Electronic
Arts and the Battlefield V Controversy
The video
game industry has truly proven itself to be a juggernaut deserving of respect.
In just a few decades, it has gone from being another “children’s plaything” to
becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry that surpasses the music and movie
industries combined. Video games are also slowly encroaching on the
professional sports industry, with the growing popularity of electronic sports
(Esports). Video games are also beginning to be described as an art form, due
to some video games in the past few years having been created as a medium of
expression rather than just a product for entertainment. However, just like any
other business-to-consumer industry, there is no shortage of controversy and
scandals when it comes to video games.
Electronic Arts (EA) is a colossal publisher in the video
game industry. The company began in 1982 as a software development company
before transitioning into video game development and publishing in the 1990s.
Since then, the company has grown to become the second largest video games
publishing company in the world today, with dozens of development studios and
intellectual properties (IP) under its belt. The company has garnered a poor
reputation among it’s consumers however. Despite developing and publishing
decent, and occasionally very good video games, the decisions the company has
made over the past few years have drawn the ire of both consumers and pundits
alike.
Despite being successful enough to grow into one of the
largest video game companies on the planet, as of 2018, EA’s current brand
image is so far broken that some would argue that it is unsalvageable. Just
last year, EA received huge backlash from consumers over the inclusion of
“lootboxes” in its premiere video game “EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II”, which
introduced gambling mechanics into a game rated Teen by the Entertainment
Software Rating Board (ESRB). This essentially meant that EA were granting
underage children access to an online casino. Additionally, these lootboxes
were tied to player progression in the game, resulting in players who spent
more money on the game being granted far greater advantages than those that did
not. Unsurprisingly, consumers were outraged, especially since the game was
using a beloved license such as Star Wars.
However, not wanting to be outdone by themselves this year,
EA decided to try something new to stir the hornet’s nest in 2018. Having
learnt from their mistakes somewhat in 2017, EA’s new flagship game for 2018
was announced to be Battlefield V, the fifth numbered entry in the long running
Battlefield series. Battlefield V
would revisit the theatres of World War II for the first time in over a decade.
Fans were very excited of this return to form. However, controversy began to
develop after EA released the first trailer for the game.
The trailer featured scenes that were not only far from
historically accurate but were outright fantastical in some situations. Some of
the more gratuitous breaches of historical accuracy were British troops running
about the fields of Europe with Japanese Katana’s strapped to their backs and a
woman with a prosthetic arm fighting-off German soldiers on the frontlines.
Online forums exploded with backlash for the company as
consumers and fans of the series rush to let their displeasure be known at the
apparent disrespect the company was showing for history and setting. While some
remained optimistic, opening up petitions in hopes of changing the direction of
the video game, others took a more direct approach by cancelling preorders for
the game, resulting in a large drop in EA stock prices earlier this year.
If one thought that public relations for EA and DICE, the
developers of the game who are owned by EA, could not get any worse; in May of
this year, DICE design director, Alan Kertz, decided to retaliate against the
backlash publicly by replying to angry fans on a public online forum. “I knew
this was going to be a fight when I pushed for female soldiers in Battlefield.
I have a daughter, and I don’t want to ever have to answer her question of ‘why
can’t I make a character that looks like me’ with ‘because you’re a girl.’”,
said Kertz. “I fundamentally feel to my core, this is the right way and I will
find myself on the right side of history.”
This opinion was highly unpopular, with many users accusing
Kertz of compromising historical integrity to satisfy his own ego. Things got
even worse as a month later, Electronic Arts’ chief creative officer, Patrick
Soderlund, was interviewed to defend the decision to portray women inaccurately
within the game. Rather than defend the game, one could argue that he instead
attacked the consumers. Soderlund outright called critics and fans of the game
“uneducated” for not accepting DICE’s depiction of women in World War II, and
that consumers should not buy the game if they don’t like what they do.
“And we don’t take any flak. We stand up for the cause,
because I think those people who don’t understand it, well, you have two choices: either
accept it or don’t buy the game. I’m fine with either or. It’s just not ok.”,
said Soderlund.
Soderlund’s self-rightieous attitude garnered even more
anger from the internet for the perceived attack, with many of the “uneducated”
commenters pointing out that women played an active role in World War II, but
not on the frontlines as portrayed by Battlefield V. These comments by senior
members of Battlefield V’s development team were undoubtedly contributing
factors towards the massive drop in preorders that occurred later in the year.
Currently, the outrage for Battlefield V has simmered down.
Despite the massive backlash, Battlefield is still one of the most beloved
video game series in the gaming world; and the game itself is of above average
quality despite the aesthetic choices of the developers. As a result, it may
yet sell well enough to at least break-even.
EA as a brand though might never fully recover. There is so
little consumer faith left in the name and even mentioning the letters “EA” is
enough to send most gamers and pundits into aching migraines.
While you might dismiss EA’s dilemma as simple internet
outrage by gamers, we have to understand that EA is still a large corporate
business that caters to it’s consumer’s needs just like any other
business-to-consumer company. The lessons that we can learn from such a poor
handling of public relations is invaluable.
Sources:
Image Source:
https://www.denofgeek.com/uk
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