EA Project Atlas

"MidnightAura;c-16809078" wrote:
The future of gaming is far from being an online experience which forces you to be so constantly whilst playing with friends. If it was none of the above games would be successful.

This got me thinking about how EA is trying to redefine “games” as we know them and brand them as “live services.” The Sims is not considered a game to EA, it’s a live service. Right now the only thing separating The Sims from EA’s other live services is the inclusion of loot boxes, right?

Imagine if the majority of Sims content was only accessible through loot boxes. I’m sure a number of people would quit playing, but a good majority of players would still gamble away real money just to unlock a gold toilet or a new chair. The psychology behind live services keeps the completionist players and the players who can’t hold onto a dollar even if their life depended on it on the hook.

Live services are dependent on both impulse purchases and paid subscriptions. While we’re at it, imagine if you had to pay a monthly fee to access The Sims through Origin, because that’s where EA wants things to end up sooner rather than later. We already got a taste of this sort of “nickel and dime them to death by showing them all the content they’re missing” setup with the Sims 3 Store, and it’s the same song and dance in a different fursuit with the Sims 4 Stuff Packs.

If AI and machine learning are going to be leveraged in the Sims, it’s more likely to be used to gauge how to sell more stuff to players and keep them addicted to the game. That’s pretty much how most companies utilize machine learning to keep consumer interest high. They care very little about how good their service actually is, as long as people are active on their platform and believe what they’re being sold is something of value (even when it isn’t). There’s a reason social engineering exploded around the same time machine learning picked up steam. Big companies like EA will always leverage these sorts of tools to fuel their bottom line and keep their executives flush with cash.

Two things could potentially turn the tide:
1. Players stop transfusing money into the lifeless corpse of their fav EA franchise(s)
2. Players give their money to companies that make games that are actually good

And the two most likely outcomes:
1. EA takes their ball and goes home (studios close and titles are buried out in some desert like Atari did with all those E.T. cartridges)
2. EA puts down the live service pipe, gets clean and attempts to make a good game

It could go either way in my opinion. Popcorn and tea are at the ready in case things start popping off. ?☕️