Should Madden Fans Be Worried About the Ex-Tiburon Gang's Departure? - RaychelSnr's Blog

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Should Madden Fans Be Worried About the Ex-Tiburon Gang's Departure? Stuck

Posted on April 13, 2011 at 11:28 AM.

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"Nothing happens in a vacuum."

Let's recap the news of the past several days. First we learn that some members of EA's Tiburon Studio are leaving. Then we find out that those members happen to be Ian Cummings and several other "big" names (yet to be confirmed) within the studio. Then we find out that Madden's release date will be pushed back for the first time ever to late August.

It's hard to not see where the connections in all of these news stories comes from -- it doesn't take our boy Shawn Spencer down at Psych to put all of this together to see what's going on.

Let's dissect this backwards.

It's apparent the Madden delay is because several senior members of the game's development team tendered their resignations in the middle of its cycle -- with a smaller bit that the NFL probably won't be having a season so no pressure to get it out on time. That's going to be awfully damaging to a lot of processes and plans for what is EA Sports' North American flagship title. You don't just have a shakeup like this and the effects not be felt -- sure it'll be downplayed, these things always are. But when companies do something they've never done before after a big chunk of their leadership on a product leaves -- that's not a sign things are kosher.

I don't have many sources within Tiburon -- and definitely none of them are part of the group leaving -- but they would tend to back this up. It's not a sign Madden is going to be terrible --- but it is a sign that some ideas might have to be scaled back this year just to get the team back on a solid foundation.

Now onto the other issue, why does someone leave their job?

No one ever leaves a job they absolutely love for another job unless it's for a huge raise. That's possibly the reason why the 'Ex-Tiburon Gang' is leaving, and we can't discount that.

What has many Madden fans worried is that the reason these guys are leaving is more along the lines of a creative vision dispute and general unhappiness with the work environment at Tiburon. This would tend to suggest a more sim product was pursued, which marketing types and suits didn't like because it might not have as much mass appeal. I can't say that's for sure what we've got going on as well here either.

Most likely the Ex-Tiburon gang is leaving because of a combination of factors. Perhaps they were leaving for a little better money and benefits, perhaps they were somewhat unhappy, perhaps they weren't allowed to creatively express themselves as much as they could and the promise is they can at a new place. All of these are valid reasons for jumping ship, so it's definitely unfair to pin it on any one thing -- there could be a number of factors for a number of different guys even.

So the million dollar question is does this affect Madden's development?

I'd say yes, but probably not in a completely immediate fashion this year. The delay is a big deal, and you might see a few ideas toned down -- but the overall direction of the product will not be known until we see which guys step up and fill the void. If Madden suffers in quality, it will no doubt be linked back to the disarray the creative team was in during these weeks for better or worse.

For now we will have to watch and wait, but my gut tells me we'll look back on this week as a watershed moment one way or the other.

Comments

# 16 loganmorrison1 @ Apr 13

I think this is really bad news. My guess is Ian and crew left b/c there was a shift to a more arcade like game, which can be assumed in the recent hiring of that guy, can't think of his name, that was an arcade sports guru. The push back of the game release probably relates to a shift in making in more arcade like to cater to the larger audience. I think any sim footballers are going to be miserable this year

# 17 pittsburgher86 @ Apr 13

This will affect the game greatly...

Also great reference to psych.

# 18 TreyIM2 @ Apr 13

I don't know how this will affect Madden 12 but I just hope it's good...
At any rate, it sure was looking like EA was turning around how things are run but I guess they still iron fist things. They let Mike Wang "get away" possibly because he realized he wasn't going to truly have the creative control he was used to at 2K then we see the product that Elite 11 was going to be (I STILL love the controls over 2K11's and just don't play 2K11)and now maybe that's what happening here with Ian and Co. EA's suits are possibly trying to control far too much and take things in the wrong direction.

It seems like every year, EA tries to put non-sense in Madden quite possibly because they DON'T want to pony up for a new and improved engine which the game, obviously, at least to me, needs. Ian and Co may be trying to separate themselves from a potential embarrasment of a game in Madden 12, just like Mike Wang may have done by bouncing on Elite 11...although the controls of that game are GREAT!...ahem....

# 19 videlsports @ Apr 13

I don't think Madden will have no growth, It's ashame too, I really think it's Ea as a company not allowing growth. They do not want to invest into new ideas for fear turning off the Fans who are not hardcore. So there will be no innovation until Ea Loses a head to head war. So they and the NFL put themselves in this situation. First Mike Wang,now Ian, hmmm where there is smoke there is fire.

# 20 turftickler @ Apr 14

David Ortiz was another great developer for EA Sports. He quit. What does that say to anyone? There is a reason a guy leaves money behind on the table. A man's diginity and pride means a lot to him.

# 21 Lilsaint @ Apr 14

I think that Madden will be different this year without Ian Cummings. He was the reason why we had Locomotion in Madden 11, along with other sweet features like Madden Ultimate Team , ect. Since he is leaving along with some other big name guy, im pretty sure Madden will be completely different....and i dont think it will be for the better....

# 22 MINATAURO @ Apr 14

@turftickler, Madden is a huge game for EA but Fifa outsells madden worldwide by far.

# 23 MINATAURO @ Apr 14

my bad @j ski ^^^

# 24 mickster @ Apr 15

i think now is this for madden to pull out the big guns if it not up to stander many fan will give up i did it need to be madden vs 2k like in 2004 you had to buy both games

# 25 turftickler @ Apr 19

@# 31 MJennessI agree that this may be a marketing ploy by EA to boost sales this year, however, I also believe that Ian Cumming's hands were tied the same as David Ortiz's were. Ortiz was a great developer and Ian Cummings may have been as well. I just didn't like Ian's comments toward people asking for fundamentally simulation football in Madden NFL games. David Ortiz posted to each other on a different forum on occasion and he had the desire and ability to build a simulation game, but his hands were tied.

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