Laid-off EA dev: Old Republic "is a joke"

By Fred Dutton Published 13 October, 2010

David Jaffe responds: stop whining.

A disgruntled EA employee about to fall victim to lay-offs has published a vicious diatribe against their employer, claiming, among other things, that forthcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a disaster.

In an anonymous blog post, the art worker at EA's BioWare Mythic studio, wrote, "Old Republic will be one of the greatest failures in the history of MMOs from EA. Probably at the level of the Sims Online. We all know it too."

The blogger goes on to claim that BioWare has, "spent more money making the Old Republic than James Cameron spent on Avatar. Shit you not. More than $300 million! Can you believe that?

"And you know what they're most proud of? This is the kicker. They are most proud of the sound. No seriously. Something like a 20Gig installation, and most of it is voiceover work. That's the best they have.

"The rest of the game is a joke. EA knows it and so does George Lucas, they're panicking, and so most of Mythic has already been cannibalised to work in Austin on it because they can't keep pushing back launch."

BioWare Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning MMO also comes under fire. "The project leaders did not know what they were doing. Jeff Hickman was the saddest excuse for a producer I've seen. All he did was drink the Koolaid and suck up to the right people."

The post has clearly got a number of figures in the industry riled up, including Eat Sleep Play's David Jaffe.

The God of War creator posted a response on his own blog: "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team? Everyone thinks they always know better than the people in charge.

"On God of War 1 I still remember a small group of hard core gamers on the team that felt we were making the game 'wrong' because there was not all this deep, deep, Street Fighter 2/Tekken style depth to the combat system. 'Jaffe's out of touch!' 'Jaffe doesn't get it!'... never did it occur to them that we were going for something else... even tho I explained this to them over and over!

"But still, every few weeks I could count on this little contingency being up in the studio head's office pitching 'their' version of the game, with the goal being to have the head step in - which he never did - and shove their ideas into the title. F*ck it annoys me!"

A spokesperson for EA told Eurogamer, "We don't respond to rumors or anonymous blogs."

Star Wars: The Old Republic is due for release on PC in early 2011.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (64) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Restart #1 1 year ago

    Bitter much?

  • CaptainQuint #2 1 year ago

    Oo-er missus!

  • Sunworship #3 1 year ago

    Now im interested to see how it turns out!

  • Psychotext #4 1 year ago

    "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people"

    I guess you'd know all about that Jaffe... that comment is like an rockslide on a greenhouse.

  • Dizzy #5 1 year ago

    Actually Jaffe doesn't get it. He has never gotten it.

  • krudster #6 1 year ago

    I think the quality of God of War 1 and 2 suggests Jaffe very much 'got' it. 3 was soulless by comparison.

  • waynenot #7 1 year ago

    David Jaffe responds: stop whining.... and let me have a go.

  • Hermiod #8 1 year ago

    People like this guy really show up why, as a field of software development, the game industry is such a joke.

    The lack of professionalism is astounding.

  • Vordred #9 1 year ago

    hmm to be honest God of War with Tekken/SF depth sounds damn good to me. not that i didn't enjoy God of War, but i would have enjoyed it mre that way

  • Lebowski #10 1 year ago

    You Lando.

  • killyourtv #11 1 year ago

    Problem, Jaffe?

  • CaptainQuint #12 1 year ago

    THAT'S IT - I'M CANCELLING MY PRE-ORDER!

  • The-Bodybuilder #13 1 year ago

    You know things have changed when in a situation like this, it's EA that comes out looking good.

  • makeamazing #14 1 year ago

    To be honest there are people in every walk of life that has an opinion that they know better than everyone else... so though i agree with Jaffe, but its true in any job i have ever worked in.

    With regards to Old Republic, we will only know when its released.

  • Oh-Bollox #15 1 year ago

    Incompetent shitheads outed.

    Good. Dickheads should be named and shamed. How professional is it to sit and get bullied, and keep your mouth shut? Worried it's going to be you named and shamed? Try being a decent human being instead of a money-grubbing cunt.

  • Vyggo #16 1 year ago

    That guy might actually be right about the starwars MMO. I wasn't impressed by anything I've seen or heard from it so far.

  • Goodfella #17 1 year ago

    I think the quality of God of War 1 and 2 suggests Jaffe very much 'got' it. 3 was soulless by comparison.

    I whole heartedly agree with this comment. I enjoyed all three games but there was something missing from the third. Jaffe's original game was sublime and astounding at the time.
    Edited by 1 at 13/10/10 @ 19:10

  • MaxiSleep #18 1 year ago

    The gameplay previews I have seen of Old Republic look pretty averagel both graphically and from what I can glean of the gamepla. And in an mmo you need to be better then average or you will die.

  • darleysam #19 1 year ago

    Makes me wonder just why this guy was let go..

  • CaptainQuint #20 1 year ago

    The best thing I took from this article is the delicious thought of George Lucas "panicking".

  • riceNpea #21 1 year ago

    George Lucas is perfectly capable of fucking up Star Wars all by himself, he doesn't need help

  • HermitArcader #22 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Huddy #23 1 year ago

    The Old Republic is the last best hope in the galaxy.

  • curtlikesmeat #24 1 year ago

    Everyone loves a bit of drama!

  • Ryboy #25 1 year ago

    I could not give a fuck what anyone says quite frankly. This dude just sounds really fucking lemon to me.

    I couldn't give a monkeys about WAR, and when SWOTR is eventually released I will make up my own mind via reviews and hopefully some kind of free trial system.

  • Chazmeister #26 1 year ago

    Disgruntled ex employee slags of company, what a shocker!

    I saw the same stuff being printed from guys that had left Rock Star before the release of Red Dead, like the game's really shit and it's going to fall on its arse and fail etc. Load of bollocks and sour grapes of course.

  • Raznilof #27 1 year ago

    It's one thing to work for a company where you "feel" stuff is done wrong. Creative processes run deep and it's hard to distinguish the edge of a pit when being inside it, but it's usually not quite as deep as you imagine.

    Still something like this, as we Dutch say is "not done". No matter how right you think you are or how right you really are, you're always and forever part of a team and stuff like this hurts them most; the team that still works there...

  • Shikasama #28 1 year ago

    Remember that annonymous source that was saying a similar thing about Red Dead Revolver before it came out?

    Tell ya what mr EA blogger, I'll buy it and make up my own mind as to wether I think its any good or not. Its a fair cop right?

  • Markitron #29 1 year ago

    @krudster

    Jaffe had nothing to do with GoW 2. Corey Barlog was the lead on that one.

    Sucks that guy is gonna be fired but I wouldnt want someone with such a negative attitude working on the game anyway
    Edited by 1 at 13/10/10 @ 20:13

  • Redeye #30 1 year ago

    However much of a tool Jaffe might be, he's absolutely bang-on here. I've worked with too many people in this biz over the years who think they're the dog's danglies, and when they're brought down to earth with a crash (usually by being fired), they whine and bitch and slag everything off, instead of having a bit of dignity, keeping their shit together and getting on with the important business of finding another job.

    Wonder exactly why this individual got the chop in the first place...

  • Razorus #31 1 year ago

    Hmm...well I always wanted a KOTOR 3 anyway, so if the MMO bombs, they know what they should have done.
    I'm inclined to believe the ex employee though. Sure he's bitter and likely to say anything but those were some strong words and the game doesn't look all that great, gameplay wise.

  • Shikasama #32 1 year ago

    Heres a thing aswell - how short sighted is this for his future job prospects?

    He isn't very 'annonymous' is he? It wouldn't take the people who he worked with much to work out who he is and the games industry has always struck me as one where you can get blackballed rather easily.

  • Orange #33 1 year ago

    If George Lucas thinks its shit (and how could a low level artist on WAR know this?) then that is a major plus for the game in my book.

    @ Shikasama - you are spot on about Red Dead, about 2 months before release a supposed ex-employee was decrying it as a definite flop and a terrible game, it then goes on to score great reviews and sell millions.

    Disgruntled ex-employees love making a lot of noise for attention.

  • PePe_PL #34 1 year ago

    But combat system in God of War I was weak and shallow indeed... It was "one combo game" (sqr, sqr, triangle)... Story and graphics were everyhing in that game... GOW III is much better in terms of combat system but still far from NG or DMC...
    Edited by 2 at 15/10/10 @ 18:05

  • Sevens #35 1 year ago

    Response to David Jaffe: stop whining.

  • TOOTR #36 1 year ago

    The comments thread below the whistleblower/disgruntledemployee/attentionseeker's - delete according to your own opinion - blog post has some pretty interesting comments.

    No idea how to gauge authenticity as it's anonymous but it's quite the drama. I don't know what kind of libel laws apply to anonymous blogs.....actually to be honest I don't even know anything about libel laws so I'll shut up :)

    Personally I was very excited about Old Republic but as time as gone on I'm more interested in the potential of MMO innovations in Guild Wars 2.

    Time will tell. I hope it turns out well.

  • dirtysteve #37 1 year ago

    Don't believe that $300 million figure, seems like hyperbole to me. The entire entertainment industry loves to brag about how much their project cost, I always take it with a fistful of salt.

  • GamesConnoisseur #38 1 year ago

    I do wishes every success to the MMO, but still felt a sense of disappointment that we won't really get the KOTOR SP sequel, I get that BioWare views the MMO as the KOTOR sequel 3,4,5 etc.

    I played the first two titles on the xbox and yet the 360 won't see anything, so instead people moved onto the Mass Effect.

    All the best and likely as others say, nothing that substantial in the rumour!

  • Seth. #39 1 year ago

    God of War did many things better than NG (such as the level design, story and puzzles) but the combat was somewhat broken.

    In NG you can (and you must) avoid getting hit and the point is to get the right timing and flow of attacking and blocking. In God Of War you can't avoid getting hit, and you also don't really have to. Enemies usually give health back, to balance the damage from all the cheap hits. It feels like diablo, you click/mash the attack button, use a potion / grab the health orbs, and it all boils down to how strong your weapons / stats / unlocked combos etc are.

    It's not that important, but jaffe's stance is "it doesn't f*cking matter", while GoW would be vastly improved if they would spent some time making the combat system less random

  • brod #40 1 year ago

    $300 million? So it'll be three times as good as APB then? :)

  • Jon1292 #41 1 year ago

    Sorry mate, FFXIV already took the title of Worst MMO launch this centuary.

  • BabyJesus #42 1 year ago

    Hey! I hate my old company too what a coincidence!

  • Lemming81 #43 1 year ago

    So this ex employee has George Lucas' ear on the matter as well, eh?

    I call bullshit troll, tbh.

  • makeamazing #44 1 year ago

    As someone else said, it would be pretty easy to figure out who the employee is,...

    I can imagine at some games company somewhere [scene - game company doing an interview] - hmm so you were an artist for EA making Old Republic.... hmm... interesting, i read something about that the other day.....

    Theres a book i am reading recently about games and it has a comment in it something like "The games industry is pretty small, dont p*ss anyone off, because its likely people will find out about it".

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #45 1 year ago

    People like this guy really show up why, as a field of software development, the game industry is such a joke.

    People who are made redundant are bitter no matter where they're laid off from. The games industry is, on my experience of both, no different to mainline Software development in that regard, nor any other profession I've known people who ended up out of work from.

    The main difference is that the machinery of the Internet, and the nature of modern games journalism gives these people more of the oxygen of publicity than most other employees.

  • gjgjg #46 1 year ago

    If Jaffe had just followed company line (by ignoring/dissmissing) this initial blog would probably have gone largely unnoticed.
    Jaffegaffe

  • BabyJesus #47 1 year ago

    Another thing, why would a artist not in any managerial post know the total budget for a project?

    At best he'd know HIS dept's budget, even that I doubt since he appears to be a rank and file employee.

    In any case talking alot of Yang about a company in an industry where everyone knows someone somewhere seems unwise, Especially when his post(s) are just a bunch of rants about petty office politics that go on at every office.

    It reads like a drunk guy at the pub bitching about his job.

    Grow up.

  • benfresh76 #48 1 year ago

    I don't doubt this guys sentiments, I know exactly how that feels, but I never understand why people who feel this way wait around to be laid off...At least have the gumption to get up and walk out the door through choice, some employers actually respect that rather than this public tantrum kind of nonsense. He's going to have legal issues arise due to his outburst.

    Oh, and David Jaffe is an obnoxious, juvenile little twerp. Pot kettle black much?

  • Rorsch #49 1 year ago

    I bet this guy wasn't fired. This is just a marketing plot! :p Now everyone will try the game to see if it really is a failure

  • delboy83uk #50 1 year ago

    The fact that the old republic is an mmo has already ruined it for me

  • darkmorgado #51 1 year ago

    A man who designed a game franchise notorious for sex minigames and stupid levels of OTT violence (nevermind the fact that it is about as faithful to greek mythology as Arthurian Legend is to real life) tells someone to grow up?

    Oh.

    Dear.

    Someone pass this giy a mirror.

  • craziii #52 1 year ago

    kinda scary though if bioware really did blow 300 mill already. they will need to sell 6 million copies of the game to break even. it is crazy how incompetent those mythic leads are if the rant is even a tiny bit true.

    is it just me or did david jaffe focus attacked on a very small part of that rant?

  • scoop #53 1 year ago

    "kinda scary though if bioware really did blow 300 mill already. they will need to sell 6 million copies of the game to break even"

    or maybe 250,000 subs for 12 months
    Edited by 1 at 14/10/10 @ 08:13

  • anomagnus #54 1 year ago

    I don't knwo who read the full blog posting Mr Bitter made, but it was a mixed bag.

    Much of what he said regarding Warhammer Online felt true. I always believed that Paul Barnett, Jeff Hicks and Mark Jacobs were incompetent cunts, more interested in making career boosting videos than running an MMO. Their ignorance of the Warhammer world was shocking, and the ignorance of gaming mechanics was just as bad.

    Now, at the time, i came on this site, ranting and raving like a maniac, against anyone that criticised Warhammer Online. It took 9 months for the horrible truth to come out, that the game was, and is, terrible. It has reduced the Warhammer world to a series of wack a mole like mini games.

    However, i'm disinclined to believe that this guy knows as much about TOR. But, i'll keep an open mind on it.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #55 1 year ago

    A lot can happen to the sentiment of staff between a few months out from a game's launch and its completion.

  • sneetch #56 1 year ago

    @anomagnus
    Now, at the time, i came on this site, ranting and raving like a maniac, against anyone that criticised Warhammer Online. It took 9 months for the horrible truth to come out, that the game was, and is, terrible. It has reduced the Warhammer world to a series of wack a mole like mini games.

    Yep, I have to agree, I enjoyed it for a while and defended it too before it became obvious to even me that the game was just honestly unworkable (in my experience people seem to spend more time avoiding fights than fighting in the RvR areas and I can't see them being able to "fix" that at this stage).

    However, i'm disinclined to believe that this guy knows as much about TOR. But, i'll keep an open mind on it.

    Yeah, that part sounds like a lot of assumption on his part, let's wait and see, I'll be a whole lot more cautious about that one. The fact that their European support team is literally next-door to me could be fun (I'm sure they'll move buildings before launch though). ;)

  • Bleemo #57 1 year ago

    "I can imagine at some games company somewhere [scene - game company doing an interview] - hmm so you were an artist for EA making Old Republic.... hmm... interesting, i read something about that the other day"

    Hundreds of artists work on an MMO of this scale he won't be found out unless he admits it which he won't.

    "I don't know why more people aren't sceptical about this game. Bioware are famous for their crappy overlong tedious dialogue, and it was always obvious when they absorbed mythic that anyone doing the MMO side of this was coming from a developer that utterly failed at making their last MMO"

    They also hired a whole chunk of people who worked on SWG which is pure lunacy on their part.

  • sneetch #58 1 year ago

    Today's the day for this kind of whistle blowing, apparently. ;)

    http://ww w.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/...

  • darleysam #59 1 year ago

    "We need to let some staff go, due to budget restraints. I suggest we start with those we could easily stand to lose."
    "Well there's this artist, does nothing but piss and moan about management and how he knows better than.." "DONE!"

  • Spekingur #60 1 year ago

    I just... TOR just doesn't look like a proper new MMO to me. I had been hoping for proper graphics (read as not cartoony) and proper lightsabers (ones that slice through stuff, not the ones that have been shown in gameplay videos that can slice through very thick metal doors but can't slice a tiny robot in two).

  • sonicyoda #61 1 year ago

    STOP WHINING! YOU KIDS ARE SOFT! YOU LACK DISCIPLINE!

  • gav082 #62 1 year ago

    Having read the blog and the update where other members of staff have contributed, and the EA spouse blog from 04, I think this sounds very real. EA aren't doing themselves any favours here.

  • darth_paul #63 1 year ago

    "Jeff Hickman was the saddest excuse for a producer I've seen. All he did was drink the Koolaid and suck up to the right people."

    thats how careers are made, boys & girls

  • kangarootoo #64 1 year ago

    Its always hard to know who to believe in these sorts of situations, but if I have a thought.

    Plenty of people in the games business, especially relatively junior ones (and this guy does sound relatively junior) have little understanding of what is involved in jobs outside their own discipline.

    When a guy that appears to be a relatively junior artist has a rant about how the guys running the project "don't know what they are doing" and "don't talk back to the IP holders", I'm afraid I say my gut says that this guy doesn't know what he is on about.

    Just for example, imagine this guy was let loose in a meeting with GW, and gave them a piece of his mind over the creative control they were exerting over the project based on one of their largest IPs? That IP would be going elsewhere and everyone would be out of a job.

    I'm not saying he is wrong, or right, I'm just saying that I doubt his ability to comment on the effectiveness of much more senior people doing jobs that he has no experience doing. That is all.