Electronic Arts – Billionaire365

EA Canceled The Open-World Star Wars Games To Focus On Another Project

After the closure of Visceral Games in October 2017, EA transferred the development of a Star Wars game (codenamed “Ragtag”) to its Vancouver studio. Although the general public did not have access to any information about it, the project was still relevant until today. According to Kotaku, EA’s open-world Star Wars game got canceled by the publisher in favor of a smaller project.

To report this information, journalist Jason Schreier relied on three sources who know what is going on at EA. His article tells us that by taking it over from Visceral Games, EA Vancouver would have restarted the Star Wars game (“Ragtag”) from scratch, turning it from a linear ground action/adventure game, with only a few graphics assets, into an open-world Star Wars game.

Known since then as “Orca,” the game should have allowed us to play as either a bounty hunter or bandit, freely explore various planets in the open world, and work with some factions of the Star Wars universe.

EA Canceled The Open-World Star Wars Games To Focus On Another Project

The decision to cancel the project would have been taken while development was still in its infancy. As for the reasons behind that decision, EA would prefer to develop a smaller Star Wars game to release it earlier, towards the end of 2020, a date that could coincide with the arrival of new generation consoles, as Jason Schreier of Kotaku pointed out.

Some EA Vancouver devs would hope that the “Orca” project could resume once this new project is completed. Let’s also remember that another Star Wars game is officially under construction in the offices of EA and Respawn (Titanfall) studio – Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order which was announced at E3 2018.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is part of a single-player action-adventure genre, and it should come out by the end of 2019.

Anna Galvez

Electronic Arts Could Be Criminally Prosecuted For Loot Boxes In FIFA 18 And FIFA 19 In Belgium

The Belgian Attorney General is currently conducting a criminal investigation into Electronic Arts (EA). The video game publisher continues to offer the so-called “loot boxes” in its FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 video games even though they’re illegal in this European country.

Loot boxes are one of the strategies used by video game developers and publishers to make their games more profitable. These virtual rewards sometimes reward a player for his efforts or playing time for free, but they are more often sold for money.

Loot boxes generally contain randomly selected “cosmetics” elements that do not influence the game and that players can use to disguise their character or change the appearance of the game’s interface. In some cases, however, they also offer some in-game advantages, a controversial phenomenon among gamers, called “pay to win.”

These in-game rewards are viewed as a form of “gambling” that is illegal in the eyes of the Belgian Gaming Commission, since the players who buy them do not know their content in advance.

Electronic Arts is now a subject of criminal investigation in Belgium for selling loot boxes

Both Belgium and the Netherlands have concluded that these gambling elements are illegal in video games. On the other hand, the United Kingdom, France, and New Zealand have determined the opposite. In the United States and Australia, the debate is ongoing, while in Canada, however, the provincial gaming authorities in Ontario and Quebec have indicated that loot boxes offered in video games are not under their jurisdiction.

Earlier this year, the Belgian Gaming Commission called on video game publishers to stop offering these loot boxes. Otherwise, they would be fined €800,000 (about $1.2 million).

Major companies including Blizzard Entertainment, devs of Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm, Valve (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive), and 2K Games no longer sell loot boxes across Belgium, although some of them still offer these rewards for free to reward loyal gamers.

However, Electronic Arts keeps on selling their loot boxes in two of its most popular games, FIFA 18 and the new FIFA 19. The company’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, believes that disclosing the number of rewards in each gift is enough to ensure that it is not gambling. If the Belgian Gaming Commission finds any illegalities, Electronic Arts could be criminally prosecuted for selling loot boxes.

Anna Galvez