would be needed and with the money it would need, it would need to be contracted with MS. I far from think they'd let them.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I don't know how Sony wins here. The cats out of the bag and getting Microsoft huge sales. Future versions don't really play into that.

Sequels typically generate a lot more sales, especially if they're available on more platforms. And any major franchise that goes from being a Microsoft exclusive to platform neutral is a win for Sony.

 

The XB1 is a new console with a limited install base - the sales of the XB1 version will pale in comparison to that of the X360. These sales are small in comparison to the big picture.

[JonnyLH]

Sequels typically generate a lot more sales, especially if they're available on more platforms. And any major franchise that goes from being a Microsoft exclusive to platform neutral is a win for Sony.

 

The XB1 is a new console with a limited install base - the sales of the XB1 version will pale in comparison to that of the X360. These sales are small in comparison to the big picture.

Come on now, Titanfall is being touted as X1's next big game. The 360 version is delayed and rumoured to be sub-par compared to the X1 version, who knows if its even running dedis.

[McKay]

So? that's not pay to win. some of the best players play with guess what, the base weapons. also you don't unlock everything with the short cuts, in fact it's just the base unlocks, you still need to level them up and get all the scopes and stuff the hard way. 

 

Mass Effect is primarily a Single player game, I've completed them all without any add ons or boosts.

 

had you at least talked about their mobile games you could have had a case, but so far you don't. Of course, these aren't mobile games so...

 

So you've ignored my other points to better suit your argument and then claim I have "no case". EA are one of the most notorious Micro-transaction fest publishers in the industry. I didn't mention mobile games because almost everybody nickel and dimes mobile players, EA are just the same as everyone else in that regard, maybe even worse in regards to their recent Dungeon Keeper release, in which you have to wait days to mine a single block unless you pay for it. Paying for better weapons you'd normally have to unlock is Pay to Win. Just because players can still be effective with base weapons doesn't change that. Need for Speed: Most Wanted made it so several cars in the game could only be bought as Micro-transactions, even though they were already in the game to begin with. Mass Effect 3 multiplayer is either "grind for hours or buy your way to victory". As I mentioned earlier Mass Effect 2 and 3 storymodes were plagued with "buy these overpowered guns for money". And ME3 even shipped with day 1 DLC in which you had to pay extra to simply unlock part of the original story that was supposed to be there in the first place. EA even admitted their games will feature micro-transactions as they have before, they "justified" it by saying "Mobile gamers expect them". EA have a terrible track record for this.