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EA Executive Thinks Their Games Are Still Too Hard


Electronic Arts CCO Richard Hilleman just recently made some comments at the D.IC.E. summit about how new games are often still too difficult for new players to grasp. This was in response to interview questions from comedian Pete Holmes, who said he preferred standardized control lay-outs across titles.

“Our games are actually still too hard to learn, the average player probably spends two hours to learn how to play the most basic game. And asking for two hours of somebody’s time — most of our customers, between their normal family lives to find two contiguous hours to concentrate on learning how to play a video game is a big ask.”

Following Richard Hilleman’s remarks, Shadow of Mordor’s design director Michael de Plater stated that future games would include more and more RPG mechanics:

“Every game is an RPG now, you wouldn’t make a game without progression and levels and XP. And I think every game is going to be a social game…good ideas propagate.”

This is particularly interesting timing for me because YouTuber, Super Bunny Hop, recently made a thought provoking video on how design trends can ruin otherwise good games. The video itself evokes memories of Gun Valkyrie for me… If you have the time, check out the video. It’s an interesting contrast to the quotes above:

How Design Trends Ruin Great Games

Thanks: GameSpot