Video game publishers and creators make headlines for negative reasons

Sometimes video game publishers and creators make headlines for negative reasons.

So here are 10 controversial things said by game makers.

And please note, this isn’t intended to stir up new anger or get mad at anybody in particular,just a look back at some old headlines,a trip down memory lane, toreally see what we’ve learned.

So starting off with number 10,

let’s start off with an
absolute banger when, in 2011,

then CEO of Electronic Arts, EA,

John Riccitiello had this to say

at a shareholder/stockholder meeting.

“When you are six hours
into playing ‘Battlefield’

“and you run out of ammo in your clip,

“and we ask you for a dollar to reload,

“you’re really not that price sensitive

“at that point in time.

“So essentially what ends up happening,

“and the reason the play
first, pay later model

“works nicely is a consumer
gets engaged in a property.

“They may spend 10, 20,
30, 50 hours in a game,

“and then when they’re deep into a game,

“they’re well invested in it.

“It’s a great model, and it represents

“a substantially better
future for the industry.”

Boom. So there you have it, guys.

Then CEO of EA Games, in
explaining the free-to-play

and microtransaction
models to shareholders,

pretty much admitted that they
are down to generate revenue,

really draw revenue from you,
the player, the consumer,

so much to the point
that they would actually

even hypothetically consider
charging you for a reload.

$1 to reload definitely became a thing,

a rallying cry against
practices like this.

And while, yeah, he
definitely was probably

exaggerating a little bit,
just using it as an example,

I still think it’s
indicative of EA’s mindset,

specifically at the time when they were

playing the game real hard.

Look, John Riccitiello
has gotten in hot water

in the past for some crazy statements.

I’m sure when we do a
part two of this video,

which we do have planned,
we’ll probably talk about more,

but there’s times in the world of media

where quotes can get taken out of context,

and there’s times like this
where just the quote itself

just doesn’t sound good any
which way you present it.

Next, over at number nine,

you guys probably still remember this one,

but it’s when Activision Blizzard

announced “Diablo
Immortal,” the very mobile,

free-to-play style “Diablo”
game that, of course,

as we now know, is
filled with monetization

and microtransaction purchases

that people are just not into.

When the game was first
announced at BlizzCon,

and the reception wasn’t really great,

one of the heads of the project

at Activision Blizzard on stage,

upon hearing the reaction of the crowd,

said, “Do you guys not have phones?

“You guys all have phones, right?”

This is specifically because
some people in the crowd booed

because they said that this
game would only be on mobile.

And when you’re at BlizzCon,

chances are you’re more of
a hardcore Blizzard fan.

You’re playing on PC, maybe
console, but most likely PC,

and to hear that the next new
thing they’ve been working on

isn’t even coming out on your platform,

the main fans’ platform of
choice, you’re gonna be bummed.

So to flippantly respond, “You
guys all have phones, right?”

Yeah, sure, we do.

That just doesn’t necessarily
mean we wanna play on them.

Yes, everybody has a cell phone,

but not everybody plays mobile games.

No disrespect to anyone
else here at gameranx.

I know some of us play mobile games,

we talk about them from time to time,

but me personally, I barely play any.

So when I heard this, I was
like, “Ah, this ain’t it, guys.”

And sure enough, now it’s
2022, the game has released,

and it pretty much is exactly
what everyone expected.

Next, over at number eight,
you may or may not remember

when EA referred to loot
boxes as “surprise mechanics.”

No, loot boxes aren’t bad,
negative things for the consumer.

They’re actually ethical and fun.

This was when representatives
from both EA and Epic Games

spoke to a parliamentary panel in 2019

specifically to defend
their business practices,

which were getting heat at
the time throughout Europe.

The EA representative really doubled down

and called them “surprise mechanics,”

referencing going to a toy
store and buying a blind box

and getting surprise over that excitement,

referencing Kinder Eggs or
Hatchimals or other kid toys,

where I really think it did not do

a good job of helping their argument.

And it’s also worth pointing out

that these people are not marketing

or public relations people
or anything like that.

These are hardcore heads

of legal and government affairs
within these corporations.

So I think, if anything,
what they’re talking about

is actually how they’re thinking of it,

and it’s really hilarious.

Next, over at number seven, a
lot of people are forgetting

this brief footnote in history,

but when the Xbox One was first announced,

things were a little rocky.

Xbox’s messaging was a
little all over the place,

and they said a couple of things

that people really didn’t wanna hear.

The focus on how game sharing would work,

the fact that the console
would be always online,

you’d need to be connected,

which, back then, was
still really a huge deal

and a negative for quite a lot of players,

and just an overall emphasis
on it being a media console,

a platform for television and media,

with games almost feeling like

a footnote in their messaging.

So when players specifically took issue

with a lot of this stuff and
specifically harped on the fact

that the console would need
to stay connected online,

and you wouldn’t be able
to play your games offline,

an Xbox head at the time, Don Mattrick’s,

response for those people was basically,

“Well, if you don’t like it,
we still have the Xbox 360.

“We have a product for
people who can’t get online.

“It’s called Xbox 360.”

As you can see on screen here,

the actual quote is a
little bit more wordy,

but still, I think it’s
very fair to distill it down

to saying it exactly like that.

We’re not misconstruing anything.

Really, it blew up, but now looking back,

it’s not as big of a deal.

It’s really just the way it was worded.

Growing pains for the time,

online connected consoles,
always online, DRM.

These things on consoles

were still kind of getting figured out,

and now today, we face
plenty of similar problems,

but we don’t have, at the very least,

the heads of the company saying,

“Oh, don’t like it? Go play our old shit.”

‘Cause that would still be very bad

if they were still
saying that, to be clear.

Next, over at number six,
’cause we’re having fun here,

it’s not all serious,
let’s talk John Carmack.

This dude is the
Co-founder of id Software.

He’s the Lead Programmer behind
stuff like “Commander Keen,”

“Wolf 3D,” “Doom,” “Quake.”

He’s a legend and seemingly
a computer super genius.

He’s also got tons of spicy
quotes from documentaries

and books throughout the
years about the history

behind first-person
shooters and id Software,

and one of our favorite quotes is,

“Story in a game is like
a story in a porn movie.

“It’s expected to be there,
but it’s not that important.”

Damn, that’s savage, if you ask us.

If anything, I don’t really think

it’s anything to get mad at.

I don’t think anyone really ever

saw this and got pissed off.

It’s just one person’s
opinion about video games.

And I mean, look at the context here.

John Carmack now is an older dude.

He’s been playing and making games

that specifically focus on
gameplay first and foremost.

Obviously there are so
many games out there

that are story-based and
absolutely compelling.

We talk about them all the time here.

I like both.

I can play “Quake” or
“Rocket League” with anyone

and just always just have endless fun,

but I really also don’t mind a slow game

with limited gameplay that just tells

an incredibly beautiful story.

I think there’s room for both.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

I’m not mad at John Carmack.

I’m very grateful for his contributions

to video game history.

And really, if I’m honest,
the quote is kind of funny.

Next, over at number five,
here’s one I really love.

Ken Kutaragi, the former
head of PlayStation,

considered by many to
be one of the fathers

of the original PlayStation,

was always good for a spicy quote.

And one of my favorite ones

was around the time of the PlayStation 3.

During an interview with
a Japanese magazine,

Ken had this to say
about the PlayStation 3

and the price goal.

“For consumers to think to themselves,

“‘I will work more hours to buy one.’

“We want people to feel that they want it,

“irrespective of anything else.”

So basically he said, “Yeah,
we’re pricing it high,

“yeah, we want you to want it,

“and we know you’re suckers enough

“to work your ass off or put
yourself in debt to get one,”

basically saying like,
“Hey, get a job, man,”

which is a really, really
funny way to talk about

how they want the PlayStation
3 to be perceived,

because, I actually buried the lead here,

this quote actually came out

before the price of the
PlayStation 3 was announced.

So he was really setting the groundwork

for what will be chaos later on.

As much as it’s a weird quote to hear

from somebody repping the console,

I will admit, for the PlayStation 2,

I saved up every single
bit of money I could,

pocket change, side jobs, lunch money,

everything to get that thing.

So I guess maybe he was
talking specifically to me.

I certainly didn’t love
it at the time, though,

and it’s just really interesting to see

the context of how the PS3
was priced and launched

compared to the PlayStation 4.

Ken and his buddies
definitely learned something.

Next, over at number four,
I absolutely love this one.

So Hiroshi Yamauchi, technically
Nintendo’s third president,

did an interview in 1999 after his tenure

specifically talking about
RPGs and how, at one point,

“Final Fantasy” really
popped off with Nintendo

until “Square” ultimately
moved over to PlayStation.

He said, and I quote,

“People who play RPGs are depressed gamers

“who like to sit alone in their dark rooms

“and play slow games.”

Side note, he also called RPGs as a whole

“silly and boring,” which is really funny.

But that quote, could we
just back it up for a sec?

“People who play RPGs are depressed gamers

“who like to sit alone in their dark rooms

“and play slow games.”

Yes. Absolute legend.

Yes, I am, and I’m proud of it.

Oh, boy.

Down to number three, sticking
with something current.

A Ubisoft Executive, a Vice
President at Innovations,

Nicolas Pouard, took an interview

with a financial publication

and defended Ubisoft’s new
use at the time of NFT,

specifically with Ubisoft Quartz,

and the whole idea centered around

getting NFT items in “Ghost Recon.”

Remember that?

He said that their
Quartz system was really

a first step to something much bigger.

They said, though, that it is
“not an easy concept to grasp”

when talking about audience backlash.

“I think gamers don’t get

“what a digital secondary
market can bring to them.”

“So really, it’s for them.

“It’s really beneficial, but
they don’t get it for now.”

Yeah, that’s right.

If you don’t like NFTs,

it’s ’cause you don’t understand them.

Now, I’m sure plenty of
people watching this video

are into blockchain concepts,

the technology behind
it, and NFTs in general.

You might even be invested in them,

but ask many gamers who are
very jaded to the practice

of spending additional
money in their games,

whoever it may be from,

and they really just don’t
want any more of that.

It’s not about not understanding.

It’s strictly about not wanting.

After having so much meddling in games

from all types of monetization practices,

another one comes along,
people don’t want to hear it,

no matter how exciting you might think

personally the technology is.

Pretty interesting,
considering Ubisoft Quartz

is barely a thing now.

Nobody really seemed to care
about the “Ghost Recon” ones.

And then you have other developers

like the people behind “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2”

announcing NFTs, seeing the backlash,

and listening and backing away.

Oh, man.

Now down at number two.

Again, we’re keeping it light.

We’re keeping it fun here.

EA’s bad tweet.

Now, again, this is just a tweet

from a social media account,

whoever sent it representing EA.

Whatever, it doesn’t matter.

The tweet was following a TikTok trend

highlighting significant others saying,

“They’re a 10, but they…” Blank.

So a silly version of that would be like,

“Oh, they’re a 10, but they
only like pineapple on pizza.”

Stupid stuff like that.

So EA’s version of tweeting that out was,

“They’re a 10, but they only like

“playing single-player games.”

I’m sorry, EA.

Excuse me.

Are you dunking on me for
liking single player games only?

You could take this tweet
a couple of different ways,

but that’s how me and seemingly

a lot of other players
online really took it.

It’s really funny coming from EA,

like obviously they focus on multiplayer

and microtransactions and stuff,

but they’re also currently
funding and publishing

a remake of the original “Dead Space,”

which is primarily just a straight up,

good, old-fashioned
single player video game.

So your messaging is all
over the place, guys.

I know you’re just doing it

for the fun little memes, but damn.

Again, though, it doesn’t really matter.

Who cares? It’s Twitter.

You’re better off not thinking about them.

But again, that’s just me.

Now, down to number one,
one last good, spicy quote

if we’re talking about monetization stuff.

We’ve been talking about EA a lot today,

but we can’t help ourselves with this one.

It’s when Battlefront II launched,

and people found it pay-to-win
and riddled with loot boxes

and microtransactions they didn’t want.

When this first started a pop-off,

EA seemingly scrambled
to handle the messaging,

and when acknowledging a Reddit
post where someone, quote,

said, “Seriously, I paid
$80 to have Vader locked,”

EA’s Community Team Reddit replied,

“The intent is to provide
players with a sense of pride

“and accomplishment for
unlocking different heroes.”

Then they went on and had a bunch

of other explanations for it,

but that sentence right
there, dude, that is killer.

Yeah, dude.

I love grinding to get Darth
Vader in the Star Wars game

for a sense of pride and accomplishment

when that thing is locked
behind hours and hours and hours

or tons of real world
dollars dumped into the game.

It’s just not cool.

I can’t believe what they
were thinking with this.

It’s so funny to see how
far Battlefront II has come,

but it’s taken a long time to get there,

specifically because of messaging
and statements and actions

by EA like this one specifically.

Still, we’ve all learned
from all this stuff,

whether it’s serious ones or funny ones.

These are some crazy things
said by video game developers

and publishers that we
just wanted to chat about.

Now, if you enjoyed this
little trip down memory lane,

this little discussion, let
us know what you’re thinking

about some of these comments and more,

suggestions for a part two.

We’d love to hear it.

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and you wanna see more,

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