@dragontech22 It's probably a pretty big deal. Steam is pretty much the only way I keep track of PC release dates unless I happen to see a big banner ad somewhere, so EA has been off my radar lately. I'm sure a lot of casual gamers are the same way.
@WoZe He was the most extreme example I could come up with of someone who enjoys the attention that comes from being a prominent game designer. Like you said, most of these guys are nothing like that. But it's also important to be mentally tough enough to survive a dev cycle without quitting the business.
Sounds like he was already feeling the pressure of having his name on a standalone game for the first time and seeing someone else in a similar position fail hard didn't help his confidence. Not every game designer can be like Cliff Bleszinski -- some would rather just stay in the background and not think about the public or critics.
Probably a good thing since they wouldn't support it for more than a few months anyway. People can tell the difference between a serious multiplayer game and a tack-on. Fewer gamers are falling for the multiplayer-as-copy-protection scam nowadays, so it's best to put everything into the single player experience.
Spoiler alert: EA will wait until someone else proves this is a successful idea first, then they'll scramble to copy it a year too late while somehow omitting every aspect people liked about the original.
@wvtn Interesting, could be. It just seems like the gameplay parts are skipping frames and the rendered cutscenes aren't. Hard to say for sure I suppose.
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