“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein.
THE NEWS
Some companies never seem to get it right. It became known during the last couple of days of February that EA’s hotly anticipated game based upon the Disney+ hit, The Mandalorian, had been cancelled. It was more bad PR for EA, who have almost become more known for their misses than their hits in the last ten years or so, and, as the title of this article hints at, EA have once again come under fire this week for the CEO confirming that they might be thinking to put in-game advertisements into their projects.
The cancellation was a shame, at least to me. I’d have loved to have seen a game made with passion and care by such an excellent team. Now, this statement about in-game ads feels like a kick in the teeth.
The timing is unfortunate, as the three month gap between the announcement of the aforementioned cancellation, when juxtaposed against said CEO’s statement, seems to lead to a conclusion in line with the title of this article: that EA might truly think that in-game ads are better business than a Mandalorian video game.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” Robert Frost.
Whatever the reality, it’s a depressing conclusion to realize they might truly think that. If they’re wrong, it’s depressing that they are not willing to take a chance, and seem to be opting for the laziest path. If they’re right, though – if in-game advertising truly is better business than a Mandalorian video game – that itself is an indictment of the industry in its current form.
Let us look at a few reasons why EA might be unwilling to pursue developing a Star Wars: Mandalorian game, but are willing to pursue – or at least consider – in-game advertising.
REASONS WHY
- Lower upfront costs
Development, marketing, and buying the rights to a property all add up. And, with today’s economic climate being what it is, the people in charge of checks and balances over at EA might not find spending all that money for a Star Wars: Mandalorian game all that palatable, relative to the idea of something relatively cheap like in-game advertising. To implement that, all you need to have is a couple of in-game assets, a captive audience (which EA has with some of its pre-existing games), and brands that want to market themselves to gamers.
- Critical reception
EA don’t necessarily tend to be critical darlings: a lot of their releases aren’t hailed as the greatest game of all time, and that’s fine – that isn’t what they’re aiming for a lot of the time. Still, consistently maligned releases don’t tend to feel great, and it doesn’t represent the best connotations for a brand already struggling with PR at times.
- Audience reception
With their responses to many of the more recently-released Star Wars films, fans of Star Wars have proven to be ardent and outspoken and, whilst that is great news whenever a product is positively received – word-of-mouth working wonders in a positive sense – a product being negatively received tends to receive a lot of negative attention in the form of video essays, blog posts and posted reviews. That is to say, whilst certain games might release, do poorly, and then promptly be forgotten, the Star Wars fanbase is sufficiently ardent to where EA might come to the somewhat logical conclusion that releasing a bad Star Wars game would tarnish their brand in a more longterm way.
- Commercial success
EA cannot guarantee a return on investment when it comes to something like Star Wars. Some of this is because of the aforementioned cost issue – the upfront costs when it comes to rights, development etc – and some of it pertains to the aforementioned reception issue. If fans of Star Wars dislike your Star Wars-based product, they will actively campaign to ensure that fewer people see it, harming your bottom line.
HOW WORRYING ARE IN-GAME ADS?
Obviously, in-game advertisements can be done somewhat tastefully. Consider the preponderance of GTA mods that feature the inclusion of real-life cars: seeing real-life things can facilitate immersion. If done tastefully and intelligently, in a way that lines up with the color palette and imagery of the game in which they’re being included, in-game ads might not detract from the overall experience too much and, in certain cases, might actually add to the experience.
However, something that a lot of gamers recall for how blatant it was was Hideo Kojima’s marketing of Monster Energy Drinks in Death Stranding: its blatantness made it somewhat memetic, which in turn made it feel somewhat egregious.
The fact is, gamers love great games. That might sound obvious, but it’s true, and a great Mandalorian game would have been amazing. In today’s economic climate, the cancellation makes logical sense, but it isn’t a good look to have this CEO’s statement follow the cancellation so soon. Still, gamers hope that EA will, one day, do what it was known for way back when – making great games.
DID EA DO THE RIGHT THING ANNOUNCING THESE TWO PIECES OF NEWS SO CLOSE TOGETHER?
The popularity of a site like slotsjudge.com – a site that offers impartial reviews of various online slots and casinos – proves that, in a gaming landscape such as the one we find ourselves in, people are searching for certainty: they would rather, for example, quickly scan latest gaming site reviews from Slotsjudge.com, rather than have to research themselves.
This is analogous to the various news aggregators that cover gaming news, and the fact of the matter is that news seems to be becoming less unbiased over time. After all, gaming journalists are often gamers, and they also know that messaging that aligns with their audience’s preconceptions tends to be more palatable.
As a result, anti-EA messaging within the gaming journalism space is only likely to become more and more omnipresent, and the fact of the matter is that there is an argument that EA did the right thing: release all the “bad press” all at once, and hope that it will all blow over in a few months.
