EA announced today that the company vows to give its over 6000 game developers more creative control of their games. IGN had a chance to sit down with EA’s Chief Studio’s Officer Laura Miele where she revealed the publisher is making big changes as they move forward. I reported on BioWares decision to scrap the Dragon Age online content which left people curious about where the future of EA was headed.
Miele revealed that the company wanted to focus more on what fans wanted to see, rather that what the company wanted them to see:
“As I started this current role, I wanted to strip away some of the preconceived notions about what games we should be investing in and really start listening to players and incorporating their voice into our development process. Since then, we have announced a slate of games that players asked for: a new Skate, College Football, a Command & Conquer remaster, the Mass Effect Trilogy and we developed free content in Battlefront 2 for several years to turn the perception of that game completely around.”
She believes that EA has made strides in pleasing the players with the content they’re delivering, and wants this to remain the company’s aim going forward.
Having players involved in the development is a focus for the publisher going forward, though Miele notes that it isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially with sports franchises like FIFA and Madden. Many players have placed the games under fire for play-to-win advantages, Miele reveals this type of feedback is being taken in, but can take years to put into practice. Part of the BioWare decision surrounding Dragon Age was from player feedback as well. The company had to make a choice to continue putting resources into something that fans had already labelled a failure, or repurposed those resources into other franchises where they can have a positive impact on their future.
EA will still reserve the right to be the final word on all projects as the publisher. Though they seem to be moving in a direction that gives more creative control to their developers, people are concerned this is only on the surface. Fans are hoping games like Titanfall could make a return, but are concerned the studio is only giving up control until developers start making less profitable choices. What developers come up with in the meantime remains to be seen.
