I’m going to get downvoted to oblivion, I’m fully aware.
There are many things I don’t know anything about. But I do know a fair bit about this area.
And with great respect to the worriers, this just will not happen.
The investment team that’s bought EA have many other “western” investments they’ve never interfered with, even though they do a great deal of things that the orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia would disagree with. The layers between “what I [claim] to believe” and “make me the most amount of money” are many and includes people from all over the world. If anyone thinks Saudi royalty will sit and make determinations about what games EA will ship they can stop worrying right now. The Saudi monarchy is worrying about two things only: As much money as possible and staying in power.
This is an investments like so many others. It will be ordered to profit-maximise - and if that requires one-upping Doom in gore, and shipping a new edition of Gay Paradise 2000 every 6 months - they will do exactly that.
This is a complete storm in a tea cup.
The Saudi monarchy hates Islam and is shackled by it. Saudi Arabia had been on a “liberalization” plan under MBS, and it’ll be western soon enough.
They’re following UAE’s doorsteps, and they’re even worse. You can now buy alcohol in public in UAE. You need a license (pay money and don’t be Muslim) or be a tourist, but it’s otherwise unrestricted. You can already wear almost nothing and you can literally be a Zionist who calls Muslims snakes and terrorist and you’ll be welcomed on a red carpet.
Saudi wants that, they just don’t have control tight enough over their population to get away with that yet.
So yes, they will not enforce Sharia on EA games, they’re hoping one day they don’t have to do any "moral’ restrictions on content domestically. As long as it brings in money.
Yeah the Saudi elites are hedonists behind closed doors. The monarchy needs to have the blessing from the clergy to stay in power so they need to be pious in public. Like it’s a open secret that the Saudi elite men fuck western prostitutes on the regular on their yachts in international waters.
You did say two contradictory things here. You said they won’t interfere, but also the only thing they care about is staying in power. This isn’t exclusive to them, but they will use it to maintain their power if it’s useful for that. If a game was going to be critical of them, it probably won’t be made. (It probably wouldn’t have been anyway, because the only thing that could come from it, for the former owners, is losing investments.) Yeah, they don’t care about Islam. That’s fair game, but they aren’t.
I doubt they can make EA any worse.
Ah ye of little faith. Rest assured, it can always get worse, as we will soon learn.
Imagine buying an EA game. Smooth brains only.
I’ve had a personal EA boycott going for over 10 year snow. One of the best decisions I’ve made and I’ve never regretted it once.
The only time I “regretted” it was when I bought KOTOR 1 off steam, then I saw the EA credits and I used the refund policy to say “I bought this against my boycott and I didn’t know EA was involved”.
I got my money back.
Yeah sure buddy What s the average playtime of a Kotor run ?
In order to see the EA logo? Maybe 10 seconds?
Yeah could be. I thought he sas talking about end credit. Anyway that story doesn’t make any sens cause on steam u can hide publisher and if not u see clearly who’s it is before buying. So the whole story my boycott is so important steam refunded me doesn’t make sens either way
Never been a big EA fan. … only titles I’ve played is the first couple need for speeds. Battlefield, dead space and NCAA football. Before it was discontinued I’d buy it almost every year.
I purchased the first year it came back but haven’t purchased one since.
If I was an EA employee my biggest fear would be to be cut up into tiny pieces for disagreeing with the boss. Like jamal khashoggi
That’s how the whole AAA level of the games industry already works: the people at the top greenlight what they want to greenlight.
It’s just adding a new layer to the mix when the people at the top are literally the royal family of an oppressive monarchy with openly fucked human rights practices.
(looks at the current CEO’s of most the big companies.)
I mean, I get where you’re going… but it’s assholes all the way up.
You’re not wrong, but I feel like there are subtle levels to these things.
If I start up a game and a logo comes up for Namco or Square Enix or whatever, most of them don’t make me think, “oh, I remember that time their owners assassinated a journalist, it made the international news, and they fully got away with it anyway.” That’s no longer the case for an EA logo.
The gay Sims are going to have a really bad time when the public beheading update comes.
I’ve been worried, especially for the Sims, The Sims has been an LGBT Friendly game series since the beginning. Saudi Arabia is not very LGBT Friendly.
The Sims played a great part in helping me accept myself. it’d be a shame if they strayed from those values.
There’s Paralives now as an alternative
What game is it that they’ve got in mind that is likely to be killed off? If we were talking about the EA of old then sure they would have had a point but the new corporate EA that’s been around for the last two decades doesn’t have anything that could be considered controversial.
The Sims has gay people in it. Saudi Arabia really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really doesn’t like gay people.
Oh we’re gonna see same sex relation censor patches soon for sure.
Weird. I think they like them a lot more than they let on (sandy sexy secrets).
Women being allowed to be in public without a male guardian is controversial in Saudi Arabia, dude. It’s not going to take much.
Which EA game is that again?
Outside ™
Excellent graphics but boring story.
Yeah that’s right, you can’t think of any actual game can you. They don’t make anything anymore except sports games and infinite Sims expansion packs.
Maybe the next Sims won’t fuck anymore? Or the women won’t get to be as extravagant as in previous versions ?
Saudi killing off EA’s cash cow because of Sharia would be pretty funny.
Just imagine the sharia mod of the Sims… heads be rolling…
The female sims will have a fulfilling existence, just limited to the confines of their home and subject to their husband’s authority. /s
Let’s hope we can flog them if they don’t obey as well then :) And cut a bunch of hands when catching something stealing some bread out of the bin. And beheadings all those dudes looking vaguely gay or too secular.
Just like the good ol’ days in the Bronze Age.
Surprised Pikachu!
Sounds like an EA problem to me.
Having not playing an EA game in over 2 decades because they are a shitty company with shitty practices that make shitty games, fuck 'em.
Let’s hope they get what they deserve.
Open market is great, this is what we want - money rules all
They’ll just make a new Call of Duty series where you defend Aramco oil assets from terrorist invaders.
um sweaty it’s called battlefield, CoD is owned by Activison which is run by the Epstein affilicated people like Bobby Kotick , and not the journalist murdering saudis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khashoggi
they will never revive CNC, especially generals which has the GLA.
LOL
