The initial response to Electronic Arts’ buyout of Codemasters from people aware of both companies has been very divided, and seemingly largely skewed towards the negative.
EA’s FIFA games are infamous for their microtransaction-heavy Ultimate Team mode, with fans of the offline game modes complaining for years about the lack of development or even regression in single-player features.
In addition to that, it was not that long ago that EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II caused a massive stir by having what was perceived as a poorly-balanced system of rewards through in-game progression compared to those received via ‘loot boxes’. An increasingly common phenomenon in video games, these can be purchased via real money but offer a randomised selection of rewards.
Codemasters implemented micro-transactions (in-game purchases) to F1 2019 and F1 2020 through customisation items, and DiRT Rally 2.0 got a lot of backlash for having a season pass system which meant players had to pay to get stages that were already present in the original DiRT Rally.
So any fears that EA would add micro-transactions or season passes to Codemasters games is unfair since the developer has been doing it itself recently.
The trade-off could be an improved online mode in the Formula 1 games – something which league racers have been calling out for a long time.
It is also worth noting that in EA’s strategic rationale the company stresses it wants to keep both Codemasters’ and EA’s “popular” racing franchises, so there is hope that series like Grid will survive the EA takeover.
EA’s past racing game ventures have always been more arcade-focused, such as the Need For Speed and now abandoned Burnout franchise, but both series were immensely popular.
With Codemasters’ wealth of racing game expertise we could see some of its talent be loaned over to work on the new Need For Speed games or even reviving Burnout.
EA’s arcade-focused racing game approach did come across when it had the F1 game rights from 1999 to 2002, with the console games being more ‘style over realism’ compared to Studio Liverpool’s F1 games produced at the same time.
Then again, one of the most popular F1 games to this day is EA’s F1 Challenge ’99-’02 as it contains four seasons worth of F1 teams, drivers and circuits all in one game.
The PC version of F1 Challenge is still hugely revered but it is worth noting that, while it was published by EA, it was developed by Image Space Incorporated – who went on to make rFactor and rFactor 2, explaining the much more simulator-esque feel of the PC port.
Outside of the racing game sphere, the reaction to EA’s latest sports games is a concern as the newest editions of FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL have all got lukewarm critic reviews.
The general consensus is there was a lack of development or improvement from the previous year’s versions.
The exception to that is UFC 4, which has been praised for making improvements and additions to game modes, including its offline game modes.
FIFA 21 also had an unusually big (in recent times) push for career mode developments but one of its big new features was interactive match sim, a renamed visual simulation feature that existed on the PlayStation 2-era FIFA games but has only just returned after several years since it was removed.
So while EA Sports has shifted focus slightly more towards offline and single-player game modes in recent years, the lack of development in those game modes from one year to the next is a worry in case Codemasters is expected to take on a similar approach.
Compare the recent EA Sports trend to the latest F1 games which have continuously made big strides forward in recent years, with car upgrades in career mode coming in F1 2016, rule changes in F1 2018, driver transfers in F1 2019 and the My Team mode in F1 2020.
That is alongside other additions such as Formula 2 and classic F1 cars which have all come about in the more recent games.
Finally, there is the matter of EA’s track record with developers that it had acquired during its history. While Swedish developer DICE, the custodian of the popular Battlefield series, has largely fared well under EA’s ownership, conventional wisdom dictates that the same hasn’t been true for Bioware.
One of gaming’s best-known prestige studios, it has had major successes during its time with EA, but has also had big misfires in terms of critical reception with its two latest major titles – Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem.
Then there’s also the fact that there’s a not inconsiderable number of studios that ended up closed a few years after their acquisition by EA, with the likes of Origin, Bullfrog, Westwood and Pandemic probably the best-known examples.
But how relevant any of that will be to Codemasters remains an open question, as the UK-based studio may still enjoy a healthy degree of autonomy and exists in a different market when it comes to the genre of video games it releases.
