Stop being so Entitled, Shareholders

You can see that between Feb to Mar, it seems a bit steady, probably held up by Syndicate, Shank 2 and Warp. Then there's a bit of a spike in early March, probably due to positive spectulation from ME3's release, but it's been on the decline ever since. Probably due to cancellation of TOR subs?

If anything, though, this just means that modern war games sell (BF3). Chances are, they'll just can any upcoming fantasy projects (after KoA, do they have any more on the pipeline anyway?) and focus on regurgitating moar Battlefields.

Hardly surprising. I just feel sorry for the thousand people losing their jobs - but I can't sympathise with EA as a corporation due to their consumer-hostile policies.

Overall profits at EA are down very little compared to last year, maybe the investors are seeing the drop in retail sales and coming to the wrong conclusions? I dunno, seems odd to me.

I don't get all that "hate EA" hype.

EA games are mostly good or at least mediocre. They also become ridiculously cheap real fast (at least in Poland). For example, a game that costs 135 PLN in january, will probably cost 50 PLN in September (from 40 EUR to 12 EUR)

And their DLC and "Being online" policy is nothing different than any other major gaming company.

Why do you hate EA?

If I would have to pick one from Activision, Ubisoft and EA, I would definitely pick EA as the best one.

Is it just hip to dislike EA or it's something more?

Aw man! I thought that shitting on your customers guaranteed success?

The people who buy stock in EA are the sorts of people who would rather play actual golf than the Tiger Wood PGA whateveryearitis game. While stocks go up and down depending on the kinds of stories surrounding the company, I highly doubt the reasons that keep EA's stock afloat is really their game releases (save for the massive ones like Mass Effect or Battlefield).

EA Games are too expensive, and too many DLCs. Sorry EA, the world has spoken.

I'm not trying to be 'hip' and I didn't say I 'hated' EA.

Suffice it to say that I disagree with their DRM policies for PC games, and their after-sales support is quite poor. They're not getting special treatment, as I also disagree with UbiSoft's policies and practices. Both companies have shown a significant disregard for their paying customers, so I no longer support either of these publishers on PC.

It is a matter of principle, and a personal choice.

With digital downloads, Indie developers, and Kickstarter projects, big publishers like EA will eventually go the way of the dinosaurs unless they reinvent themselves.

Well said, and I agree. Well, with mostly everything except hating EA. Because I do. They've taken great game(s)/series and destroyed them.

And yes, I don't like any company that treats ME like a criminal just because others are criminals. And that's what a lot of EA's recent DRM attempts have felt like to me.

YMMV.

If this does cause even mild concern for the EA board (which I doubt it will), it will be bad news. I wouldn't like to be the indy developers that have successfully cornered a dinosaur, I've heard they can be quite big.

EA's shown an ability to adapt to changing circumstances--I think they'll find a way to continue to make money. I take more of a sanguine view regarding EA than others--I don't hate them--I see it as what it is--a corporation--nothing more, nothing less. And like most corporations, EA's out to make money. I don't begrudge them that--I have no problem at all with the free enterprise system or anyone getting rich. Nor do I have a problem with reasonable measures to prevent piracy--although the best measure I think is to offer products at a reasonable price--that'll probably cut down a lot of your piracy right there.

What I have a problem with is poor customer service, intrusive and potentially damaging DRM systems such as Origins and I most definitely have a problem when a company such as EA can prevent someone from playing a single player game because that person was suspended from an EA forum. Although EA has changed that policy to where an individual can now access single-player content, it still sets a dangerous precedent.

TL;DR version: All in all I neither love nor hate EA. Love and hate are both powerful emotions and not to be given out lightly--I save them for people or things that really earn them.

While I agree with you, I think this is actually precisely the reason that the stock price fell. I think the stock price change has a great deal to do with how The Old Republic did (or didn't do, as the case may be). Investors saw how WoW did, so they, in standard investor group-think, figured that if they threw 10 times the money at TOR, it would garner 10 times the profits. While TOR's release was good, it wasn't nearly THAT good, so stockholders got disillusioned and sold their EA shares. In my experience, most investors are not so good at understanding the software development process.

As a disclaimer, I think I own some EA shares in one of my managed accounts; I don't know for sure, because, as long as an account is performing well, I generally don't pay attention to every single transaction the manager makes. That right there serves to reinforce both our points, I think. ;)

EDIT:
I just checked, it looks like the manager in question sold most of the EA shares in January and the rest in February. At least I remembered correctly that I had EA shares at one point. :P

If not for licensing issue, 2K Sports and Konami would have little problem at murder them in sports franchise.