EA Sports ditches game manuals

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 March, 2011

FIFA goes green.

FIFA maker EA Sports has ditched physical game manuals.

Instead, EA Sports will include instructions accessed from within the game, Kotaku reports.

EA Sports aims to support more environmentally friendly game production, the company said.

French company Ubisoft was the first to abolish game manuals. Ubisoft worked out that one ton of game-manual paper costs the planet roughly 13 trees, and making that amount of paper pumps out 6000lbs of CO2 gas and 15000 gallons of waste water.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (38) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • weejok #1 1 year ago

    Good we can expect a little discount on the retail price then???

  • orangpelupa #2 1 year ago

    aaaaan the game price not reduced.....

  • Fab4 #3 1 year ago

    The manuals are probably easier to recycle than the plastic box it comes in...how about removing that particular drain on resources?

  • kosigan #4 1 year ago

    There's your justification for going download only. Give it 2 years at most.

  • midnight_walker #5 1 year ago

    Fine with me. Manuals aren't much more than the EULA and insert disc to play these days. With in game tutorials they've been a waste of time for ages. EA being lovely and green is bollocks though, it's clearly a penny-pinching exercise.

  • JBlokeUK #6 1 year ago

    Oh joy. Download only meaning games will cost £50

  • TFM_Excalibur #7 1 year ago

    this started with fight night champion when it came out, a little late eg?

  • Peew971 #8 1 year ago

    What's in the box now? A disc and an online pass!
    I like having manuals actually, even if I never read them. Since they're disappearing I could as well do with a price drop and/or a digital copy available from day one.

  • BaggyAnt #9 1 year ago

    I have no problem with this as long they don't do what Ubisoft did with Brotherhood which was ditch the manual but still put an advert in the box!

  • Bradach #10 1 year ago

    speaking of the boxes they're in, isn't it funny that for DVD's they still come in the VHS standard size boxes, for no good reason!

  • Zebula77 #11 1 year ago

    I'm not liking this myself. I recently bought Mass Effect 2 and I remember thinking "where's the boody manual?!?". Of course, I found it later, from the main menu, but damn - I like having that big, new-smelling manual to leaf through.

    Bring 'em back, EA.

  • chasejamie #12 1 year ago

    I love sniffing a good manual.

  • ISmoke #13 1 year ago

    Bye bye, manual sniffing.

    So how much money did EA realise they will save by not making the manuals anymore but selling the games at the same price?

  • X201 #14 1 year ago

    The Civilization IV manual was awesome.

    Can't imagine how games of that complexity would cope without a paper manual.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #15 1 year ago

    ME2 Did it first on PS3 at least, came with a leaflet that said your manual is online so we can save the trees, and were not passing the savings on to you, trees are happy, investors are happy, customers screwed a little bit more, mission accomplished.

    Was a very frank leaflet or maybe i was just reading between the lines.

  • HL706 #16 1 year ago

    I'm sure that deserves an extra £5 on the RRP. You know, green tax or something?

  • metalangel #17 1 year ago

    EA haven't done decent manuals in well over a decade anyway. Still, not even having a card or something listing the controls/moves to have next to you while you get to grips with a new game shows just how cunty they are.

  • RodHull #18 1 year ago

    I appreciate that they need big boxes for marketing purposes, but I was disappointed that Sony and the Blu-Ray gang didn't adopt a more environmentally sound box for their new discs. Microsoft use a compressed paper type affair for their retail cards for Microsoft points and such which are much easier to recycle than the boxes. Maybe they could use them?

  • DwarfyP #19 1 year ago

    Kotaku reported it weeks AFTER the launch of Fight Night Champion which did it.
    Wow, thats top tier reporting for you.

  • peteb #20 1 year ago

    They should put some of the money they save into using a spray with that "new game manual smell".

  • Dunk_13 #21 1 year ago

    You get the same content, just in a greener form. Dont complain

  • supermaniacs #22 1 year ago

    Oh great, what will i sniff now!!

  • RobTheBuilder #23 1 year ago

    Are you sure there is no cost cutting motive there EA? None at all??

    Ok. Can't say I care. I like boxed games but only read manuals if I can't play it (installing/out).

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #24 1 year ago

    im glad this has happened. have you seen the amount of shit that gets put into a DS game box?

  • captainrentboy #25 1 year ago

    Holy shit, if I'd known this would be news, I could have told EG this bloody weeks ago. It's not just the sports side either, they're phasing out manuals in all EA games.

  • Ingram85 #26 1 year ago

    Ive never understood why the cases are so large anyway. Now with this move of getting rid of the manual the cases only need to be music cd size now surely? So, case, cover sleeve, disc and maybe print the controls on the opposite side of the cover sleeve so you can read them when you open the case?

  • patootik #27 1 year ago

    The only games that need books are Nintendo exclusives like Mario and Zelda. They always put so much effort in, the colorful artwork, the explanation of items, the descriptions of locations. I've always found them a joy to read, and an important part of getting a new Nintendo game, I still have my Super Mario Allstars book!

    Every other publisher should abolish it, I'm amazed how little info is found in most modern booklets, so often I want to know how to do something in game, or change an option or some more detailed explanation of the online multilayer and the info is not actually there! It then ends up an annoying trial and error exercise. Sure the answer is usually pretty obvious, but I mean whats the point of having a booklet if it doesn't contain the info you need.

    Plus most of the time they are thin and ugly, and black and white. Just get rid of them.

    Snes and N64 was the golden age of game booklets. I remember actually reading through them, while taking a break from the game. Now I wouldnt even think of it.

    Re-read my post, god I sound like a grumpy old bastard!

  • patootik #28 1 year ago

    A little off topic but does anyone remember the HUGE boxes PC games used to come in like 15 years ago? And the books were huge too. I remember my HUGE Half Life box, HUGE Command & Conquer box. Those were the days, back before global warming was invented.

  • metalangel #29 1 year ago

    @RodHull: so long as the boxes themselves remain plastic DVD cases. I remember near the end of the Genesis' life, Sega went on an environment kick and replaced the venerable plastic boxes with terrible cardboard ones (Sonic & Knuckes, and all 32X games had these, for example.

  • the_sas_man #30 1 year ago

    The classic "green" argument from companies when we all know its a money saving exercise.

    If i buy a DVD, CD, game from a shop I want the full works, including manual. Surely they can offset the CO2 from manuals with a very very small levy (a couple opf pence per game at most will cover it).

    It's another hammerblow to those who actually like to buy the full product, rather than digital download. And another hammer blow to those who pay the full whack and stay away from piracy.

    As somone pointed out, does this mean all EA games will be cheaper now?

    Edited by the_sas_man at 21/03/11 @ 11:05

  • jonbwfc #31 1 year ago

    They can still ship it with a manual and save the forests by making the manual contain only the information that is necessary. A small post it note with "Just read last year's" should do it.

  • Snowymonk #32 1 year ago

    There is something comforting about a user manual, especially when you cant work out what you should be doing in certain circumstances.

    However, with the explosion of YouTube user videos and wiki, I havent looked at a manual for a long time.

    Games like Fifa and Demons Souls, although great booklet additions really need a visual walkthrough of how to curl in a free kick from 30 yards, how to beat Flamelurker or how to curl in a free kick past Flamelurker.

  • superstu1337 #33 1 year ago

    6000 lbs of CO2 and 15,000 gallons of water would help the growth of a lot more than 13 trees!

    Contrary to popular belief, plants actually breathe CO2 to give us back oxygen to breathe - it's quite a mutual relationship.

  • orangpelupa #34 1 year ago

    btw agree with the comment about box size above.

    in my country, VCD "box" is no longer a box. Original VCD in here are sold with very thin (but feel strong) paper sleeve.

    that if game use that kind of sleeve:
    - reduce the material needed -> more "green"
    - Sleeve is from paper, easily recivleable or reuse.
    - its much thin. So for shipping it will need less container, less time. (efficientcy).

    orry my bad english

  • kgthatsme #35 1 year ago

    New paper comes from sustainable timber forrests who's produce is carbon negative. Factoring in the energy to make it the paper is approximately carbon neutral and far less harmful than the plastic box.
    Edited by kgthatsme at 21/03/11 @ 13:25

  • SG #36 1 year ago

    Games can be resold or given away countless time - how often is there a 'need' to recycle the plastic box? You only have to worry about the environment with the production process, and disposable stuff that comes with iit - that said, if I'm forking out for a brand new game, I still want the cellophane covering the box to prevent damage from scuffing and whatnot, because prior to getting a copy, they can be thrown about a bit by morons.. If only it were recyclable.

    Nintendo are typically very bad for including useless warning leaflets which many will bin without a thought of recycling and wish have harmed the environment through being produced.

    On a general note, manuals really aren't needed these days as everything is usually explained in-game, ever since the N64 I'd say. Ironically, the digital manuals on the VC games are complete shit compared to the paper originals that came with the boxed versions ,no excuse for that.

    Yes I have gone off on a bit of a tangent...

  • SG #37 1 year ago

    orangpelupa
    21/03/11 @ 12:38

    btw agree with the comment about box size above.

    in my country, VCD "box" is no longer a box. Original VCD in here are sold with very thin (but feel strong) paper sleeve.

    that if game use that kind of sleeve:
    - reduce the material needed -> more "green"
    - Sleeve is from paper, easily recivleable or reuse.
    - its much thin. So for shipping it will need less container, less time. (efficientcy).

    sorry my bad english

    No. I understand what you're saying, and I am NOT taking a step backwards to the SNES & N64 days of card boxes which can easily take damage and can't be replaced like a DS or Wii plastic box can. I'm handing over a good £20 - £35 and I want a thick, robust and difficult-to-damage box. ESPECIALLY when it comes to shipping, you want something that can survive being tossed about.
    Edited by SG at 21/03/11 @ 14:34

  • MDK2310 #38 1 year ago

    Now what am I gonna read on the shitter?