Hellken

Quote:

In 2009, Electronic Arts joined the social gaming rush, spending millions to establish itself as a Zynga competitor. The company spent $300 million purchasing Pet Society studio Playfish. Not even four years later, EA is shutting down all Playfish games, including SimCity Social. In July 2012, when shares in Electronic Arts were trading beneath $11 for the first time since the 1990s, then CEO John Riccitiello tried to explain why it was that the company’s investors were so shaken. He believed that it came down to a misunderstanding of the modern video game industry. “After many years of stellar growth, we more recently got into a place where I think investors are having a hard time understanding where growth in the industry is coming from,” Riccitiello told CNBC at the time. “And they’re unclear about ongoing growth in the Facebook platform for gaming and mobile.” Today it appears that Riccitiello and EA’s other executives were equally unclear about the potential of Facebook gaming. Just over three years after acquiring Playfish, one of Facebook gaming’s biggest competitors, EA is shutting the studio down. On the official Playfish forums (via GamesIndustry International), EA’s community team announced the impending closure schedule of six Facebook games in total. On May 14, the studio will shut down Madden NFL Superstars ’11 and’12, as well as NHL Superstars. Then on Jun. 14, it will go on to shut down SimCity Social, Pet Society, and The Sims Social. This comes not even a full year after Electronic Arts sued developer Zynga for releasing The Ville, which it claimed copied and therefore hurt the profitability of SimCity Social. “We know that you may be disappointed by this,” said EA, “Retiring games is never easy, we hope you enjoyed playing SimCity Social as much as we enjoyed making it. Thank you to all of our passionate and dedicated players for supporting SimCity Social. We hope to see you in some of our other titles on Facebook and other platforms. For those that purchased and are still holding on to Playfish virtual currency, EA says to spend what you have before the games are shut down in the coming weeks, without offering any kind of compensation. EA isn’t abandoning Facebook by any means though. The Simpsons: Tapped Out, developed by EA Mobile, remains a major earner, and across Facebook, Android, and iOS, that game generated $23 million for EA during the holiday quarter. It would seem, however, that Playfish is done for, even after EA spent scads to acquire the company. In November 2009, right as the social game boom was kicking into high gear and companies like Zynga saw their valuation skyrocket, EA spent a whopping $300 million to acquire Playfish­, and it promised the studio another $100 million if it could hit certain milestones. Read it here.

MAXIS UPDATE (4/15/2013): "If you want to plop these playful attractions in your city, you need to be located in the United States and you’ll also need to purchase a specially marked Crest or Oral-B product to receive a code good for all five attractions." COUNTRY: USA (exclusive) Company Sponsors: Crest, Oral - B Source: Novos DLC de SimCity FAQ: What is included in the Attractions Set? There are five attractions: Giant Garden Gnome, Dolly the Dinosaur, Llarry the Llama, MaxisMan Statue and the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. Each attraction adds happiness and will also act as a tourist destination in your city. You will have a choice of redeeming the Attractions Set, The Sims Social SimCash, or a $5-off coupon for Origin. How much does it cost? There is no in-game charge for the Attractions Set; however, you will need to purchase a specially marked Crest or Oral-B product in order to redeem the code. Look for the orange sticker on pack. Please visit crest.ea.com to learn more about this promotion. How do I get the Attractions Set in my game? You will need to purchase a specially marked Crest or Oral-B product. Please check crest.ea.com to find out which items are available. Is there additional gameplay added? Yes – the Attractions Set add happiness to low wealth Sims. They will also bring in all three wealth classes of tourists into your city. Once I redeem the code, where do I find it? You will find the Attractions Set in the Culture menu. Does I need a code for each attraction? One code will redeem all five attractions. Is the Attractions Set available worldwide? This is only available to players in the United States. How long does this promotion last? While supplies last as there are a set number of redeemable codes available on Crest and Oral-B products. Please check crest.ea.com for more information.

That moment... when you realize that watching EA is more entertaining than their services...

I am amazed again and again by this CJ. You never run out of ideas. 

I noticed the Xbox and PS3 too. I guess their sponsors weren't informed. : USA only. For everyone who is not in the USA, you need a plane ticket and some money to buy toothpaste.

I thought EA were going to kill "The Sims Social" by June 2013? It seems someone cannot resist a few extra $$$ ...

Good job, EA! $ 300 M wasted and yet another small company has been bought and killed by EA. Are you guys running for a 3rd "Award" ?

why would anyone? Because...People in Brazil will go to the USA just to buy toothpaste. It's the USA's secret plan to get more tourists.

*reads comments in link* Great job EA... Another game dead in less than a year...

Good job, EA... Another game is dead in less than a year...

I BATed them specially for this update, try reading my notes and the last part haha :P   Yeah I BATed some buildings for SC4 which took forever. Read my notes cause I managed to crash GMAX about 20x :P and there's a lotta photoshopping involved too.   Oh, I didn't see that... and I usually read things like that. :) 

  PEG Water MMPs. (Photoshopped for realism)

Not another EA title ruined. I just logged out of Simtropolis for a few hours. I came back and then I read this! I don't know much about SimCity Social but I heard people pay real - life (?) money for objects (diamonds?) in the game right? So, they plan to shut the game at its popularity while cashing in on all those unlucky people who spent money on those diamonds thinking they would have some in game benefit in the long run. Now those people won't be able to get anything out of what they spent! Greedy pigs! They care about profit so much they deserve to lose their customers.

You really hate SC2013, don't you? (Although as Jerry Seinfeld would say: "Not that there's anything wrong with that"). No, I really think it might be interesting to play, but not at that price nor under those conditions. EA is busy committing suicide, and I think in a way this is too bad. They probably totally missed the real market which is probably too small for them to notice. Meanwhile they are making fools of themselves in front of the target market of teens and other young demographics who might have had a good experience were it not for all the wasted hype and the lack of competent quality assurance. They seem to be concentrating on some kind of get rich quick scheme, and it backfired. If they had any goodwill left, it is now pretty much gone. Given how massive the criticism is, I would say that not even their target market was pleased.

WOW! This is a very good update! The presentation is wonderful. Where did you get those futuristic BATs? They look fantastic. 

Now look at all of these road options: http://generallygrumpy.com/2013/04/13/cim2-dynamic-city-example-growth-more-realistic-than-sim-city/ http://generallygrumpy.com/2013/04/09/cities-in-motion-2-vs-sim-shitty-not-even-a-fair-fight/

Someone found this in the game files. I wonder if this will be in their future DLC.

Well, what can I say? This is stunning and fantastic!

Great work! This looks nice.    ---   I am looking for the skyscraper (last pic) - the blue one on the right.