Is this the second coming of... NBA Street?! That's the goal!

EA vets create a new with the goal of bringing back that NBA Street energy with a new... IP!

Game Industry Biz, spoke to CEO Scott Probst and creative director Mike Young about what the sports games market is missing while serious simulations dominate. Clearly they're viewing a problem they hope to be a solution for, but... we can't overlook other studios like Playground Sports and their contribution to the arcade sports genre in recent times.

It is interesting to see EA vets form their own studio for the sake of releasing their own version of NBA Street. It will certainly break away from what EA would target legally if they aren't the publisher, but one thing I scratch my head about is will they have official players or... are they going their own way in terms of creating their own characters.

If they choose to take this route, the fun factor will have to be through the roof, because a number of people don't simply play these games just to play with... Jammin John Doe with the double dunk. They play sports games usually because they love gaming + sports and want to be a part of the experience when it comes the league and their favorite teams and players. All it took was inviting my parents to a Heats game back when the big three called the team... home, and they were hooked. Playing sports games of the past, just like the present, is also motivated by the fanfare a good chunk of the time. I won't say it's doom and gloom, because some of us grab arcade sports games just because they're fun (I've played some no name titles back in the day myself)... but there are also other options Play by Play can take if they approach the player associations rather than the league (i.e. What Playground Sports did with Wild Card Football).

I didn't see anything in the Game Industry Biz article about not grabbing the license to make things official, but... the way they use examples like "Nintendo's Mario-fronted sports games" and mentioning fighting games who got their start with unrecognizable characters, it's easy to assume that the characters won't be recognizable during this first go round.

Will it matter? We shall see, but... I wish them the best either way if gamers are satisfied.

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EA now has the keys to WRC, will it result in a win or a wreck?

EA Sports WRC    

With EA now behind the WRC franchise, it's natural to feel both curious and concerned about the game's future. On the one hand, we may see exciting new tracks and modes that weren't previously available. However, there's also a risk of the game being overrun by microtransactions that detract from the overall experience. 

If the game becomes too reliant on these transactions, it should be offered as a free-to-play option instead. As long as EA Sports treats the franchise with care, I'm excited to see what they can do with it. However, I don't believe that annual sequels are necessary. A two-year gap between releases would give the game ample time to breathe and offer a chance for seasonal updates in the meantime. It will be interesting to see how the game looks, powered by Unreal Engine and developed by Codemasters, the team behind DiRT Rally.

The game will continue to feature the official WRC teams and manufacturers, with 10 current WRC, WRC2, and Junior WRC vehicles and 68 iconic rally cars from throughout the sport's history. Players will have access to EA Racenet, the company's racing companion app, to help ramp up the competition. Additionally, the game will offer 32-player cross-platform multiplayer action, as well as the ability to create custom multi-surface tournaments and more through the Clubs option. EA Sports WRC will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Epic Store, and the EA app starting November 3, 2023, with pre-orders receiving 3 days of early access, 5 VIP Passes, and 3 Team Livery & Apparel Packs.

Sophima | Guest Contributor

                          + BLU 

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EA had merger talks with Amazon, Apple, Disney, and NBCUniversal?!

The merger of EA and NBCUniversal might have been a huge discussion in the gaming industry. Electronic Arts (EA) CEO Andrew Wilson had negotiations with NBCUniversal CEO Brian Roberts to combine their companies together, however, no conclusion was made about this deal.

A report that EA also had discussions with Amazon, Apple, and Disney was also in the recent past. The timeline was not stated except for Disney where they were said to have been held as recently as March of this year.

However, the discussion between NBCUniversal ultimately fell through in the last month because of a lack of approval over price and structure, having talked to four close sources about the matter.

After weeks of negotiations, the merger between these two companies would have seen NBCUniversal take most control of the newly formed entity, which is headed up by Andrew Wilson.

EA has not commented on the speculation associated, while Apple, Amazon, and Disney refused to give comments.

The persistent pursuit of a sale has been the theme in recent years of EA, but why?

Lastly, Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot has debunked the reported news of his company being for sale. In an earnings call following their FY2022 financial results, he said they intend to remain independent. As long as the developers don't end up in the wrong has to limit our platform options and quality, then there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

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Asics Tiger Running Sneaker

Dear Developers: Leaders Overlooking Toxicity In The Business

As reported by IGN, EA executive vice president and chief operating officer, Laura Miele, called out leaders in the game industry and said those "who fall short of basic standards" should go.

She didn't say any names specifically, but it may be a low-key way to call out Activision Blizzard over toxic culture. I'm not in their studios to experience this myself, but if there is negligence going on resulting in lawsuits... because leaders don't make it a point to keep standards up as far as what they won't allow to go down, then they need to be called out.

It doesn't matter if it's aimed at Activision Blizzard, someone else, or a combination that includes Activision Blizzard... so not saying names was good to an extent. If there's a point to be made based on valid reasons, then it's good that she spoke out without being specific so that all studios take a look at what's going on around the workplace (all companies should regardless of the industry).

From my personal experience, and from the standpoint of the average working-class person, it sucks to work under those conditions. It sucks to work under leaders that expect you to take care of certain objectives on the ship while they sail it into the rocks, over a waterfall, or allow certain crew members to sabotage the crew.

There are people at these companies because they believe in the company, they want to grow with the company, I've seen people even rep game studios outside of work (wearing shirts and the whole nine). That's serious pride when you think about it, but a toxic culture can strip you of any desire you may have for that. What takes place of that pride could either be a shrug of the shoulders where employees just work the job in numb mode for the money, which can affect passion/creativity until something better comes along or... they could become disgusted at the simple thought of coming into work and it shows.

When someone reaches that point of disgust, it could either result in them preparing to leave or they could end up bumping heads with others out of frustration. Then the person that was affected by the toxicity is falsely identified as... the problem. The great resignation wasn't fueled by the pandemic alone, no one wants to go to the workplace and deal with unnecessary crap if they don't have to.

If all it takes are proper standards to prevent this from happening with some of your team members, that's a plus, especially when those standards apply to everyone. I've seen enough situations where leaders have looked the other way in terms of certain team members at their company, while others either have to walk that fine line or have even more stress put on them due to harassment or... to make up for the lack of work being produced by the manager's favorite.

It's not just harassment in terms of bothering someone, we're also talking about sexual assault allegations. Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick, allegedly knew about sexual assault allegations and didn't report them. If the allegations are true, that's defeating as h-e-double hockey sticks, because complaints are falling on intentionally deaf ears. I have to be specific about if allegations are true, because false allegations do exist (and when they're exposed to be false, too little is done as a result to punish such a serious allegation most of the time).

Either way, this story definitely motivated me to write a dear developers article because it needs to be something business owners in and outside of game studios need to keep in mind. Your ship and your overall business is more sound when standards are in place and no one gets a pass for breaking the rules.

Check out the article from IGN... here!

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RIP to a Legend: John Madden

If you haven't heard, John Earl Madden passed away on December 28, 2021. As someone born in the second half of the 1930's it's awesome that he was able to live such a long life and see so many decades + the era's that came with them.

On the field, he was an offensive tackle, while on the sideline he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders and actually coached for ten seasons (1969 - 1978). He was an icon, multi-Emmy Award winner for his commentary work, and some would add so much more, he's the NFL Legend... John Madden.

Off the field, he was still digitally in the game by way of (the biggest duh of the day) Madden NFL video games. The video game adventure started after EA founder Trip Hawkins approached Madden for an endorsement and all that good stuff. The first game actually came to like in the late 1980s because Madden wanted the game to be up to his standards (Trip approached him four years before that initial release... so he wasn't playing back then about just any game having his name on it).

The billion-dollar franchise continues to stand as a pillar for EA, and when I heard of the unfortunate news about Madden passing, all I could think of is... they have to go harder than ever on the next installment or the one after. It might be too late for the pending game (versus a last-minute nip & tuck), but the one after would have more time for them to give it the love it needs based on the man who gave his endorsement and stuck by that until his last breath.

I'm not some super fan of the Madden Football franchise... but I do appreciate that it keeps some people coming back to support the game industry in some form because some people only play Madden.

You might even be surprised that I played a lot back in the day, maybe not as much as other games, but... I played a lot. If some of you remember Madden 95 (I played on Sega)... it was one of those games that some of us liked to take on the offline competition with. People were die-hard about it too and would put up money to raise the stakes. It was just good times, and with a certain amount of people being there... you know it was going to turn into a party, so the music turned on by itself, and food appeared out of thin air to dial up the fun.

I mention this because while I'm not a super fan, but I had great times that came to life because of the competition that a Madden NFL game delivered, and it's just a reminder to actually aim to have a great time gaming. When I go online to play multiplayer games (and even when I play offline with others), that's my main objective, because you can't get that time back... and tomorrow is never promised. Have a good damn time and aim for memorable experiences.

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Battlefield 2042

Consider me... excited! - Blu

Battlefield 2042

Pre-order* Battlefield™ 2042 now and get:

• Early access to open beta
  
• Baku ACB-90 melee takedown knife
  
• “Mr. Chompy” epic weapon charm
  
• "Landfall" player card background and "Old Guard" tag

Battlefield 2042 is a first-person shooter that marks the return to the iconic all-out warfare of the franchise. In a near-future world transformed by disorder, adapt and overcome dynamically-changing battlegrounds with the help of your squad and a cutting-edge arsenal.

With support for 128 players, Battlefield 2042 brings unprecedented scale on vast battlegrounds across the globe. Players will take on several massive experiences, from updated multiplayer modes like Conquest and Breakthrough to the all-new Hazard Zone.

游戏开始！

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