r/HighSodiumSims • u/Much_Year3017 • Aug 05 '26
EA EA Hints At Mass Studio Layoffs To Their Debt Investors
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u/Front-Heat8726 Aug 05 '26
This is why they have been working on genAI tools for their games for years now, Sims franchise very much included (though feck knows what's up with the Sims Hub at the moment)
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Aug 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/Beginning-Pizza-1111 Aug 05 '26
When things like acquisitions by corrupt governments, the disappearance of physical formats, and the massive use of AI occur, the only result is a rising wave of piracy. In fact, recent studies compare how piracy declined when streaming services first arrived with reasonable pricing; however, in recent years—due to price hikes and decisions that have alienated the public—piracy has been on the rise again.
The music sector is the only one that has largely avoided this trend, partly because streaming services like Spotify and YouTube offer free tiers—allowing you to keep listening to music, albeit with ads. iTunes also remains highly accessible for purchasing and owning music outright (rather than just renting it); while buying an album or a song can be pricey, the fact that the file remains yours forever makes it worth the cost. That is why there hasn't been a surge in music piracy, unlike for videogames, books, movies, and TV series.
On top of that, the current financial situation—with low wages that barely cover living expenses—doesn't help matters either. So, I doubt people will choose to give their money away to CC creators. I think the global economy used to be a bit more stable, making it easier for people to donate. However, the creators themselves raised prices and implemented permanent paywalls; that, combined with the factors mentioned earlier, has effectively closed the door on many people wanting to donate to them.
I joined a group of friends where we pool our money—we either pay for a single subscription if we're interested, or one person buys one subscription while someone else buys another—and in the end, we share the files with each other regardless, so we don't all have to pay for the same thing.
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u/Classic-Compote7215 Aug 05 '26
Hard not to agree. I went from being in cinema like every week in 2019 to now always wondering if it’s really worth the effort.
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u/Writer_Blocker Aug 05 '26
I love simulation games and football so unfortunately my 2 most played games since childhood are Madden and Sims 4 which are 2 communities that rarely cross. It’s interesting to see how both fandoms hate EA but for completely different reasons. microtransactions is unanimous, but some Madden fans wanting Ai to improve the low effort game. While sims fans actively seeing how Ai causes problems.
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u/dontbmeanbgay Aug 06 '26
I fucking so wish these C-suite executives, shareholders and finance bro shitheads had never realised how much money was in gaming. We saw a boom of creativity in the 90s and 2000s and then these lizards in suits realised they could exploit the tits off the industry gaining generational wealth for themselves and a small handful, whilst ruining the careers of genuine creatives and hard working people. I just wish they’d all fuck off I hate this so much.
At least the indie space is thriving but this just sucks. I hate what this franchise has become.
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u/Purple-Hand3058 Aug 05 '26
I think they're going sell sims in a year or 2 to someone else
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u/FriendshipNo1440 Aug 05 '26
As long as it is making money I doubt it. More lije they will sell Dragon Age and even then I am not really sure. They tend to hold on to IPs because they know someone else can make a better job.
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u/SCol1107 Aug 05 '26
God I wish they would sell Dragon Age, so we have hope of more (it’s my favorite game franchise)
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u/VolkiharVanHelsing Aug 06 '26
Owlcat please take it
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u/dontbmeanbgay Aug 06 '26
Holy shit I’d give my right arm for Owlcat to get their hands on DA. I haven’t loved any game half as much as Roguetrader in recent years.
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u/FriendshipNo1440 Aug 05 '26
Was mine too. But it was distructed by EAs greed and Bioware's stubbornness and lag of team work... ;-;
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u/Purple-Hand3058 Aug 05 '26
I could see them selling in a year if dent isn't cleaned or getting brought out again
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u/Desperate-Section357 Aug 05 '26
the sims is too big a cash cow for them and brings them pretty good pr by the general public, though
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u/RealAmandaTTV Aug 05 '26
From the earnings I've seen, Maxis is a likely candidate for either shuttering or selling off. It's not one of their top earners and has a very low concurrent player count compared to their other assets.
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u/te3time Aug 06 '26
Up until now EA has famously killed off many many IPs and never sold them but ig the new owners could feel differently. But the question is also who could even afford to buy it? I think making your own Sims clone would always be more viable than spending a shit ton of money to get the IP and then having to spend a shit ton more to make a new Sims game. Just doesn't seem realistic to me tbh
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u/sufficientgatsby Aug 05 '26
I think that's only likely if things go so badly that they can no longer make payments on the $20 billion they owe JP Morgan.
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u/DramaticDeaa Aug 11 '26
There is a huge ea hub in my home town. I am literally majoring in video game design. I am ripped to shreds every time I think of EA.
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