Madden 12 News Post

Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon

03:05 PM - April 12, 2011 by Benicio10

According to PastaPadre, Ian Cummings, Creative Director of the Madden franchise, is leaving Tiburon.

He also states there are quite a few other big names going with him.

What do you think about this news?

Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 44 - View All

Madden NFL 12 Videos

Member Comments

# 41 BezO @ 04/12/11 04:38 PM

Wow! I would never have thought this.

Edit: Oh wait, for a better gig? Sweet!

# 42 Hooe @ 04/12/11 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	We've had the same damn engine since Madden 01 for PS2.

That's really not true on multiple levels (there isn't just one engine, and the multiple engines are quite obviously not the same as M01), but people continue to believe what they want on the whole engines issue.

# 43 TDKing @ 04/12/11 04:43 PM

IMO the wrong guy is leaving, oh well. You can tell, at least it looked that way to me, Ian's heart wasn't in it last year when doing all those dopey co-op internet commercials and various other interviews. He just didn't seem comfortable (IMO of course). Glad he had the balls to split instead of towing the company line again... seems like the suits killed his passion for madden. Once again I have no proof, this is all IMO... have to say that so peeps don't get their panties all in bunch. Well if true good luck to you Ian.

# 44 quietcool72 @ 04/12/11 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHooe


	I'm sure EA Tiburon can find a strong personality who is a natural leader and is passionate about football amongst their ranks.

I have a feeling that is what EA Tiburon DOES not want. Their feature sets are determined by committee, and it isn't usually the devs with the biggest voice in the "committee". The only "Freedom" the devs have is little stuff where they can do it by justifying very few man hours beyond the features determined by corporate committee.

That is ALWAYS the feeling I got when I was in the Madden/NCAA Com. Leader program from 2007-2009 and got to visit with the devs. Their frustration is evident, but they have to be very careful with what they say.

I'd LOVE to hear Ian open up about how the feature sets are determined, but knowing EA, they are stringing some benefits his way that he only gets if he keeps his mouth shut for X amount of time... so he probably can't even go into it when he leaves.

# 45 PantherBeast_OS @ 04/12/11 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	Yeah just a little lol. I wish they would blow the entire spot up. Start fresh. We've had the same damn engine since Madden 01 for PS2.

I doubt they will do a new game engine until the next consoles come out. I could be wrong somewhat. I'm almost sure it want happen with the current gen. consoles. But all we can do at this point is wish bro.

# 46 roadman @ 04/12/11 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WakeUp


	What's to wonder? Madden 11 dropped like 600K in units from the previous year and was never steady over the past few. I doubt this was a fully voluntary move, and the whole "he left for more money" angle is funny to me. If people think making Facebook games in a small startup with an uncertain future is going to make you more money any time soon than being a head dev at EA, then they'll believe anything. Remember the lack of enthusiasm (some could even consider rudeness) from him in the videos he was in for Madden 11? Something was up at that point. The writing was on the wall. Only thing that surprises me is that we're not hearing of other head guys there going too, but it may not be far off. I can't say it bothers me one bit. Remember that this is the same guy that lashed out at the Youtube community saying that us finding and posting videos about the problems in Madden was an indication that we had no lives. Besides that being unprofessional, a good designer would realize that if we can see that many big problems at all it's an indication that your game is broken. Point blank, if every single lineman on a pass play can miss their primary assignment and allow rushers in free with out breathing on them, you have a broken game. That's not the communities fault and the communities aren't wrong for pointing it out. I welcome change and more of it. gl

So, working less hours for more pay isn't a step up in the world. I guess people leave for better benefits nowadays.

It wasn't rudeness on the camera, either, he mentioned he didn't like the cameras.

Isn't this the same designer that was trying to arrange a podcast with the Youtube community?

Go figure.

# 47 TheShizNo1 @ 04/12/11 04:53 PM

um...why is this a big deal?

# 48 Jistic @ 04/12/11 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheShizNo1


	um...why is this a big deal?

Cuz now we're pretending that Ian made Madden awesome.

# 49 coogrfan @ 04/12/11 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I personally think the bulk of Madden's troubles are caused from an expensive license eating into development funds and too much of the remaining funds getting diverted to casual friendly areas like Madden Ultimate Team and gameflow/plan. It doesn't matter who is in charge if the money for the game keeps getting allocated to areas like these.

That's one theory. Imo it's simpler than that--this generation's Madden series was compromised from the outset.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/655/655273p1.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by State of the Xbox 360: Final Oct. 2 2005


	We had seen the future of HD, and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The truth of the matter was that the vacuum of information that created one of the dullest summer sessions in countless years. It turns out this effect was partially created by design, partially because of the late delivery of Beta Kits. Microsoft finally delivered Beta Development Kits in June, several weeks after they were promised to developers. Their delay partially caused the unimpressive E3 showing, but it also meant that developers didn't have the triple-core processors to work with until well into the summer. The kits, as reported in our feature story "Enter the Beta", were unstable and difficult for developers to adjust to at first, but in time their games started showing some breakthroughs. The Beta Kit architecture much more closely resembled the final console architecture, it showed real processing power, and it gave programmers a much clearer idea of how to address the totally new multi-core processors, which game developers had never seen before.

This was significant because it meant that the team responsible for developing the initial Madden 06 (360) (i.e. the basic code that would be the foundation for all of EA's next-gen football titles for years to come) had to do so with only limited knowledge of how the final 360 hardware actually worked.

I'm not saying that MS's failure to deliver beta dev kits on schedule was the sole cause of all of the problems we've seen with EA's next-gen fb titles. There were some very questionable initial design choices made as well, decisions that repeatedly forced the development teams of the subsequent Madden's to spend a fair amount of their time trying to find workarounds for the mistakes made in the past. I am saying that this generation's Madden got off to a dreadful start, one from which the series has never fully recovered.

# 50 BezO @ 04/12/11 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheShizNo1


	um...why is this a big deal?

He was only the lead developer of the game we're all here talking about. He left in the middle of the development cycle. Not big?

# 51 quietcool72 @ 04/12/11 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coogrfan


	That's one theory. Imo it's simpler than that--this generation's Madden series was compromised from the outset. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/655/655273p1.html This was significant because it meant that the team responsible for developing the initial Madden 06 (360) (i.e. the basic code that would be the foundation for all of EA's next-gen football titles for years to come) had to do so with only limited knowledge of how the final 360 hardware actually worked. I'm not saying that MS's failure to deliver beta dev kits on schedule was the sole cause of all of the problems we've seen with EA's next-gen fb titles. There were some very questionable initial design choices made as well, decisions that repeatedly forced the development teams of the subsequent Madden's to spend a fair amount of their time trying to find workarounds for the mistakes made in the past. I am saying that this generation's Madden got off to a dreadful start, one from which the series has never fully recovered.

They have had plenty of time to recover since 06, I'd say

# 52 BezO @ 04/12/11 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazdevil20


	Actually, he's not a developer at all. He was a creative director.

Not a big deal?

# 53 SouthernBrick @ 04/12/11 05:05 PM

Unexpected. Not really worried about madden and it's future.

There is no telling if I'll wind up buying the game anyway.

# 54 TheShizNo1 @ 04/12/11 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BezO


	He was only the lead developer of the game we're all here talking about. He left in the middle of the development cycle. Not big?

It's April. Game is pretty much set in stone in June-ish? This is def not the beginning of the dev cycle. Isn't their something out there saying Madden sales have been dropping anyway?

# 55 Hooe @ 04/12/11 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazdevil20


	Actually, he's not a developer at all. He was a creative director.

That may have been his title but he has a computer science background and has been credited with different positions in previous Madden games. His coding efforts alone are the predominant reason we have surprise onside kicks to use in Madden 12, for example.

# 56 RGiles36 @ 04/12/11 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheelman990


	It's really hard to say how the series will turn. Personally, *I would like to see a entire new team* and for Peter Moore and the gang to let the new team lead. Ya, they might make it a worse game....but IMO the games already ruined.

I hope not. I still say there are some capable individuals down there in Orlando (Ryan Burnsides comes to mind if he's still there and willing to be the lead designer).

I'm sure some will argue that the whole thing needs to be blown up. I disagree. Promote someone with a similar vision and keep the train moving.

# 57 mike24forever @ 04/12/11 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHooe


	That's really not true on multiple levels (there isn't just one engine, and the multiple engines are quite obviously not the same as M01), but people continue to believe what they want on the whole engines issue.

No matter how many time this has been stated on this site, it never fails that "the same engine" is brought up over and over! As long as the EA name is on it, people will continue with this stagnate line of thinking. Why does being a member of OS, make some people think they know how to program code for a video game. My guess is, a lot of people that visit this site cannot even work a scientific calculator...let alone program a single code of programming for a game.

You know what they say about the Internet, "The great thing about the Internet is that everyone has access to it. The problem is that EVERYONE has access to it!"

# 58 coogrfan @ 04/12/11 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quietcool72


	They have had plenty of time to recover since 06, I'd say

Not necessarily. Think about it: they haven't really had six years, they's had six one year cycles. During those cycles they have had to try to overcome a myriad of things that were done wrong initially while at the same time creating a new game that has to ship every August come Hell or high water.

# 59 Hooe @ 04/12/11 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Are you sure ? Didn't he say that he started out as a game tester ?

Game tester would be a different title, so I'm correct on the former.

On the latter, someone can fact-check me on this but I'm pretty sure he graduated with a degree in CS from the University of Tennessee, and that he used the game tester position as an 'in' into EA.

# 60 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/12/11 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Are you sure ? Didn't he say that he started out as a game tester ?

Yes he started out as a EA game tester, not Madden tester. But eventually he talked his way into better positions and eventually ended up at Orlando.

« Previous 1 234 5 6 7 8 9…15 16 Next »

More Links

Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon