It has been noted multiple times that Electronic Arts is “doing one thing right” and that one thing is said to be the EA Originals program, which supposedly helps indie developers. However the true question at hand is, should we forget all past EA actions and roll with this “one thing EA is doing right” argument when it comes to forgiving EA?
If you don’t know, EA Originals has received good press coverage in the past and even now in the present. I know some people will discredit this, but Kotaku’s Mike Fahey back on June 12th, 2016 wrote:
“Today, during its E3 2016 press conference, EA announced EA Originals, a new program committed to partnering with small developers creating unique experiences and helping them bring their work to life.”
That same piece by Fahey even garnered a couple of people to stress their opinion on the matter, which came in as both positive and negative.
Recently, though, we heard from a developer under the EA Originals program saying that EA treats its developers well, which happens to be none other than A Way Out director Josef Fares during his much talked about rant during the Game Awards 2017.
https://youtu.be/qxgOTXtG7T4
Following Fares’ claim comes a new video in 2018 explaining “One thing EA is doing that no one can hate”. The video argues that EA and its Originals program is helping indie developers get their games out, while giving all profits to the studios that make games under them.
The video backs up the argument by using the following quote from EA:
“EA does not profit from EA Originals games, beyond our initial investment in bringing the titles to market, all profits go into the hands of the studio that make them.”
You can watch the video published by IGN below.
The reason behind this particular delineation is that it makes you wonder if other sites, media outlets and content creators will start to ignore EA’s other shenanigans in place of praising them for the EA Originals program?
Another reason behind the concern of EA Originals is that it’s an indie publishing branch of EA, which is still the same company responsible for the controversial Battlefield 1 Desert Gold skin, the Star Wars Battlefront 2 MTX controversy, and Need For Speed: Payback MTX issues.
With all of that said, what’s your thoughts on EA Originals? Do you think that could be used to divert attention away from the past and recent controversies? Or do you think that it’s just EA’s way of helping out indie devs?
