While many in the industry love to paint Electronic Arts with a scarlet letter (with its storied past of ups and downs over the years), legendary developer Peter Molyneux is quick to come to their defense.
In a recent interview, Molyneux starts by dispelling the notion that EA is some type of “evil empire,” and goes on to sing the company’s praises in regards to their contributions to gaming. “They’re a company that have done a great deal for this industry. But when corporates buy companies, several things change.”
Molyneux is referring to when his studio was bought by EA in the mid-90’s, revealing how the companies influence was generally positive on development moving forward. “When EA bought Bullfrog, they just wanted to make it nicer. They moved us to a nice office, where we couldn’t shoot each other with BB guns in the corridors…We had an HR department because that was a nice proper professional thing to do…When any company is acquired, it’s gonna change the company…Sometimes, that change can possibly make the company better. Lots of times it can make it worse.” He said.
While Molyneux points to a time when EA was known for making strong decisions, they currently find themselves in the running for worst company this year. How did they fall so far in such a short time? Check back Monday as I delve deeper into what series of events led them off track.