The Future of Sports Gaming to run Through EA Sports?

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Submitted on: 05/12/2008 by Chris Sanner

You can count me in as a worry-wart, an over-reactor, or just a plain old crazy loon, but I am really afraid that the future of sports gaming might be getting ready to be run through one company, EA Sports.

With all of the recent hoopla and news of $1 billion loans and hostile takeovers, you almost get the feeling that it is David vs. Goliath out there with the EA bid for Take Two. Of course, if you are a longtime stockholder with Take-Two you are a very happy man (or woman) as of this morning your stock is worth a lot more thanks to Electronic Arts pursuing your company (and to a lesser extent, the release of Grand Theft Auto IV).

The stock price of Take Two shot up from around the $16 mark to over $26 overnight on the news of a potential takeover and has remained steady since. I hate to say it but if you own Take Two stock and want to see a return on your investment this is the time to cash out. If you look at the price chart you will see the release of Grand Theft Auto IV did next to nothing for the shares of Take Two. And if the biggest gaming release of this generation doesn't move stocks, I don't think anything else will.

So where does that put us, the sports gamer? Unfortunately, I am sticking by what I have said over the past few months, that this is a deal that is going to happen sometime before the end of this summer. I hope for the sake of our wellbeing this is not the case, but sometimes you just have to look up and see the writing on the wall.

One recent positive trend EA has had in regards to buying out partners is their desire to keep many of the studios they buy open for business and developing their own independent games. This could be a good thing if EA decides to transfer the development of some games (ahem NBA Live) to a better skilled and more successful group of developers. I'm not sure this would happen though, but it is something to hope for.

So in the worst case scenario, assuming that my assumptions are right and EA does acquire Take Two this summer, what will it mean for the different sub-genres of sports gaming? Let's take a look.

Football

I'm afraid to say that other than a few skilled developers that could be merged into the EA football group, the football titles from EA (Madden and NCAA Football) will remain largely unchanged. I just don't see the football games being affected in any serious manner with this deal. EA games already are the only serious football games on the market so to expect any major changes at this point really is hoping for a miracle that just isn't going to happen.

Basketball

Basketball is the one genre that could potentially under-go the most change in the existing EA Sports games lineup in my opinion. NBA Live and March Madness could be dramatically improved with a few skilled experts coming over from the College Hoops and NBA 2k teams. I sincerely hope that the right moves are made here and we end up with the best of both worlds in regards to basketball. The upside of this is enormous but like all things in life, there are no real solid guarantees.

Baseball
EA was the king of baseball games with MVP 2005. However, with Take Two claiming the exclusive rights to third party MLB games the reign abruptly ended. Since that time, Take Two has looked a lot like EA Sports and Madden with the sub-par quality of their exclusive baseball title. It's kind of ironic in that if it was not for MLB 08: The Show, we might have been seeing a similar backlash towards 2k Sports over their exclusive MLB deal. What irony that would have been.

Would a new EA built MLB game be of the same quality as MVP 2005? Only time will tell, but it's an exciting prospect to say the least.

Hockey

Hockey is the one area where EA currently is clearly on top. Reports have NHL 08 outselling NHL 2K8 by a staggering margin of 14 to 1. So what benefits could hockey gamers expect from this deal? A combined EA and 2K development team would theoretically be able to come up with an even better game, right? Well I'm not quite sure if I like the whole idea of "combining teams to develop a super game" theory. On paper it makes sense, but as sports fans we know that a team of super stars does not always amount to a "super star team".

So Is It All Bad News?

Well, yes and no. In my opinion, I don't see the companies combining teams to spend twice the resources on a single game. A realistic expectation is we will see the best guys from 2k Sports be given influential jobs within the development teams of EA Sports games. And from that point we would see better sports games released onto the shelves of stores, so the theory goes.

As always, stay tuned right here to Operation Sports while we cover the latest developments of this soap opera as it unfolds each day

Member Comments

# 1 spit_bubble @ 05/12/08 07:15 PM

"This could be a good thing if EA decides to transfer the development of some games (ahem NBA Live) to a better skilled and more successful group of developers."

They'd figure out some way to screw things up... Underfund projects, make futile attempts to appeal to the masses (and thus appeal to no one), etc.

edit: It just seems to me that EA Sports isn't really interested in making good sports video games. They seem to be more interested in taking advantage of the popularity of video games.

edit2: I should add... Playing devil's advocate here... Maybe they are hamstrung by the current state of the industry, and so are required to make certain decisions. At some point I'd like to see them put more care into the nuances of the sport they are trying to represent, and perhaps they will over time. All that being said, they sure don't seem to be shy about cutting corners whenever they can.

# 2 umd @ 05/12/08 08:40 PM

Nothing good can come of this. Look at baseball under 2k (bleh) and pro football (NCAA has NEVER had competition) under EA.

I'm most worried about basketball. EA has not put out a decent basketball game college or pro in about a bazillion years. The end of college hoops is pretty disappointing. At least they got in the 2k share feature this year to extend the games life w/out transfer devices.

Exclusive licenses and lack of options will be the watering down of console sports, but hardly the death.

It'll be only the death for "hardcore" sports gamers. Of which, we are all a minority.

# 3 spit_bubble @ 05/12/08 11:30 PM

"If you look at the price chart you will see the release of Grand Theft Auto IV did next to nothing for the shares of Take Two. And if the biggest gaming release of this generation doesn't move stocks, I don't think anything else will."

That's because investors don't care about the release date of games, they care about earnings reports.

# 4 savoie2006 @ 05/13/08 12:12 AM

While a buyout could indeed be a good thing for EA Sports games,I think having the competition is just as helpful.They say you're only as good as your competition.Well that would mean EA would probably grow stale as it has with Madden.I too believe the buyout is likely though.

# 5 tabulaRasa @ 05/13/08 08:14 AM

Funny thing is that EAs NHL sucked for years before NHL2k showed the world it�s brilliance. NHL2k2, 2k3 and 2k5, 2k6 totally forced EA to rethink their series. The stubborn fans of 2k kept 2k from redoing the engine when they always called for "fixes", "tweaks" etc instead of a totally new next gen engine.

But fact is , NFL2k forced EA to make madden better, NHL2k forced EA to redo their stale NHL series, NBA2k kicks EAs *** constantly, and EA totally ripped Pro evolutions gameplay and physics to bring FIFA up to standard.

Without competetion EAs games don�t evolve. Fact.

I hope Take2 can remain independent, and we will still have competetion in the sports genre.

# 6 ManiacMatt1782 @ 05/13/08 10:34 AM

I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt, in the event of a hostile takeover, that much will be kept from the take two division. I see MASSIVE LAYOFFS before i see combined teams working on basketball and hockey games. EA will remein loyal to its own employees. and the the developers under take two will be heading to the unemployment line. People thinking otherwise, you have your right to your opinion but your overly optomistic. this is business. its not what the consumer wants, its what makes the most money. they know you'll buy a turd with an NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB label on it. So why give you anything more than that. Until people start responding by not spending their dollars, thats how it will be.

# 7 Methlab @ 05/13/08 11:30 AM

Until someone figures out how to implement a passing engine, there will never be a basketball game that is very good IMO (considering that is the most important part of the game).

As for Madden getting better after 2k...really? They did not change anything at all. They have never changed engines once. This is understandable for a small company, but EA is a monopoly and has the money and resources to develop a new engine, but they will not.

So basically, we are looking at a very bleak future for sports games. I mean, look at what EA has offered us this year...the same NCAA game with the speed setting clicked up. Thanks guys..you have ruined sports gaming for everyone who loves football (the most popular video gaming sport). Much appreciated!

# 8 gta95 @ 05/13/08 12:01 PM

Ehhh. I may cease playing sports games all together if this were to come true.

# 9 marxxx @ 05/13/08 12:11 PM

Yeah guys, I agree this sucks! I have almost always been exclusively a sports gamer. The crappy sports titles in 08 forced me to look elsewhere for "fresh" games, and I found them in other areas of gaming. I just can't keep spending $60 a crack for sub-par titles... you can use madden 08 for it's crappy gameplay or MLB 2k8 for it's bugs as an example... But for the same money you can buy GTA 4, Halo3, Call Of Duty, you name it. No, they don't give me the same enjoyment in pulling off a last minute drive to win the game, but they do give me a feeling of my money being well spent! This isn't a knock on any one game company as I have enjoyed EA games over the years, but in general it's nice to have a choice of titles to buy. If you don't like madden, you could buy 2k football, if you don't like 2k hockey you could buy EA's title. That is nice no matter who you are or what your preference.

I have to say we have the best days of sports gaming are most likely behind us, and to me that's a real bummer.

# 10 yamabushi @ 05/13/08 02:15 PM

Unless EA makes a dramatic shift in the direction of their sports titles, the only game I see myself buying in the forseeable future is PES.

# 11 DubTrey1 @ 05/13/08 10:24 PM

All good points made here, but if EA does not utilize the talent it would absolve in the acquisition/takeover of T2, then this whole process will mean nothing to the gamers and be just another bullet point on the shareholder's slide show presentation of EA's holdings.

# 12 23 @ 05/13/08 10:32 PM

I guess my question is, with EA trying to monopolize sports gaming, why hasn't anyone asked them what they plan on doing with TT if they were to buy it out?

Why all the speculation and nobody wants to take EA to the task about it. Get the real plan out to the consumers.

As much as I love playing sports game, i would stop buying them if they all ended up like NBA Live

# 13 JBucc @ 05/13/08 10:53 PM

I'm not sure what would happen. EA has been much better lately about giving devs freedom, but none of them they've aquired (Bioware, DICE, Criterion) are sports devs. I'd expect a few key people to be kept from 2k sports, and the rest to get some pension plans or whatever is worked out in the deal.

Anyway, I was just looking at all the franchises other than sports EA would get if this deal went down. Obviously R* and all their stuff, but also Bioshock, Civilization and the rest of Sid Meier's stuff, SWAT, Mafia, Tribes, Prey, Freedom Force. Wow.

# 14 ManiacMatt1782 @ 05/14/08 07:31 AM

KDRE go to my previous post for your answer. in a hostile take over, thats what happens 95% of the time the company getting "taken over" has MASSIVE LAYOFFS. They aren't going to take talent. they are gonna make cuts. they bought the name. they arent going to keep all that added payroll. they will keep very few people. they will try to keep rockstar, but then limit the amount of people working on their projects. the sports division, EA already has a sports division, they will just cut it. yes even the NBA team. just because they make a superior game doesnt mean they will take them. it all has to do with money, and live still sells.

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