Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

As if things couldn't get any worse, now EA are looking at ways of putting adverts in video games to squeeze every possible penny from you.

We have mass layoffs with CEOs taking no responsibility, AI being shoved in our faces everywhere possible to eventually replace everyone and now real-world adverts inside our video games too? When will this AAA enshittification of gaming end? Never, obviously. CEOs and their shareholders will never stop chasing every possible extra penny. Growth for growths sake and it simply must continue. Consume consumers!

Writing in their latest Earnings Call, Andrew Wilson - Electronic Arts Inc. - Chairman & CEO said:

"To answer your question on advertising broadly, again, I think it's still early on that front. And we have looked over the course of our history to be very thoughtful about advertising in the context of our play experiences. But again, as we think about the many, many billions of hours spent, both playing, creating, watching and connecting and where much of that engagement happens to be on the bounds of a traditional game experience, our expectation is that advertising has an opportunity to be a meaningful driver of growth for us."

Wilson continues:

"We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that, but we have teams internally in the company right now looking at how do we do very thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences. But more importantly, as we start to build community and harness the power of community beyond the bounds of our games, how do we think about advertising as a growth driver in those types of experiences?"

This only makes me think of that scene in Ready Player One, where they talk about selling up to 80% of your vision for adverts.

Pictured - Ready Player One, Warner Bros. Pictures

Also mentioned in the report is that Apex Legends continues to do well as it "grew 29 points over the last fiscal year" and as for Battlefield? A new one is on the way that "is going to be another tremendous live service". That's…certainly a way to describe an upcoming game.

For Linux and Steam Deck fans, EA are not exactly doing great. Their continued push for their home-grown EA anticheat has been causing problems because it's not supported at all. At least for now Apex Legends is safe with EAC which was just updated.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
11 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
47 comments
Page: 1/5»
  Go to:

dpanter May 13
EA desperate to surpass Ubisoft as the worst gaming company in history because why wouldn't you want to be number 1 on any list. Got a long way to go still but the gap is narrowing. Yay us.
grigi May 13
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
They may be "thoughtful" at first, but for sure isn't when it becomes accepted.

I've recently been playing Cyberpunk, and what struck me is how they shove adverts everywhere (it's part of the game world, so it's on purpose). It also upsets the in-game npc's sometimes.
Interesting that if you go to the wealthiest suburb alone, there are significantly less adds there,
Also very little ads if you go to dead towns/pacifica.

Like they know that you don't annoy the political powerful, and it's not worth it to sell to an audience that is either too poor or rebellious to buy.

It's a very sad commentary as to where we are going with the ensh***ification of things.
Belaptir May 13
Can't wait to keep avoiding this company as a whole!
based May 13
Isn't this old news? Or wrong company
Ehvis May 13
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
It's very simple to me. Ads are not compatible with paying. But in this case it's EA, so nothing is lost in the first place.
3lfk1ng May 13
Super Simple Solution:

Open Steam.
Select the Store.
Search for Electronic Arts.
Click on the "Gear" icon
Select "Ignore this Publisher"
Liam Dawe May 13
Quoting: basedIsn't this old news? Or wrong company
No, it's very clearly their 2024 report. They did briefly try something in the past, but they're once again looking at it and as quoted, have people working on it.
IvoLimmen May 13
You forgot a very relevant part of the Ready Player One reference: selling up to 80% of your vision for adverts before seizures set in
Nagezahn May 13
Quoting: 3lfk1ngSuper Simple Solution:

Open Steam.
Select the Store.
Search for Electronic Arts.
Click on the "Gear" icon
Select "Ignore this Publisher"

Thanks, didn't know it was possible to ignore a whole publisher.
pb May 13
I don't like the idea itself, but to be the devil's advocate: it *can* be done right. Like Lucozade in Superfrog (the original release) or even whole sponsored games such as Cool Spot (7up), Zool (Chupa Chups) and Global Gladiators (McDonald's). So basically, product placement in games. I don't think people would necessarily mind that. Maaaaybe well-blended-in billboards (although SCS wanted to do that in Euro/American Truck Sims and there was a lot of backlash). But commercial breaks? No way. It shall not pass.


Last edited by pb on 13 May 2024 at 11:16 am UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.