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EA Is No Longer Mandating Live Service Multiplayer For Dragon Age 4 - Hope for The Sims 5?

ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
Bioware's Anthem did so badly that EA has reconsidered making Bioware's Dragon Age 4 a multiplayer game and have it return to its singleplayer roots:

Bioware's Anthem Failed So Badly EA Is No Longer Mandating
Live Service Multiplayer For Dragon Age 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfaVz5IAfZc

Yong reports at minute 4:02:

"....The reason I'm telling you all this is because well there might be hope yet for Dragon Age 4, who seem as though EA has decided to walk back that mandate and will be allowing Bioware to make the next Dragon Age game a fully singleplayer experience after recent developments. The following information was also relayed by investigative reporter, Jason Shrier, who released the following article titled 'Electronic Arts Removes Multiplayer Mode from Dragon Age in Big Pivot'* in the fact that it says right here that EA is allowing the developers to remove all planned multiplayer components means that those multiplayer elements were forced in by the executives, and that the developers probably, if it was up to them, they wouldn't have added this multiplayer component because they probably know it doesn't belong and that that's not what Dragon Age was all about."

"....Dragon Age 4 was previously, after that reboot, been designed with a heavy multiplayer component. But fortunately after EA was stung with a recent multiplayer flop, *cough - Anthem!*, they came to the realization that maybe not every game needs multiplayer shoved in there, that multiplayer can potentially ruin an experience if you force it in there for the sake of monetization, and that singleplayer games can thrive just as much, if not more, than multiplayer titles.


*-

He goes on to report that there were two factors that changed the executives' minds:

"So what exactly changed the minds of Andrew Wilson and other EA executives? Well, apparently two recent games that EA launched that disproved their own notions. One of those games was Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a singleplayer game that completely disproved EA's own claims that singleplayer games are no longer profitable, that it's not the kind of game people want to play anymore. Well, when they released that title, it ended up outperforming EA's sales expectations, reaching more than 10 million players in its first four months.

And then the other game that influenced EA executives decision to let Dragon Age just be a singleplayer RPG experience was Bioware's Anthem, the type of multiplayer live service, recurrent monetizable experience that EA claimed was the way of the future, because nobody's interested in singleplayer games anymore. Well the singleplayer game ended up thriving because it was just a well-made game, while the multiplayer live service game ended up flopping, because it was a shittily-released title."


So maybe there is hope that The Sims 5 will remain a singleplayer game? Let's hope so. If it's done well as a singleplayer game the way The Sims 1, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 were done, The Sims 5 will DEFINITELY outperform The Sims 4 for sure!

PS - Read the replies to Jason Shreiers's tweet about the article. Lots of relieved fans! I really envy them right now!




Post edited by EA_Leeloo on

Comments

  • MarinuttonenMarinuttonen Posts: 165 Member
    I AM ELATED. THANK THE LORD. Who the hell wants a game about dating hot singles in your area in medieval time be a multiplayer. Not me. I want to giggle at my homosexual elves in the privacy of my own home, thank you.
    Where are the pet bunnies, Sims 4 ?! :'(
  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    Finally
    ihavemultiplegamertags
  • SimSpockSimSpock Posts: 273 Member
    Maybe this means something for TS5. Maybe not.

    Multiplayer never made sense for the first three games in the Dragon Age series, because it didn't fit the story. Forcing it on DA4 probably didn't make any sense either, but abandoning it is surprising progress for EA. Surprising to me, anyway.

    Anthem made a lot of sense as a multiplayer game. I don't think MP is what killed it (maybe I'm wrong). It's downfall was just plain bad design that was fun for a while, but became repetitive and boring pretty quickly, and unrewarding end game play. I enjoyed it though, and am sorry but not surprised to see it's reboot not happen.

    I'm not sure that EA is convinced yet that MP won't work for The Sims series. They played around with it for TS3, and apparently TS4 was originally supposed to be extensively MP, and then rewritten at the last minute as single player. EA seems desperate to come up with some sort of MP formula for The Sims. They're also going to need to do something to separate themselves from whatever Paradox is developing. So, I think it's probably good news for TS5, but with EA I never quite know.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    BUT BUT Wait a minute. This feels too familiar. What if they have already developed the Sims 5 as a multiplayer Live service game and now have to redevelop it as fast as possible as a Single-player game?

    Isn't that the Sims 4 fiasco all over again?
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • FinvolaFinvola Posts: 1,041 Member
    I saw an article about this earlier and I think it's great news. I love the DA series and I hope that it means TS5 won't be MP either. I did play Dragon Age multiplayer (DAIMP), but it was an additional feature to the Single Player campaign and wasn't directly tied to the game's storyline. I most certainly don't want TS5 to be MP and hope it remains SP.
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    SimSpock wrote: »
    I'm not sure that EA is convinced yet that MP won't work for The Sims series. They played around with it for TS3, and apparently TS4 was originally supposed to be extensively MP, and then rewritten at the last minute as single player. EA seems desperate to come up with some sort of MP formula for The Sims. They're also going to need to do something to separate themselves from whatever Paradox is developing. So, I think it's probably good news for TS5, but with EA I never quite know.


    I'm actually more excited about whatever Paradox is developing than what EA/Maxis is doing with The Sims 5 at this point to be honest. Because at least I know that it won't be multiplayer at all. And it will be jam-packed with working and meaningful gameplay - the base game as well as its myriad of DLCs.


  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited February 2021
    I truly hope so. It's sounding promising. BioWare was known for their amazing single-player RPG's and them not having to focus on multiplayer anymore could make Dragon Age 4 into something that they really want to make.

    So I really hope that EA would be more willing to listen to what Maxis want with the sims 5 and not force them to implement online features that will reduce features that the fans want.

    I know EA, you are still a company that wants to make money but I think we have proven already with the huge success of the sims 4 that the sims 5 does not need multiplayer to be successful.

    Now imagine if the sims5 will have so much more of what the fans wanted at release and then you can make packs for that. You will please both the players and your shareholders.
  • bella_gothbella_goth Posts: 1,770 Member
    edited April 2021
    Deleted
    Post edited by bella_goth on
  • StrawberryYogurtStrawberryYogurt Posts: 2,799 Member
    BUT BUT Wait a minute. This feels too familiar. What if they have already developed the Sims 5 as a multiplayer Live service game and now have to redevelop it as fast as possible as a Single-player game?

    Isn't that the Sims 4 fiasco all over again?

    We're stuck in a time loop 😭😭😭
    The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5

    FixedCoarseFawn-max-1mb.gif

    Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    BUT BUT Wait a minute. This feels too familiar. What if they have already developed the Sims 5 as a multiplayer Live service game and now have to redevelop it as fast as possible as a Single-player game?

    Isn't that the Sims 4 fiasco all over again?

    Depends how far they have gotten into development...I think they are still in the prototyping stage.
  • agentcloneagentclone Posts: 15 Member
    Honestly, in regards to multiplayer for the Sims, it depends on how they implement it. I do think MMO style won't work longer term for a) the profits that EA wants and b) a significant portion of the Sims playerbase who want to play by themselves not interacting with others. MMO style would also require a lot of moderation and consideration on behalf of EA. However if they do it in more of a (not entirely sure how to put it) Optional Co-Op style (see games like Stardew Valley) then I think it could work. It also depends on what they need to sacrifice for the multiplayer.

    I do think they should focus on gameplay and design first, and keep in the back of their minds how things may be adjusted/work for multiplayer. As opposed to going 'we are making a multiplayer game' how do we implement that. If they focus on gameplay etc first then if required they can decide at a later date to drop multiplayer or release it later when they are under less pressure to release a game. There are a number of people who would like to play Sims with their friends, but there are also a number who don't.
  • comicsforlifecomicsforlife Posts: 9,585 Member
    yay!!
    more for sim kids and more drama please
  • SimSpockSimSpock Posts: 273 Member
    SimSpock wrote: »
    I'm not sure that EA is convinced yet that MP won't work for The Sims series. They played around with it for TS3, and apparently TS4 was originally supposed to be extensively MP, and then rewritten at the last minute as single player. EA seems desperate to come up with some sort of MP formula for The Sims. They're also going to need to do something to separate themselves from whatever Paradox is developing. So, I think it's probably good news for TS5, but with EA I never quite know.


    I'm actually more excited about whatever Paradox is developing than what EA/Maxis is doing with The Sims 5 at this point to be honest. Because at least I know that it won't be multiplayer at all. And it will be jam-packed with working and meaningful gameplay - the base game as well as its myriad of DLCs.


    Agree 100%. Also, almost unlimited potential for mods.
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    BUT BUT Wait a minute. This feels too familiar. What if they have already developed the Sims 5 as a multiplayer Live service game and now have to redevelop it as fast as possible as a Single-player game?

    Isn't that the Sims 4 fiasco all over again?

    We're stuck in a time loop 😭😭😭
    Maybe we need Doctor Who to come to the rescue. I do hope they keep the Sims 5 offline. Hard enough to deal with trolls on the internet as it is, let alone in games.
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    Yeah, I used to think that Sims 4 was going to be better than Sims 3 back in 2014. Unfortunately, it wasn't. I learned that newer graphics doesn't mean better.
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    This is a step in the right direction, but the introduction of kit packs in The Sims 4 kind of just negates any positivity I have towards The Sims 5 currently, lol.
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