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?

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Member Comments

# 141 TracerBullet @ 04/12/11 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 31


	Not saying its legitimate. What's being reported. Like I said, I find it curious that no one else has picked up this story. Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Game Informer is reporting about Pasta Padre's story now. Howeve he is their only source so who knows.

# 142 Dazraz @ 04/12/11 07:54 PM

I just think that the guys who are trying to give us gamers the products that we want are fed up being blockaded by the profit obsessed top dogs at Electronic Arts. Mike Wang made a quick return to 2K after a single year at EA where he quickly realised EA's vision of a basketball game was one where expenses were kept at an absolute minimum & EA were not willing to take the game where he believed he needed it to go.

EA have been in this game long enough whereby they should know that quality breeds reputation which in turn breeds good sales. EA are too focused on selling cheaply produced games for a quick buck without considering the long term affects of the negative feedback these products get.

EA Sports may have the comfort of exclusive licenses of the NFL, PGA, NCAA Football & FIFA but I think within the next 5 years license exclusivity will be deemed not in the public interest & become restricted if not completely eliminated. What then EA?

I would not be totally shocked if within the next few years Electronic Arts dissolve the EA Sports branding.

# 143 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 31


	Not saying its legitimate. What's being reported. Like I said, I find it curious that no one else has picked up this story.

Well Ian Cummings isn't really a name that most people that read IGN, Gamespot, Joystiq, etc. would recognize.

# 144 ImTellinTim @ 04/12/11 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazraz


	I just think that the guys who are trying to give us gamers the products that we want are fed up being blockaded by the profit obsessed top dogs at Electronic Arts. Mike Wang made a quick return to 2K after a single year at EA where he quickly realised EA's vision of a basketball game was one where expenses were kept at an absolute minimum & EA were not willing to take the game where he believed he needed it to go. EA have been in this game long enough whereby they should know that quality breeds reputation which in turn breeds good sales. EA are too focused on selling cheaply produced games for a quick buck without considering the long term affects of the negative feedback these products get. EA Sports may have the comfort of exclusive licenses of the NFL, PGA, NCAA Football & FIFA but I think within the next 5 years license exclusivity will be deemed not in the public interest & become restricted if not completely eliminated. What then EA? I would not be totally shocked if within the next few years Electronic Arts dissolve the EA Sports branding.

By who? The Court of What You Want? Telling a business how they can sell the rights to their product is a slippery slope.

# 145 PVarck31 @ 04/12/11 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bgamer90


	Well Ian Cummings isn't really a name that most people that read IGN, Gamespot, Joystiq, etc. would recognize.

Yeah, but lead designer/creative director of Madden is.

# 146 oneamongthefence @ 04/12/11 08:19 PM

Mu take is Ea and the Nfl have a chokehold on the Madden Franchise. I'm sure Ian and many other of the Madden staff are feeling creatively stifled. Innovation is the stuff that drives artists. And without the fuel the tank runs empty. Especially when people keep putting vinegar in your gas tank.

# 147 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 31


	Yeah, but lead designer/creative director of Madden is.

Game Informer has picked up the story.

# 148 PVarck31 @ 04/12/11 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bgamer90


	Game Informer has picked up the story.

Ok cool. Took em long enough lol.

# 149 sportznut02 @ 04/12/11 08:52 PM

Wow surprising news to say the least. It will be interesting to see the fall out from this. Who is going to end up with his job and where does Ian end up at.

# 150 ipman @ 04/12/11 08:57 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

well said i could've said it better

# 151 Blitzburgh @ 04/12/11 08:57 PM

Ok so... We have a new three year plan now...starting in 2012 I guess... It's a never ending cycle with this team. It's obvious their creative abilities are being stifled or you wouldn't want to leave! WTF EA let them make the game we all want!

We really need another company to come up with something that just blows our socks off!

# 152 jmurphy31 @ 04/12/11 09:01 PM

With this news and the release date being pushed back to August 30th it hasn't been a good day in the PR department of Madden. Which is ironic since this week is the start of their PR Tour. Maybe EA should release a small video or screen shot (wishful thinking) to calm everyone down and get the PR back on the right track.

# 153 Crimsontide27 @ 04/12/11 09:04 PM

I will fill in the blanks of this story when it is more appropriate. Several people have commited to leaving and the other 2 are trying to see if they can financially support this move as well.

Its not as risky on an individual level as you would think, but more so to the investor that is "helping" this process along.

# 154 LorenzoDC @ 04/12/11 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimsontide27


	I will fill in the blanks of this story when it is more appropriate. Several people have commited to leaving and the other 2 are trying to see if they can financially support this move as well. Its not as risky on an individual level as you would think, but more so to the investor that is "helping" this process along.

I have no idea how much credence to give this, but if there is a whole raid going on by the startup, then I expect there must be a good deal of disaffection on the Madden 12 team, which may be mutual as far as management is concerned.

Still, from a business perspective, if you're going to change out a team and reboot, this is not the way you want it to happen, for the sake of continuity and product quality. But that assumes product quality is a real priority for management, which may not be true. They may not see any ROI for making the game be as good as people around here would like it to be from a sales and profitability point of view.

This just smells like a division/studio with a lot of problems that are coming to a head. It feels to me like the business side has placed a lot of limits on the development team, but by the same token, I can't assess how good the development team would be on a product quality basis if they were given room to maneuver.

EA/Tiburon, if any of you are monitoring this, you really need to get ahead of this story before it becomes a drip drip drip of negative stories surrounding your product, since the online community will help set the narrative behind whatever the release story will be.

Of course, the best thing you could do for the brand would be to release a great game that breaks 90 on metacritic, and you haven't done that in a long time.

# 155 Hooe @ 04/12/11 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzburgh


	Ok so... We have a new three year plan now...starting in 2012 I guess... It's a never ending cycle with this team. It's obvious their creative abilities are being stifled or you wouldn't want to leave! WTF EA let them make the game we all want!

Fatigue from working on the same kind of game year-after-year be damned. Perhaps the guys that left just wanted to, y'know, do something else?

# 156 statum71 @ 04/12/11 09:31 PM

The timing of this can't be good. Losing part of the team during development????

And those who think it won't matter because Madden 12 is pretty much done are sadly mistaking. I'm sure there's of lot of things left to do.

# 157 lwendt33 @ 04/12/11 09:37 PM

Great news...tired of the same old tweaks to Madden.

# 158 LorenzoDC @ 04/12/11 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by statum71


	The timing of this can't be good. Losing part of the team during development???? And those who think it won't matter because Madden 12 is pretty much done are sadly mistaking. I'm sure there's of lot of things left to do.

Yeah, the stuff that gets nailed down from here to the end are the details, details details that need attention in the wake of whatever product changes were made for this year's edition. That's a lot of finishes and bug fixes.

In other words, just because the creative and strategic direction are done, and maybe 85% of the main code drafted, there's a lot of testing and finishing to be done, and that work makes the difference between a really annoying game that gets panned due to inconsistency and poor execution, and a solid, professional implementation of a product game plan.

The game plan for the product may or may not be good, and may or may not be worthy of high ratings and sales. But even a great plan badly executed at the end could produce a fiasco.

The Madden base and brand would probably still sell reasonably well for one year with a metacritic rating below 80, but the brand would take real damage and it could take a long time to build it back up again.

That's the thing with brands. They take a long time to build up, and once you have a strong one, you can get away with some coasting on reputation. But the exclusive license is not cheap and any real damage to the brand could put the franchise at some real risk. And if that happens, it won't be just the developers who take the hit, but probably a few of suits as well.

# 159 Still2REal @ 04/12/11 09:53 PM

LMAO,

Man I love how people ASSUME that a new Creative Director will change the game or if the current one had a lot to do with the product. I'm sure this position is like that of a Manager at McDonald's. Sure he can choose a SELECT FEW specials here and there, but for the most part the Corp is going to tell him when and how to sell his Big Macs. They are going to drop that "Return of the McRib" on ya azz, but it's the same sandwich they sell every year. Ian made the same game David Ortiz would've made and the next guy will make the same game Ian would've made...If I'm wrong and he had a lot of control over the game and this is all we have gotten in 2 years then I'm thoroughly disappointed.

I remember when he first showed up and cats was getting all blasphemous with the "Ian is God" talk (yeah I know it was a joke but that never sat too well with me) just because he added hand towels and some wide numbers to the jerseys. Won't be long before most of you OSers are twittering and stroking the next guy when he responds to one of your posts. I'm sure Ian will be cool, it's for some of you other members that I'm worried.

# 160 bkrich83 @ 04/12/11 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Still2REal


	LMAO, Man I love how people ASSUME that a new Creative Director will change the game or if the current one had a lot to do with the product. I'm sure this position is like that of a Manager at McDonald's. Sure he can choose a SELECT FEW specials here and there, but for the most part the Corp is going to tell him when and how to sell his Big Macs. They are going to drop that "Return of the McRib" on ya azz, but it's the same sandwich they sell every year. Ian made the same game David Ortiz would've made and the next guy will make the same game Ian would've made...If I'm wrong and he had a lot of control over the game and this is all we have gotten in 2 years then I'm thoroughly disappointed. I remember when he first showed up and cats was getting all blasphemous with the "Ian is God" talk (yeah I know it was a joke but that never sat too well with me) just because he added hand towels and some wide numbers to the jerseys. Won't be long before most of you OSers are twittering and stroking the next guy when he responds to one of your posts. I'm sure Ian will be cool, it's for some of you other members that I'm worried.

You should be more condescending.

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Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon