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Petition rapidly growing for EA to lose Star Wars license passes 110k signers.
Dauzqul
Member RarePosts: 1,982
Petition here: https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-revoke-ea-s-star-wars-license
You can literally see the count raise every second.
"Early last week, a petition surfaced with the intent of requesting that LucasFilm parent company Disney remove the Star Wars license from Electronic Arts. As can be expected, Star Wars fans were frustrated with the studio’s handling of the franchise for Battlefront 2, especially as it pertains to microtransactions and loot boxes.
When we first reported on the petition, it was gaining steam and had about 19,000 signatures, but now it has exploded. It’s only a few days later, and now the petition is up to 110,000 signatures and climbing.
While this petition has attracted a ton of attention from fans, it is unlikely actually to result in Disney removing Electronic Arts’ license at least right now. The two companies most likely signed a contract that guaranteed EA would be the sole publisher for Star Wars games (not including Disney) and any breach of that contract would result in a hefty fine. That being said, if the agreement needs to be renewed, then Disney might think twice about partnering up with EA again.
If nothing else, things like this petition and gamer boycotts of Star Wars Battlefront 2 will force publishers to rethink how they approach monetizing games through microtransactions and loot boxes. There has always been a slippery slope when it comes to add-ons, but recently developers and publishers have begun to push the envelope concerning what fun loot box content is and what is pay-to-win. A game like Middle-earth: Shadow of War, for example, chose to use loot boxes to bolster its single-player experience, which was met with plenty of raised eyebrows from gamers.
But then Star Wars Battlefront 2 came along with exorbitant price points for hero characters and loot boxes that contain Star Cards with player buffs. It wasn’t overtly pay-to-win, but EA was skirting the line by allowing players to use real money to purchase loot boxes. The company was quick to remove the Crystal currency from the game (temporarily) in the hopes of saving face for the game’s official launch.
Unfortunately, the damage was done for EA and sales have been much lower for Battlefront 2, and the company’s stock took a tumble recently. So while this petition might eventually result in Disney revoking EA’s Star Wars license, it has hopefully opened publishers’ eyes to how damaging a vocal and frustrated community can be."
Comments
Where is SOE today??
HUGE mistake and greed lead Smedley out the door and now finally several years later,the rest of the crowd are waking up to BS tactics.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
They are going to pull it from theatres in response to audience backlash.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/4/16709884/olafs-frozen-adventure-coco-disney-pixar-explained
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I'm not sure about losing their license. Personally I don't care either way, but what will even change? It will just go to activision or tencent... same shit.
The reality is that EA will lose the license when Disney decides there's more money to be had by licensing Star Wars to some other game company, and not a day sooner. Contracts may make that unlikely to happen before the current deal expires. Disney, like EA, exists to make money. If you don't like how they're trying to make money, then don't give them any of yours.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
If you don't like the game then don't buy it, pretty simple.
Yeh .. unfortunately, most people voting with their wallet is not going to work. You need the whales to play ball.
Personally i am not going to pay/play Battlefront 2, unless it comes to Origin Access. So none of these concerns me.
There are plenty of entertainment in this world. Binge a netflix show. Read a novel. Play Alien Isolation (yes, i have not yet finished that). Heck, come here and engage in forum pvp.
and if you don't think you are wasting your time, do continue. At least it will provide amusing entertainment in this forum. And hey, if it works, more power to you.
The punters get to see a short for free, I cannot understand the issue, the cinema should have made it clear what was going on.
Instead of "punishing" them which is what many seem to want to do, try to remember most EA employees are not involved in the decisions which have led to gambling in their games.
Not because of the recent mtx issues (which I despise and want out of gaming) but because EA make mediocre games. With EA holding the license until 2023 it means I won't get a good Star Wars game for the next 6 years....and that sucks.
What should happen instead is that EA lose their exclusive license and instead all developers are able to pitch for individual licenses. So, CDPR want to create a proper SW RPG? Great! Let them, as long as they pay for the license for that game. EA want to create an RPG? Nope, turn them down on that front, they're rubbish at RPGs so deny them the license for that one. But, EA want to create a Star Wars sports game? Sure, grant them the license for that.
I really do hate exclusive licenses. I can understand the appeal for both developers/publishers as well as the IP holders, but for us as consumers it sucks.
Disney (the license owner) has no obligation to make it "not suck" for you. It is always a two-way street. The IP owner can do whatever he/she pleases and if you like the product, you buy and enjoy.
Star Wars does not belong to you. Just like when George Lucas has the license, he could sit on it for decades without making a movie, and then made 3 bad movies.
Can you really blame the IP owner trying to milk their property?
What I would like the petition to do is open the eyes of companies giving exclusive control over IP's that were not created by that said company. If other companies could buy into the license also it would give the companies competition to make better games, because the one that does it right is the one that would most likely bring in the money. Selling all rights to one company does no one any good other than the CEO's that got massive payouts upfront for the licensing agreement. So just maybe when this license agreement is finally over and star wars is most likely on the back burner for another 10 years they will think about how stupid this agreement was and how it could have hurt the IP in the long run.
This is merely a bump in the road. It will be forgotten as soon as the next big game gets released. They know it and you know it.
The buck stops there. And considering that is the type of arrangement EA has with the NFL for their exclusive rights (a deal we actually know some things about) then there's little reason to assume it's mechanically much different and that's probably an industry type of deal. Even if EA is entirely incompetent as a developer and can't manage to make a decent Star Wars game, Disney won't care (just like the NFL doesn't care), they've already valued the rights at a certain amount and EA were always going to be the highest bidder for those rights. It's called business buckos, and pleading because 'muh feelings' about perfectly legal and sound business decisions from both entities is overtly infantile.