EA Chosen as Worst Company in America, Forbes Editorial

I’m not sure that I’m on board with the idea that Electronic Arts is the worst company in America (I’ve been nickel and dimed by a lot of them), but then again, they did beat out a whole lot of competition to take home that “award” in The Consumerist’s Final Four-inspired set of polls. There’s an awful lot of chatter around the web about EA topping the list, and it’s even prompted Forbes to publish an article that attempts to decipher why the company has drawn so much ire from consumers:

The truth is, hate for EA is approaching a critical mass. I’ve often talked about how far gamers can be pushed when it comes to the medium they love. I speculated that companies like EA are pushing the buttons of gamers on purpose, to see what they will and won’t tolerate. And by tolerate, of course, I don’t mean rant about on forums. I mean what they will pay for.

The most recent example would be the Day One DLC pack for Mass Effect 3. The description implied to players it was (essential content,) and as such, raised the price of the game from $60 to $70 for fans. It was a test, and for how much the pack sold, it was a success.

Then there’s the Mass Effect 3 ending, which I personally believe was meant to be yet another test. It was left cryptic and unclear, and as such, ripe for a DLC expansion. Now, with how angry players have gotten over the ending, they might have to scrap what they were planning. To release a paid DLC pack to (fix) the lackluster ending would turn fan anger into downright fury. But again, it would probably sell. EA continues to push the bounds of what’s acceptable to gamers, and their winning this poll is an indicator they’ve gone too far. But the next marker must be a decrease in sales, or else all the rage is for nothing.

EA’s problems extend far beyond DLC packs however. They were Zynga before Zynga existed, buying up promising companies and gutting them so they were no longer competition, harvesting the best ideas for themselves. The complete list of EA’s acquisitions over the years is massive, and they’ve killed many beloved brands in the process. Recently, Bioware seems to be their latest casualty, as the company now seems more dominated by EA’s influence than ever.

It’s really too bad BioWare has to be involved with this mess, but I guess they have nobody to blame but themselves.