EA Buys Mythic

[Driakos]

I believe it was six months.

This was a serious question.  As a business decision it was only designed to last x amount of time.

I was giving a serious answer.  I am pretty sure UO was guesstimated to have a life span of around six months by its creators.

[Mongoose]

  If you want some comedy type in "EA Employee" in google...

[schild]

That's not comedy. That's the most widely read story about EA in the history of the company. IT'S OBVIOUS and Ironic. But comedic, neg.

Now if I could type "EA" into google and get ea_spouse - THAT'D be funny. Also, it would be the result of a googlebombing.

[penfold]

I guess they'll want us to pay them a further $20 on top of any fee's for WH in order for them not to sell personal details to anyone else. Oh, and i guess tons of shitty hip hop as in game music too.

in one read of a news story, my interest in WHO has been obliterated.

At least, in a few years time when all the Mythic employee's have been let go and the studio closed down we might see some half decent games when they work for someone new. In the meantime though... urgh.

[Reg]

Well at least this means that WAR is guaranteed to come out on schedule. It won't be finished or working but EA games always come out in time for Christmas. :)

[Falconeer]

EA, like every other publisher in the industry, has had its ups and downs with developer acquisitions.

Someone remind me of the ups. 

They produced (distributed? financed? developed?) M.U.L.E., One on One (the original one with Larry Bird vs. Dr. J), The Bard's Tale series, Mars Saga and lots more with the legendary square-flat box.
I used to love EA to death in the 80s.

Oh wait, that's about 20 years ago. Bummer.

[Merusk]

Yes, but you're mentioning specific games, and the question was about the EA-> Dev relationship.  Where are the dev houses that produced those games?  Sucked dry of talent until they were dissolved, maybe?  What Dev house has flourished (and therefore been an "UP" in the story) under the EA banner.

[5150]

If the Euro launch of Earth & Beyond was anything to go by the 'WHO will launch simultaneously in the US and Europe' statement Mythic made is a load of bollocks.

[Wolf]

Yes, but you're mentioning specific games, and the question was about the EA-> Dev relationship.  Where are the dev houses that produced those games?  Sucked dry of talent until they were dissolved, maybe?  What Dev house has flourished (and therefore been an "UP" in the story) under the EA banner.

Isn't Maxis owned by EA? I think they're doing fairly well :)

Anyway, I see that as a good thing, now I can concentrate at fanboing Conan up :)

[Trippy]

Yes, but you're mentioning specific games, and the question was about the EA-> Dev relationship.  Where are the dev houses that produced those games?  Sucked dry of talent until they were dissolved, maybe?  What Dev house has flourished (and therefore been an "UP" in the story) under the EA banner.

Isn't Maxis owned by EA? I think they're doing fairly well :)

If by "well" you mean being forced to churn out Sims 2 expansion after expansion while having their commutes extended by a significant amount then yes they are doing well.

[Arthur_Parker]

NASDAQ

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- In an effort to bolster its presence in the online multiplayer video game business, Electronics Arts Inc. said after Tuesday's closing bell said it has agreed to acquire Fairfax, Va.-based Mythic Entertainment for an undisclosed sum.

EA, which is the market-share leader among independent video game publishers for games on consoles, handheld and wireless devices, will form EA Mythic, a studio dedicated to developing massively multiplayer online role-playing games ( MMORPGs).

Mythic is the developer of "Dark Age of Camelot" and is currently developing an online version of "Warhammer," under license agreement with Games Workshop.

"The acquisition of Mythic definitely expands its exposure to the MMORPG market because of the 2007 launch of Warhammer Online, which may be the most anticipated MMORPG coming to market," said Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities. "There is little opportunity left of Mythic's current title Dark Ages of Camelot, which has seen its popularity decline since late 2004."

Michael Pachter, analyst with Wedbush Morgan, agrees the "Dark Ages of Camelot" is a fading franchise, yet says that the move gives EA's development team much-needed expertise in creating online games for the PC. With EA acquiring a development team of 175 people, Pachter estimates that the acquisition cost to be as high as $80 million.

In its 2006 fourth quarter completed in March, revenue from EA's Internet services division was 6% of total revenue, down from 5% a year ago. The Redwood City-based company has seen growth at its marquee online franchises like "Ultima Online" fade as gamers have taken to MMORPGs like Blizzard Entertainment's " World of Warcraft," the most successful online role-playing game to date.

"The real thing is that it's not to revitalize old franchises, but to position its expansion into Asia," said Pachter. While publishers have been slow to push console games in Asia due to piracy concerns, online role-playing games have given rise to top developers like NetEase.com Inc. (NTES) , Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (SNDA) and Webzen Inc. (WZEN) . The analyst, who rates EA " strong buy," says EA could still make an overseas acquisition to even further bolster its global MMORPG presence. The Mythic acquisition, says Pachter, is a " baby step" that also translates well into tackling the European markets.

EA said Mark Jacobs, president, chief executive and co-founder of Mythic will become vice president, general manager of EA Mythic. Rob Denton, vice president, chief operating officer, and co-founder of Mythic will assume the role of vice president, chief operating officer of EA Mythic. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2007.

The acquisition comes over a month after reporting quarterly results that spoke to ongoing challenges in the video game industry. Its forecast for the current year helped send its shares to a series of 52-week lows.

EA's last acquisition came in October, when it paid around $680 million to buy leading wireless games publisher Jamdat Mobile.

EA (ERTS) shares were unaffected after closing the day up 0.5% at $41.41 in afternoon trade.

Anyone think that they don't intend to directly challenge WoW?  I'm not sure that's a bad thing even if it is EA.

[schild]

Warhammer can't challenge WoW. WoW ALREADY IS a better Warhammer Online.

That and Mythic doesn't have the polish Blizzard does.

And it won't say Blizzard on the box.

And it's not Warcraft.

Seriously.

No.

[Falconeer]

Yes, but you're mentioning specific games, and the question was about the EA-> Dev relationship.  Where are the dev houses that produced those games?  Sucked dry of talent until they were dissolved, maybe?  What Dev house has flourished (and therefore been an "UP" in the story) under the EA banner.

But I agree with you :) I was kidding about the fact that they used to be a great software house 20 years ago. I agree that they are more like a calamity now.

[Arthur_Parker]

Schild I wasn't predicting success.  But it is about time that something challenged WoW, competition is good for everyone.

[Merusk]

In its 2006 fourth quarter completed in March, revenue from EA's Internet services division was 6% of total revenue, down from 5% a year ago. The Redwood City-based company has seen growth at its marquee online franchises like "Ultima Online" fade as gamers have taken to MMORPGs like Blizzard Entertainment's " World of Warcraft," the most successful online role-playing game to date.

Is this a typo, or just some funny accounting thing I'm not grasping, becuse uh.. 6 > 5.

But I agree with you :) I was kidding about the fact that they used to be a great software house 20 years ago. I agree that they are more like a calamity now.

It was early and I was snarky.  I apologize and offer you a panda in sacrifice

[Soln]

we probably don't care, but isn't the point to ask "What is EA planning to do in the MMO space?" 

They didn't do it just to rehab DAoC or foster WHO.  I bet.

[Chinchilla]

If Mythic really thinks that they are going to stay 100% the same as they are now (with this recent EA thing) they are stupider (or is it more stupid?) than what I thought.  Part of buying into or buying companies like that is to assimilate them into their "collective" if you will.  Sounds like some kind of Borg thing, but that's how it is.

Mythic shot themselves in the foot with the release of the expansion Trails of Atlantis.  I firmly believe that is what started the downhill slide of DAoC.  Their first expansion, Shrouded Isles, was golden.  Of course, with releases such as WoW and EQ2 (especially WoW) that hurt DAoC even more.

The thing that tickles me is that Mythic is still posting questionnaires for you to answer when you log into DAoC.  Questionnaires about what to revamp (like the tradeskills) and such.  I sure hope they aren't putting all that work into that stuff just to have DAoC go *boom*.

[Llava]

Hm.

What would I like to see of this?

I would like to see Warhammer succeed, but I don't want EA to make any money off of it.

I was debating buying this game.  I won't now, because I don't want to further fund EA's devouring of the industry.

[Chinchilla]

I don't have that much knowledge about EA, but I was curious if anyone knows of any write-ups on EA that I could read to further educate myself on their downs and supposed "Ups".  Main reason I'm asking is so I can say "screw Warhammer" and XYZ ABC is why.  I can now comfortably say that about SOE, but not about EA.

I know a ton about SOE and how fed up I am with them.  I was going to give Vanguard some consideration as a game, but now that SOE is in that mix... they can piss off.

[Lum]

Like I said, Tiburon (the studio that does the EA Sports line) is left to do their own thing.

[Sir Fodder]

I'm a bit skeptical wrt autonomy of any company owned by EA. Those Madden games have been horribly stagnant lately and they reak of EA's out of touch marketing and design. Getting "owned" by EA has to have a pervasive effect on a company even without direct meddling in day to day affairs.

[tazelbain]

Warhammer can't challenge WoW. WoW ALREADY IS a better Warhammer Online.

Do you enjoy making stuff up?

WAR as it currently designed is not a WoW challenger because its not follow Diku grind exp/items model.  That and it's pvp focus is why I *was* interested in it. But that's all out the window now.

[Hoax]

WAR as it currently designed is not a WoW challenger because its not follow Diku grind exp/items model.  That and it's pvp focus is why I *was* interested in it. But that's all out the window now.

Repeat after me:

I will not fall for pre-alpha MMO-hype that promises me none of the same old tired features and instead ALL NEW XTREME RADICAL GAMEPLAY!@!!

[Special J]

Seriously.

No.

It will be about as successful as a "WoW-killer" as all the "EQ-killers" were at taking on EQ.

Hell, Warcraft II was a better Warhammer game.

[Righ]

It will be about as successful as a "WoW-killer" as all the "EQ-killers" were at taking on EQ.

Doesn't matter. What I want is DAOC realm combat with a WoW paced level progression, Warhammer humor and neat chunky monkey graphics. Looks like most of that is in the plan, so really its just about how well the execution goes. I'm sure EA will manage to fuck something up, and they'll also find a way to make huge piles of cash, but that's okay too. It's not like I'm directly promoting an oil company or an insurance company by buying their product, so I don't feel as if I'm feeding the ultimate evil, unlike other folks.

[Sairon]

Seriously.

No.

It will be about as successful as a "WoW-killer" as all the "EQ-killers" were at taking on EQ.

If it's as successful as the most successful EQ-killer ( WoW ) I take it will do fine.

[tazelbain]

WAR as it currently designed is not a WoW challenger because its not follow Diku grind exp/items model.  That and it's pvp focus is why I *was* interested in it. But that's all out the window now.

Repeat after me:

I will not fall for pre-alpha MMO-hype that promises me none of the same old tired features and instead ALL NEW XTREME RADICAL GAMEPLAY!@!!

I don't see anything implauable or over-hyped about the WAR design.  It's no Horizons.

[schild]

The mere mention of WoW in any sort of competitive environment is over-hyped, implausible bullshit. :)

[Raph]

I believe it was six months.

This was a serious question.  As a business decision it was only designed to last x amount of time.

I was giving a serious answer.  I am pretty sure UO was guesstimated to have a life span of around six months by its creators.

Not its creators -- its funders. EA thought it would last 3-6 months and sell a total of 50,000 copies, at first. Those of us on the team thought that was nuts -- we came from the mud world, where muds hung around for years and years.

Then the beta pps had to be cut off at 50k, and the rollercoaster ride was on.

[Signe]

Ha!  Our lovely muds are STILL there!     They might not have WoW's number of subs... but they endure!

[sinij]

I'll leave you will one final bit, we didn't need to do this deal, we chose to do this deal because of what it meant to Mythic today and to our company going forward. It was a grand slam home run.

Mark Jacobs is a lollercoaster. Sig material right there.

Did they cut 'porche upgrades' bit out?

[Cheddar]

Raph, pardon my ignorance.


So you are telling me the game was sold as a box deal?  Subs were a secondary effect?  I am not very good at math, but assuming a box was $40, and a sub $10, why would you not (as an investor) plan beyond 6 months?  I am curious as to how this was "sold."  Obviously WoW has changed the playing field (I have talked to government contractors interested in the phenomena), but still.  Interesting.

[Arthur_Parker]

Gamespot Interview

How far will men in tights get you? For Mark Jacobs (shown, right) and the team at Mythic Entertainment--developers of the stalwart MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot, as well as the upcoming Warhammer Online--it means cashing out to the tune of millions.

Yesterday, the 9-year-old Mythic was acquired by opportunistic Electronic Arts. As was the case with EA's acquisition of mobile game publisher Jamdat, the purchase of Mythic gives it instant credibility in the online space, an area where it has sputtered and underwhelmed (apart from the breakthrough Ultima Online).

With a recent track record that includes the underperforming Sims Online, the canceled Earth and Beyond, and the forgotten Motor City Online, a theory of acquisition rather than organic growth makes it look as if the die to acquire was cast some years ago.

GameSpot spoke with Jacobs, and biz dev exec Owen Mahoney from EA shortly after the news was announced.

GS: Does Electronic Arts pick up Mythic's entire back catalog, including Dark Age of Camelot?

MJ: Absolutely. As part of the deal, obviously, EA looks at Camelot and goes 'this is a historically important franchise, one that is still a very popular one' and they are excited about the prospect of seeing what can be done with it going forward.

GS: Have you given up on being an independent game developer?

MJ: My dreams never revolved round being independent...my dreams revolved around making great games. It was always about making great games. At the beginning, nobody wanted us, nobody wanted Camelot. But our dream [at Mythic] has been, and remains, to simply make great games.

GS: And this deal...

MJ: ...is an opportunity to fulfill my dreams in a way that, frankly, wasn't possible as an independent.

GS: From the perspective of managing risk in a sector that takes a lot of money to compete, how was Mythic approaching the future as an indie shop?

MJ: What would make it difficult for Mythic, or any independent [developer] going forward is the competition. You have companies like Vivendi, which have made a lot of money with WOW and are committed to going big in the online space. And you have Sony, which is also one of the pioneers in online games, and still a big believer in the online space. And you have other companies looking at this market hard, and rather greedily, and seeing that they want a piece of it. So as an independent, my path to compete with those guys was going to get harder, not easier. Not only over the next two years, but over the next five years.

So we were faced with a choice. We could stay independent, and that had some risk. Or we could go with EA, and that also had some risk. What made the choice simple at the end was that EA said we were going to have the opportunity to not only make Warhammer the best game we could make it, but going forward, other games as well. That was pretty tough for us to turn down.

GS: What current EA brands would you personally love to see made into an MMO?

MJ: Certainly EA has a lot of interesting IP out there. [But] the last thing I want to do is give any of the competition information as to what we are looking at. But the key for us is looking at what EA [owns], looking at what else we'd be interested in, and whether it's owned by EA currently or is out and available.

What's going to make the best MMO?

EA has said that they are driven to make great games. And to create as well [as leverage] their own IP. What's going to happen over the next weeks, and next few months, and over the next few years is that Mythic and EA are going to sit down and start, and then continue, a dialogue about what are going to be the strongest products that Mythic as well as EA can do in this space.

We're certainly going to be pushing hard for Mythic to be the guys to do it.

GS: How do you compete with World of Warcraft?

Owen Mahoney, EA SVP of corporate development: It's not 'how do you compete with WOW?' It's 'do you believe in the MMO market or not?'

GS: And?

OM: We really believe in the MMO market as a rapidly growing segment and instrumental to our worldwide growth in North America, Asia, and Europe. We feel very strongly about the segment.

GS: Were there other developers you considered acquiring?

OM: Candidly, we looked around the industry and talked to a lot of people and came to the conclusion that the executives at Mythic, and the team they put together, are among the very best in the industry. So it came to a pretty clear conclusion in our heads that this was the right deal to do.

GS: How many studios did you consider?

OM: Several. I can't help you out much more on that. As EA, we get approached by a lot of people and we talk to a lot of people.

GS: Are there lessons still discussed from the previous MMO products from EA, specifically, The Sims Online, Motor City Online, and Earth & Beyond?

OM: The number one lesson is the number one lesson out of the games business in general, and that's: Gameplay is the most important thing that we do. And you need to focus on that first and last.

GS: Will Warhammer be one of the first MMO titles to test the waters of the online console space?

MJ: I can say this much: As you know, we showed a console version of Warhammer at E3, running the entire time while the PC version was running. We look forward to talking to the other guys at EA of course, with Microsoft and Sony, and any console maker, about doing a console-based version of Warhammer. We have those rights...they were acquired by Mythic and were acquired by EA. It's safe to say we are going to be looking at all possibilities for the Warhammer franchise. Whether we are going to be the first...first doesn't matter, best does.

GS: Thanks Mark and Owen.

[Jain Zar]

My desire to play Warhammer just went splat.

Though EA did release Warhammer Dark Omen, so its not like they haven't ever played ball with GW, and that
was when that company still thought it was the man.

[Sairon]

Apparently Mythic themselves didn't believe that they would be competitive with WAR. What a fucking disgrace to sell out to EA of all companies. I bet they got loads of $$$ but trying to hide with "we just want to make the best games possible" is just low, allthough expected.