Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

EA On Tough Holiday Season, Xbox Live Rift

Posted by simoniker on from the gaming-behemoth-hulks-on dept.

Thanks to Reuters for their article discussing the Electronic Arts CFO's comments at a recent financial conference. He discussed gaming prospects for the holiday season, since "...last December, a number of publishers were forced to warn on their prospects... after games they expected would be major hits failed to meet their targets, and retailers tightened the shelf-space devoted to also-ran games", and he suggested game company bankruptcies could be on the way: "There's going to be some road kill. There are going to be people who aren't going to make it." He also made some pointed comments about Xbox Live, which EA still haven't signed up for, saying: "We're not about to support a model where the content provider does not get paid for the content provided."

5 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Xbox live by anarxia · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If is no real benefit to support xbox live, why doesn't EA come up with their own xbox online gaming network? (not a troll, just asking)

    1. Re:Xbox live by unclethursday · · Score: 2, Interesting
      As another poster pointed out, Microsoft holds the monopoly on the Xbox Live servers. Any and all games that wish to use online play simply MUST go through the Xbox Live servers. Period.

      A good example is the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. They go through GameSpy for their match-making services. Neversoft and Activision probably have a decent deal with GameSpy for this.

      So THPS is online on the PS2. It's been online since a year before the official PS2 adaptor came out. But it isn't online on Xbox Live, even though the game easily could have netcode built in. The reason being that Neversoft and Activision want to use GameSpy's free service, rather than Microsoft's pay service.

      THPS isn't online on the GC either, but that probably has to do with the small installed base of the GC network adaptors over any technical hurdles (since GameSpy is also apparently making online middleware for the GC).

      To go online on the Xbox REQUIRES publishers to go through Xbox Live. If you try and allow online play without Live, then Microsoft will simply not allow the game to come out on the Xbox.

      As in all things, Microsoft wants a monopoly in how they do business. Xbox Live is how they will attempt to profit on online gaming, even if the publishers of the games see no additional money from online gaming.

      Thursdae

  2. Forgot the most important one... by DeadScreenSky · · Score: 2, Interesting

    (That's what I get for posting so late/early...)

    EA is also still trying to get MS to relent on what they want (mainly the ability to cancel online play for a game, like when its sequel has come out). That is what this is really about. Devs are perfectly able to charge monthly for their Live games (see Phantasy Star Online), which is why EA's stated claim about not being able to make profits is BS. They just want the freedom to screw over their customers more easily, which goes completely against MS' goal of making a profitable, popular online gaming network.

    --
    There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
    1. Re:Forgot the most important one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The biggest problem is EA doesn't want to expose their customer base to a third party entity which they have no control over (MS). EA has no control over how well the servers are run or how happy players of their games are with the Live service.

  3. The meat ain't ready yet by WildBeast · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They keep talking about wanting to charge people money to play EA titles. Shouldn't they be concentrating on making the online lobbies stable and useable to begin with? I mean seriously, they talk and whine on and on yet there online support still sucks. People can barely even get an online game running and EA is already talking about money :)