Moore avoiding Metacritic for FIFA 11

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 20 July, 2010

Mid-90s average "almost impossible".

It is "almost impossible" for an annual sports title like FIFA to get an average review score in the mid-90s, EA Sports president Peter Moore has said.

Obsessing over review score averages on the likes of website Metacritic puts developers on "a slippery slope", Moore told Develop.

"I've taken the entire FIFA team out for dinner for a tremendous celebration for what they did on FIFA 10, because they not only delivered a 90 they delivered a 91," Moore said.

"In terms of what I want from FIFA 11, it is difficult to tell them to go and get a 92 or 93. It is almost impossible to take an iterative annual sports title and get it into the mid-90s.

"There are no plot lines, no boss characters, no map packs. There will be metrics that I work into their objectives, but I don’t think it will be around Metacritic.

"Here in the US Robin Hood just came out and it has been ripped apart by the critics, but it made $40m in the first weekend. There is a bunch of games that sell millions of units that only get a mid-70s Metacritic.

"You can break Metacritic down and say, 'We can get two extra points by doing this,' but it may not actually enhance the gamers' experience, and that is where there is a line we have to be careful we don't cross. It is a bit of a slippery slope if you focus everything on Metacritic."

In recent years Moore has publicly pushed EA's FIFA development team to break the 90 review score average barrier.

FIFA 10 managed it, as well as a 9/10 review score from Eurogamer.

Will FIFA 11 manage it? Eurogamer's very own Tom Bramwell previewed it last month.

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.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 8 months ago

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

  • Greggywocky... #1 2 years ago

    Personally I thought the Fifa 10 reviews were generous, considering how borked the season/manager mode was...

  • ignatiusjreilly #2 2 years ago

    FIFA 11 will geta an 8, obviously.

  • TonyHarrison #3 2 years ago

    Heralding FIFA 10's metascore is all well and good, but as none of the reviews bothered to mention that the Manager Mode was full of bugs (players disappearing from your team only to find them playing for someone else, getting sacked for drawing with Man Utd when you're playing as someone like Bolton... I could go on but there's too many to list), it kind of takes the shine off things somewhat...

    If FIFA 11 does get good reviews, I hope it's because it deserves it, and not because reviewers only played each game mode for ten minutes.

  • Geordiemp #4 2 years ago

    Funnily agree with him. How many 7's has Ellie given quoting unoriginal or same as last game, but only applied to some sequels but not others.

  • LazyDan #5 2 years ago

    I love how Metacritic has casually become this monolithic and frightening arch-nemesis to normally arrogant and dismissive gaming execs.

  • Darren #6 2 years ago

    FIFA 11 will still shift millions of units anyway regardless of the quality, it did even when the series was at its worst circa 2002 on the Xbox/PS2 and 2006 on the 360/PS3, so I can't understand personally why Moore is so obsessed about Metacritic scores. It's good that EA are striving for excellence I suppose but one way to ensure FIFA remains superb is simply to stop releasing it annually so the developers have more time to add and refine features. They can always release a Season Update pack between each new iteration as both an expansion disc and DLC instead to keep the stats and teams up to date.

  • TelexStar #7 2 years ago

    I'd argue that it *should* be almost impossible for an iterative sports title to get 90+%. I don't think it's fair to expect to get 90+ when you're turning out, what's basically a title update, every year.

  • reelbigkris #8 2 years ago

    I can imagine it's very dificult to actually review a title that is released anually without spending too much of your time retracing your steps and comparing it to last years release. There was a site (i dont remember now) but it had done that, and it had a link to last years review asking them to read that before this review, and the link you clicked on asked you to read an earlier review to grasp this one!...

  • DarthKebab #9 2 years ago

    As we all knows it depends on how much advertising space you buy Mr Moore :-0

    Just remember disable Manager Mode in review copies again will you!

  • Rubarack #10 2 years ago

    It almost sounds like he's complaining abuot a bias, rather than accepting that these high scores are generally reserved for exceptional titles that advance the genre and you can't do that in a yearly schedule.

  • butler` #11 2 years ago

    Obsessing over review score averages on the likes of website Metacritic puts developers on "a slippery slope", Moore told Develop.

    Why doesn't he stfu about it then.

  • butler` #12 2 years ago

    I actually find it good that a developer is focusing on the customer/gameplay experience rather than metacritic.

    That's the exact effect he's looking for. It's called positive spin. What he really means is an extra 1-2 points on Metacritic won't translate into an increase in sales.

  • Turrican #13 2 years ago

    Was disappointed there has been no recognition of the failures of Fifa 10 in Eurogamer, either in reference to its own review or with subsequent interviews with EA since. However with every news item about Fifa 11 getting the same comments from players about how disappointed we all were with Fifa 10, I would hope you won't make the same mistake twice.

    Custom chants are all very good but a fucked up Manager Mode based on bloated codebase they never have the time to fix is unacceptable this time around.

  • Shikasama #14 2 years ago

    There are a lot of gaming websites (Eg included) that should be ashamed of themselves for giving Fifa 10 the scores they did. It's also pretty rich from Pete 'Metacritic' Moore, consideringit was all he harped on about before Fifa 10.

  • DarthKebab #15 2 years ago

    The problem is as well Eurogamer and other review sites would not have the time to play a Manager Mode or Master League thoroughly before pushing out a review, you need two weeks solid play to become fully accustomed with a football game so you learn the game first and then critic the exploits.

  • brseg #16 2 years ago

    He seems to have changed his tune. He was super-confident that the new features in Fifa10 would lead to better review scores , but not Fifa11. Its been so many years now, they cant leave in bugs, glitches, obvious problems. And, graphics in other games have moved forward much more than Fifa.
    Dont get me wrong, if its a big step forward, I'll buy it. I just have my hopes v low.

  • rojjer #17 2 years ago

    what the fucking hell is with all the adverts on that page? Jeez

  • DarthKebab #18 2 years ago

    "I would have paid for deserts Moore, you big cheapskate."

    He would have promised them a wide selection of desserts were on the menu but unavailable to taste at this time, but they were definitely a 10/10 in his opinion.

  • The-Bodybuilder #19 2 years ago

    Moore sounds like a cool, down to earth and REALISTIC boss.
    Nothing worse than working for a prat who's head is in the sky, asks for the cosmos and then shuts you all down when you only deliver the moon.

    Plus he took them out for dinner.

  • kangarootoo #20 2 years ago

    True words (regardless of why he said them).

    Metacritic is an aggragate of subjective values. It is a good guide for current trends, but to expect to be able to obtain accurate details from its values is pointless.

    The very suggestion that the player experience of two different games can be objectively compared by looking at their metacritic scores makes me dispair at humanity. I am certain that if the same game were released twice under two different names (and somehow everybody was hypnotised into not noticing), their metacritic scores would not be the same.

  • The-Bodybuilder #21 2 years ago

    Why are people holding it against EG for not spotting the Manager Mode bugs?
    I played the game for 8 months, and didn't notice any of the infamous bugs (the worst being the "liverpool bug", whereby you become riddled with debt and can't afford any players) till I changed clubs.

  • Goffee #22 2 years ago

    So, what we really need is a new site; "MDcritic.com" to rate and review all the head honchos and executives, based on the number of promises they break, crap they spout and people they sack.... should be fun.

  • TonyHarrison #23 2 years ago

    If anyone doubts the likelihood of being able to spot bugs early on, they should take a look at this post from October 6th on the official EA forum. FIFA 10 was released here on October 2nd...

    http://fo rums.electronicarts.co.uk/11539...

  • schnide #24 2 years ago

    Say what you like about the man or FIFA in general, this is light years apart from the EA of old and for that they have nothing but my congratulations and praise.

  • StooMonster #25 2 years ago

    Darren: even when the series was at its worst circa 2002 on the Xbox/PS2

    2002 was when one of my old friends was responsible for EA's FIFA games. Teehee.

  • Eraserhead #26 2 years ago

    Have to agree about EG's shameful record on FIFA 10 reviewage and subsequent non-acknowledgement of really quite incredible bugs that normally wouldn't make it past alpha stage. It's not just EG, of course, but I do tend to trust them. I expect it from EA, but not EG.

  • SalarymanDaishi #27 2 years ago

    Sounds like Metacritic is just as misunderstood as ever. All it does is spew out a handy, unbiased average that helps a LOT when looking for something unconventional. Most of my purchases rate around 60-80 on Metacritic simply because I already know what I'm after and those scores merely indicate the games aren't horrible - just an acquired taste.

    FIFA could score a perfect 100 on Metacritic for all I care and I still wouldn't buy it. Not because I doubt the game or the reviews but because I could care less about sports. When interested in trying out some entirely new genre, however, a metascore is an excellent starting point.

    Edit: Solely thanks to Metacritic's 91 average for Batman: Arkham Asylum, I finally gave it a go and sure enough, despite total uninterest towards super hero games in general, it turned out most enjoyable indeed.
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/10 @ 19:40

  • tomkuryakin #28 2 years ago

    I'm not sure if I would agree that Metacritic is unbiased in the sense that there are many more reviews from America used for calculating scores than from other parts of the world. American football, baseball and basketball games usually score pretty well on Metacritic, even though some people couldn't care less about them for cultural reasons.

  • bratmandu #29 2 years ago

    Basic premise of article:

    We shovel out the same slightly tweaked shit every year, and it doesn't score well because it's pretty much identical to the last one, but idiots will still buy it so fuck it. Shame on whoever it is that keeps buying 'annual sports game update 20xx'.

  • bivith #30 2 years ago

    I've played 2 and a half seasons of Manager mode with the same team, and I haven't noticed any of these problems. What am I missing?
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/10 @ 17:40

  • Lee_Morris #31 2 years ago

    100% agree. Annual sports games can't get ever incresing scores as by there very nature they don't differ a whole lot from year to year. I'll be buying it again if the supermarkets have a little too much fizzy pop a week before the release and slash prices left, right and center.

  • actionfitz #32 2 years ago

    "It is almost impossible to take an iterative annual sports title and get it into the mid-90s."

    because shovelling the same game out the door each year with new textures at a Premium RRP deserves a high Meta Critic score?

    how about no!
    :I

  • bratmandu #33 2 years ago

    I'm reminded of the magazine GamesTM, which used to review every annual sports game with the same template, leaving the name of the game blank, it was like:

    "_____is the annual update to the popular ____ series, featuring enhanced graphics, updated player rosters, and some additions to gameplay mechanics such as ____ and ____.

    ____ have made a few upgrades to this years _____ and this enhances gameplay for an even better ____ experience."

    Ah I miss magazines.

  • Centrifugal #34 2 years ago

    So basically...

    "Even if our game is rubbish, we don't care since we'll make loads of money anyway! Hah!"

  • powderfinger1971 #35 2 years ago

    Maybe they should release a new game every 2 years when they've got something to change & give you a free roster update on the year off. Oh wait that means they can't charge you £40 for a new player roster each year. How silly of me!

  • Andreas2402 #36 2 years ago

    Did they demand too much money for mid-90 ratings? Bad luck ...

  • mr_pink #37 2 years ago

    Why should there be a disparity between a good 'customer experience' and a high metacritic score? That's exactly what a review aims to be - a general indication of the customer experience. Of course personal preferences of the reviewer will be an influence and yes, there are always a few games that we think are poorer/better than the metacritic score but as a general indicator it's not a bad yardstick to use at all.

  • smelly #38 2 years ago

    Its easy to get a 9/10 score from eurogamer.. just be the type of game that the eurogamer reviewer likes (football or fps games). If a eg reviewer doesnt like your genre - you're screwed.

  • hiddenranbir #39 2 years ago

    Scores are dumb, sales what matter!

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