Jump to content

That time EA tried (and failed) to surprise everyone by adding fullscreen adverts to a $60 game 2 weeks after it launched

Master Disaster

I'll start by quoting Jim Sterling. Making some money is not enough these days, they're only happy if they make all of the money and even then they still wont really be happy.

 

Fans have created a HUGE backlash after a Reddit post pointed out that EA Sports UFC 4 is now showing full screen adverts during replays as well as smaller "card" style adverts at other points during matches and an advert which covered the majority of the ring canvas. All adverts were for the Amazon Prime exclusive show The Boys.

Quote

EA has sparked a fresh fan backlash after adding in-game ads to UFC 4.

 

Players noticed advertisements briefly pop up at the beginning and end of replays in the premium video game, and a clip of this has gone viral on reddit with over 86,000 upvotes.

The clip in question shows a full-screen advert for Amazon TV show The Boys, alongside a 4th September 2020 date for the launch of its second season. This advert also displays at the end of the replay.

 

The clip also reveals an advert for The Boys on the canvas, and a third pop-up during actual gameplay at the bottom of the screen.

As pointed out in the title of the Reddit post, EA waited until 2 weeks after release to turn this feature on, something which an obvious attempt at dodging reviewers and makes the apology (which we will get to later) make no sense at all. To add insult to injury they also thought it would be a good idea to retroactively add adverts into UFC 3, a game which came out 2 years ago now. Seems like they were worried UFC 4 users would simply go back to playing UFC 3 to avoid the ads.

Quote

These adverts went live just over two weeks after UFC 4 came out on 14th August 2020, which critics have pointed out means they won't have been picked up by reviewers. In fact, gamers have reported the same in-game adverts in UFC 3, too.

UFC 4 was already under fire from fans before this for its MANY glitches and bugs plus the fact very little was changed between UFC 3 and UFC 4. Its also worth pointing out, UFC 4 already has microtransactions in it too.

Quote

While in-game advertisements are hardly a new thing, and players of free-to-download games and mobile titles are used to watching adverts in order to progress, the UFC community appears united in its disgust at the addition of in-game pop-up advertisements in UFC 4 - a full-price game that's already under the cosh from fans for not turning out as well as many had hoped.

EA have now pulled the adverts from both UFC 3 and UFC 4 and issued an "apology", or should I say a "Sorry we got caught" which following standard operating procedure claims ignorance.

Quote

"Earlier this week, the team turned on ad placements in EA SPORTS UFC 4 that appeared during the “Replay” moments in gameplay. This type of advertising inventory is not new to the UFC franchise, though we have typically reserved displaying ads to specific main menu tiles or Octagon logo placement.

 

"It is abundantly clear from your feedback that integrating ads into the Replay and overlay experience is not welcome. The advertisements have been disabled by the team and we apologize for any disruption to gameplay that players may have experienced.

 

"We realize that this should have been communicated with players ahead of time and that's on us. We want to make sure our players have the best possible experience playing EA SPORTS UFC 4, so ad integration in the Replay and overlay experience will not be reappearing in the future. Thank you for your continued feedback on EA SPORTS UFC 4."

Yeah, because they didn't realise that fans wouldn't like this before they launched it.... That's why they waited for 2 weeks after launch to avoid reviewers.

 

Anyway right now UFC 4 is sitting at a 1.8 on Metacritic.

 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-09-05-ea-on-the-ropes-after-adding-in-game-ads-to-ufc-4

 

I'm so glad I no longer invest much time in gaming as a hobby. These days I might buy 3 to 4 games a year maximum and only 1 of those I'll pay full price for. The only silver lining is that gamers seem to be finally waking up to just how much they're getting ripped off and are starting to push back against it.

Main Rig:-

Ryzen 7 3800X | Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming | 16GB Team Group Dark Pro 3600Mhz | Corsair MP600 1TB PCIe Gen 4 | Sapphire 5700 XT Pulse | Corsair H115i Platinum | WD Black 1TB | WD Green 4TB | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W | Asus TUF GT501 | Samsung C27HG70 1440p 144hz HDR FreeSync 2 | Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS |

 

Server:-

Intel NUC running Server 2019 + Synology DSM218+ with 2 x 4TB Toshiba NAS Ready HDDs (RAID0)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Eventually this will become such an issue a law will be made against it. These are adding non advertised features to a game after launch and this can easily be seen as false advertising of the product in a way. I wouldn't be too surprised when in a couple years it bites them in the butt again just like with lootboxes getting banned around the globe.

 

EA does not care in the slightest. Their reputation is so far down the drain they might as well keep going. Anything that makes them money is worth it for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Would DNS firewalls block these kind of ads?

Specs: Motherboard: Asus X470-PLUS TUF gaming (Yes I know it's poor but I wasn't informed) RAM: Corsair VENGEANCE® LPX DDR4 3200Mhz CL16-18-18-36 2x8GB

            CPU: Ryzen 9 5900X          Case: Antec P8     PSU: Corsair RM850x                        Cooler: Antec K240 with two Noctura Industrial PPC 3000 PWM

            Drives: Samsung 970 EVO plus 250GB, Micron 1100 2TB, Seagate ST4000DM000/1F2168 GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 ti Black edition

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, williamcll said:

Would DNS firewalls block these kind of ads?

I would guess that the adverts would be served by EA's servers so to block them you'd also need to block the game from talking to the server at all. At that point you might as well just unplug the cable.

Main Rig:-

Ryzen 7 3800X | Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming | 16GB Team Group Dark Pro 3600Mhz | Corsair MP600 1TB PCIe Gen 4 | Sapphire 5700 XT Pulse | Corsair H115i Platinum | WD Black 1TB | WD Green 4TB | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W | Asus TUF GT501 | Samsung C27HG70 1440p 144hz HDR FreeSync 2 | Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS |

 

Server:-

Intel NUC running Server 2019 + Synology DSM218+ with 2 x 4TB Toshiba NAS Ready HDDs (RAID0)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, CircleTech said:

At this rate EA should just commit fraud and charge everyone $1000 that tries to buy anything from them them claim some tiny line in a contract saying "We can steal money from you at any time".

They pretty much already do that with stimulating players too keep buying items in game. There are plenty of cases and articles about people spending tens of thousands in their games because EA plays into their weakness and addiction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, handymanshandle said:

Madden 21 was a failure. UFC 4 is shaping up to be a failure. Need for Speed: Heat failed. 

Exactly what has EA succeeded in within the last year?

I almost mentioned Madden in the OP. How they thought this was a good idea coming off the back of what happened last week is beyond me.

Main Rig:-

Ryzen 7 3800X | Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming | 16GB Team Group Dark Pro 3600Mhz | Corsair MP600 1TB PCIe Gen 4 | Sapphire 5700 XT Pulse | Corsair H115i Platinum | WD Black 1TB | WD Green 4TB | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W | Asus TUF GT501 | Samsung C27HG70 1440p 144hz HDR FreeSync 2 | Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS |

 

Server:-

Intel NUC running Server 2019 + Synology DSM218+ with 2 x 4TB Toshiba NAS Ready HDDs (RAID0)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

Madden 21 was a failure. UFC 4 is shaping up to be a failure. Need for Speed: Heat failed. 

Exactly what has EA succeeded in within the last year?

I think the last time they released an actual good game was titanfall 2 but they intentionally made it fail because it would have been too good and shown people that you don't need games as a service, lootboxes, heaps of microtransactions and whatnot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

There are plenty of cases and articles about people spending tens of thousands in their games because EA plays into their weakness and addiction.

Yep, micro-transaction becoming just as a cancerous thing as DRM...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Master Disaster said:

I almost mentioned Madden in the OP. How they thought this was a good idea coming off the back of what happened last week is beyond me.

Hey at least the score on google isn't a 1/5 oh wait. It's funny how they are like "well at least it isn't the lowest possible score" and call that a success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just now, CircleTech said:

That's different. That's an addiction problem, not Fraud. 

 

Some telecommunications companies will charge you thousands of dollars in fees to cancel your contract. I can just imagine EA saying "we will give you a refund for this game/item/whatever but charge you a 1 million percent restocking fee, or whatever your bank card will authorize, whichever comes first. 

 

Never given a cent to EA, and never plan to.

EA does commit a form of fraud technically as they refuse to give a refund for their products in Belgium even when you show them they are required. The amount of effort it takes to even get them to do it is insane.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, CircleTech said:

You guys don't have credit card chargebacks in Belgium?

We do and we don't it's pretty darn complicated depends on what banks card and the tier you have too. That and debit cards and cash are still king here. Which makes chargebacks a lot harder when you buy a game with a debitcard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, CircleTech said:

In the US, you cannot initiate a chargeback on a debit card, except for straight up fraud (card stolen). you can however initiate a chargeback on a credit card. And if you pay your card off in full every month, you pay no interest. I use my credit card(s) for everything because of the cash back and it's saved my ass a few times. 

That is one nice thing we have that no matter what you used to purchase if you have a legitimate claim that the company you purchased from delivered a product in conflict with the law you will just get a refund. Just takes forever :p.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

I think the last time they released an actual good game was titanfall 2 but they intentionally made it fail because it would have been too good and shown people that you don't need games as a service, lootboxes, heaps of microtransactions and whatnot.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order was a great game tbh, other than that, I can't think of any.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, AldiPrayogi said:

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order was a great game tbh, other than that, I can't think of any.

Their EA Originals games are pretty good, other than Rocket Arena which is filled with microtransactions.

Main Rig :

Ryzen 7 2700X | Powercolor Red Devil RX 580 8 GB | Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3 | 16 GB TeamGroup Elite 2400MHz | Samsung 750 EVO 240 GB | HGST 7200 RPM 1 TB | Seasonic M12II EVO | CoolerMaster Q300L | Dell U2518D | Dell P2217H | 

 

Laptop :

Thinkpad X230 | i5 3320M | 8 GB DDR3 | V-Gen 128 GB SSD |

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Remember when Need for Speed had Old Spice billboards?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Okay. And? I think it's their own fault for buying ea sport games. The more people that buy it the more greedy and shitty ea becomes. All their loot box and add and other bullshit came in the sport games and then got in other games of them. If sport game players would grow brains and stop buying those games from ea or 2k for that matter it would become better eventually. But nope. They still buy it and then get pisssed off and surprised by these practices. Really ironic. As if they think ea wouldnt do these things anymore. hahaha. 

 

stop. Buying. EA(and 2k). Sport. Games. 

PC: 
MSI B450 gaming pro carbon ac              (motherboard)      |    (Gpu)             ASRock Radeon RX 6950 XT Phantom Gaming D 16G

ryzen 7 5800X3D                                          (cpu)                |    (Monitor)        2560x1440 144hz (lg 32gk650f)
Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 A-RGB           (cpu cooler)         |     (Psu)             seasonic focus plus gold 850w
Cooler Master MasterBox MB511 RGB    (PCcase)              |    (Memory)       Kingston Fury Beast 32GB (16x2) DDR4 @ 3.600MHz

Corsair K95 RGB Platinum                       (keyboard)            |    (mouse)         Razer Viper Ultimate

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Fatih19 said:

Their EA Originals games are pretty good, other than Rocket Arena which is filled with microtransactions.

I forgot about that game oops :p.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, handymanshandle said:

Exactly what has EA succeeded in within the last year?

r/assholedesign

Sorry for the mess!  My laptop just went ROG!

"THE ROGUE":  ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR (2021)

  • Ryzen 9 5900HS
  • RTX 3070 Laptop GPU (80W)
  • 24GB DDR4-3200 (8+16)
  • 2TB SK Hynix NVMe (boot) + 2TB Crucial P2 NVMe (games)
  • 90Wh battery + 200W power brick
  • 15.6" 1440p 165Hz IPS Pantone display
  • Logitech G603 mouse + Logitech G733 headset

"Hex": Dell G7 7588 (2018)

  • i7-8750H
  • GTX 1060 Max-Q
  • 16GB DDR4-2666
  • 1TB SK Hynix NVMe (boot) + 2TB Crucial MX500 SATA (games)
  • 56Wh battery + 180W power brick
  • 15.6" 1080p 60Hz IPS display
  • Corsair Harpoon Wireless mouse + Corsair HS70 headset

"Mishiimin": Apple iMac 5K 27" (2017)

  • i7-7700K
  • Radeon Pro 580 8GB (basically a desktop R9 390)
  • 16GB DDR4-2400
  • 2TB SSHD
  • 400W power supply (I think?)
  • 27" 5K 75Hz Retina display
  • Logitech G213 keyboard + Logitech G203 Prodigy mouse

Other tech: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB in White, Sennheiser PXC 550-II, Razer Hammerhead earbuds, JBL Tune Flex earbuds, OontZ Angle 3 Ultra, Raspberry Pi 400, Logitech M510 mouse, Redragon S113 keyboard & mouse, Cherry MX Silent Red keyboard, Cooler Master Devastator II keyboard (not in use), Sennheiser HD4.40BT (not in use)

Retired tech: Apple iPhone XR 256GB in Product(RED), Apple iPhone SE 64GB in Space Grey (2016), iPod Nano 7th Gen in Product(RED), Logitech G533 headset, Logitech G930 headset, Apple AirPods Gen 2 and Gen 3

Trash bin (do not buy): Logitech G935 headset, Logitech G933 headset, Cooler Master Devastator II mouse, Razer Atheris mouse, Chinese off-brand earbuds, anything made by Skullcandy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Diabolical. I mean the Boys is a really damn good show though.

 

Spoiler
Spoiler

AMD 5000 Series Ryzen 7 5800X| MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk WiFi | G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 32GB (2 * 16GB) DDR4 3200MHz CL16-18-18-38 | Asus GeForce GTX 3080Ti STRIX | SAMSUNG 980 PRO 500GB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD M.2 + Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) Gen3 | Cooler Master V850 Gold V2 Modular | Corsair iCUE H115i RGB Pro XT | Cooler Master Box MB511 | ASUS TUF Gaming VG259Q Gaming Monitor 144Hz, 1ms, IPS, G-Sync | Logitech G 304 Lightspeed | Logitech G213 Gaming Keyboard |

PCPartPicker 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't buy for a second that the developers or executives didn't think this would cause backlash, they knew it, but they just wanted to experiment with it to be sure, same as they have experimented with a ton of insanely mind-numbingly stupid stunts in the past and immediately reverted their decision because of backlash, at this point they're aware they can toy the community any way they like it and the majority of their audience don't know of EA's disgusting practices because they are most likely not the kind of people to follow up on these news, so despite all that Madden 21 went up 20% in sales compared to its predecessor even though it's the lowest rated video game in history.

Quote or Tag people so they know that you've replied.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

The only other in-game ads I remember were in Arma 3 for the DLC when you picked up a DLC weapon or driven a vehicle that was from DLC you haven't purchased, you would get almost a full screen semi-transparent window from time to time that would advertise that particular DLC. 

It was really annoying but at least you could use the DLC stuff without having to pay for it. 

 

This is too much... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

I understand that it's a stupid move but in many sports games there are ads to make the game more realistic, like in the 2K series. These are "fake" ads because they are the same you would see on a regular NBA broadcast.

 

In this particular case they aren't particularly invasive so why not?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

I understand that it's a stupid move but in many sports games there are ads to make the game more realistic, like in the 2K series. These are "fake" ads because they are the same you would see on a regular NBA broadcast.

 

In this particular case they aren't particularly invasive so why not?

Hello there EA marketing manager. 

 

Yes, I always wanted ads in games for more realism. I think that you should also make artificially long loading times to fit more ads into them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×