Did EA Lie About Battlefield 4? Now Under Investigation

Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 4 problems persist. After all sorts of server and connectivity issues crippled the game experience of one of the company’s biggest titles, EA put everything else on hold to try to fix the game. With no end in sight, the stock is falling and investigators are snooping around to see if EA lied to investors and gamers before Battlefield 4′s release.

Law firm Holzer, Holzer & Fistel announced that it’s investigating whether EA and its executives “complied with the federal securities  laws between July 24, 2013 and December 4, 2013.” More specifically, according to the press release, “The investigation focuses on statements issued during that time regarding the development and sales of the Company’s Battlefield 4 video game and the game’s impact on EA’s revenue and projects moving forward.”

A quick news search will tell you that Holzer, Holzer & Fistel initiates a lot of investigations into public companies, none of which at first glance appear to have resulted in any actual lawsuit or action. But that doesn’t mean gamers or investors are happy about the continued issues with Battlefield 4. One group bought a video game expecting to be able to play it without problem, the other bought stock expecting returns from a game they didn’t know was broken.

EA stock fell over 7% last Thursday on the news that the company would delay future games and expansions from its developer DICE until further notice. EA recovered on Friday, but has slipped another 5.71% this week, with most of the damage coming on Wednesday.

This despite the fact that EA subsidiary developer DICE rolled out a new patch on Wednesday to improve the game’s stability. Clearly, investors aren’t convinced such measures have fixed the problems, and why would they? The official bug tracker still lists many issues as unsolved. Reportedly, Microsoft has started issuing refunds for the buggy Battlefield 4 Premium service.

Of further worry may be that EA has permanently damaged its reputation among gamers, which could affect its sales of other games in the future.

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Last line says is all.  I won't pre-order a game from EA DICE ever again.

FightingOkra75 wrote:

Last line says is all.  I won't pre-order a game from EA DICE ever again.

You sure? Videogamers have the attention span of goldfish. People complain and complain and complain about CoD, and then get the new one right away...   

Daaaaamn. I had no idea BF4 has so many issues.

Sr Slampiece wrote:

Daaaaamn.  I had no idea BF4 has so many issues.

Oh does it ever....

It's super apparent that the PC/PS4/One game was NOT even close to finished and they rushed to hit next gen launch (current gen version actually plays half decent in comparison).  The core of any game other than Conquest, which lets face it IS Battlefield, works well... it's just all crashy as hell and half-baked.  Many features are missing.... you can't edit your soldier... you have to go into a game to do so... no party/lobby system at all... server browser and commander browser is crap... etc etc.


It's a shame... when it works it's the best FPS out there by far... when it doesn't... it's the most frustrating FPS out there by far.


(not related: Welcome back buddy! this is Gun lol... that name is dead now)

i can definitely agree with the connectivity issues as i get booted completely out of the game atleast twice every time i play. but i totally agree wilth walldog, no matter how many issues a game title will have, people will still pre order it.

Sr Slampiece wrote:

Daaaaamn.  I had no idea BF4 has so many issues.

I haven't given it much of a shot on the X1.

I took Amazon 3 weeks to get the trade up deal turned around to me. I put it in and quick searched for Conquest.

Get into a match that was starting just fine.

800 tickets of bliss. 64 players. Action everywhere. I think I even managed to go positive after a slow start in the match.

I was pretty excited about it all as the scoreboard sat there and we counted down to the next match.

Then kicked back to the home screen like every thread you find on the internet. "Xbox Go to Call of Duty Ghosts"

And that was that. Will try again after I visit some forums that aren't full of "still getting kicked back to the home screen every other match" threads.

Ghosts runs like a dream on the X1 so I haven't had any reason to even try BF4 again. Maybe they'll get it all worked out in a few months but right now I just don't even bother with BF4.

Would rather battle my kid in Killer Instinct than play either to be honest.

TheCanisDirus wrote:

Sr Slampiece wrote:

Daaaaamn.  I had no idea BF4 has so many issues.

Oh does it ever....

It's super apparent that the PC/PS4/One game was NOT even close to finished and they rushed to hit next gen launch (current gen version actually plays half decent in comparison).  The core of any game other than Conquest, which lets face it IS Battlefield, works well... it's just all crashy as hell and half-baked.  Many features are missing.... you can't edit your soldier... you have to go into a game to do so... no party/lobby system at all... server browser and commander browser is crap... etc etc.


It's a shame... when it works it's the best FPS out there by far... when it doesn't... it's the most frustrating FPS out there by far.


(not related: Welcome back buddy!  this is Gun lol... that name is dead now)

Good to be back Gun.

Thanks for the welcome.

FightingOkra75 wrote:

Good to be back Gun.

Thanks for the welcome.

Of course man! So how you liking the One?! I didn't find the new controller as weird as i thought it would be at first. The sticks DEF are looser... but the triggers are badass! I just wish COD and BF would have incorporated gunshots into them. (must have been b/c of the time crunch)

Ill def have to hit you back up when i eventually grab a one. (maybe for Titanfall - if it turns out that good and they have the kinectless one for then)

I don't think you see a Kinectless X1 ever honestly. It for sure won't happen prior to 2015. The developers asked that the Kinect ship with every console so I think you'll see MSFT stick with that for at least the first 2 years. After that I think they can hit $399 with the Kinect in the box so they'll just lower price. JMO based on what I've seen.

The Kinect is just too integrated into the X1 for MSFT to leave it out of the box. Plus I think it generates sales and not the opposite.

I like the new Xbox One.

I like the Kinect.

I would recommend them to anyone who plays a ton of Call of Duty. If that was my primary form of entertainment then I'd upgrade today to the X1. You'll like the Kinect if you do. It is just fun and next gen and like I said all along, they did not put the Kinect in there primarily for gaming. It is there for UI reasons every bit as much as direct in game reasons if not more so.

It is going to be nice to see where MSFT takes this UI/Dashboard. It has a ton of potential with the Kinect attached to the system.

TheCanisDirus wrote:

Sr Slampiece wrote:

Daaaaamn.  I had no idea BF4 has so many issues.

Oh does it ever....

It's super apparent that the PC/PS4/One game was NOT even close to finished and they rushed to hit next gen launch (current gen version actually plays half decent in comparison).  The core of any game other than Conquest, which lets face it IS Battlefield, works well... it's just all crashy as hell and half-baked.  Many features are missing.... you can't edit your soldier... you have to go into a game to do so... no party/lobby system at all... server browser and commander browser is crap... etc etc.


It's a shame... when it works it's the best FPS out there by far... when it doesn't... it's the most frustrating FPS out there by far.


(not related: Welcome back buddy!  this is Gun lol... that name is dead now)

Gun, the current gen BF4 runs just as bad as every other version there are just different broken pieces. I have yet to finish a match on Dawnbreaker because it locks the console and I have console locks consistently on Shanghai Rising & Operation SpawnTrap Locker. Since release I have put 72 hours into it on the 360 (I have gone a full week 2 separate times without touching it) and I every single session I have played the console has locked at least twice and Horst & BD have frozen at least once in my squad. it is an across the board launch failure. But you are dead on.....when it is running right it is flat out the best there is.

I know most people will yell and scream about this stuff then be the 1st in line the next release, but I won't. My pre-order days are pretty much done. I didn't buy CoD this time around and I sure ain't pre-ordering the next BF or anything EA_DICE puts out. If I wanted to buy something unfinished with the promise that it will get better over time then I will buy seeds and grow corn....or kids listed on craigslist.

Isn't EA behind Titan Fall too?

Respawn must be loving this news.

I think Respawn is prepared for this. They didn't get crammed into a launch window and forced to beat Call of Duty's launch date while still working on other projects at the same time. I am pretty sure they have been working on it longer than DICE was on BF4. This is Respawns only title and sole focus, plus I have a little faith in Zampella still.

Was Titanfall ever supposed to be a launch title and then get pushed back?  If it was, then kudos to Respawn for not pushing out an unfinished product just to make the launch date. This is crazy that EA would do this on purpose.  Terrible.

So just to show them your dissatisfaction, I think all the BF guys should come play CoD.  Ghosts will save us all.  It's the perfect game!  lol  jk

NukeLaCoog wrote:

I think Respawn is prepared for this.  They didn't get crammed into a launch window and forced to beat Call of Duty's launch date while still working on other projects at the same time.  I am pretty sure they have been working on it  longer than DICE was on BF4.  This is Respawns only title and sole focus, plus I have a little faith in Zampella still.

I agree.

Respawn can still push the game back if they need to do so as well and nobody will have a fit as long as it releases next year.  I think they will release with a finished product.

Plus they are not simply a division of EA.  They have a contract with EA but that is as far as it goes.  Then we have the exclusive angle as well.

If the game isn't running then MSFT will send people to get it stable you can bank on that.  See Dead Rising 3 as exhibit A.  They have too much riding on it to not be testing it themselves.

The guys who made Call of Duty are going to deliver I hope.  We need something fresh bad.

FightingOkra75 wrote:

We need something fresh bad.

This x1000! I'm REALLY loving Blacklight though... (when its not having black ops 2 lag... still in beta on PS4 and last patch helped BIG) it's got a lot new and enough for it to feel sorta familiar. It feels like playing a no aim assist cross of Unreal/Quake twitch shooter with modern sort of weapons and no crazy shit. It's fun! I imagine TitanFall to be similar with more vertical movement. Cant wait for some more "new" shooters.

I want StarWars Battlefront... NOW! lol

I just hope Garden Warfare turns out okay.

It gets here before Titanfall and it looks like so much fun to me.

If EA manages to screw that one up I'm going to be pissed.

Did you get Minecraft? I thought you wanted that for the XB1?

TheCanisDirus wrote:

I want StarWars Battlefront... NOW! lol

THIS!  I LOVED Battlefront on the PS2, one of my all time favorite games.  Imagining it on a system 2 gens later gets me all tingly.

walldoggy wrote:

Did you get Minecraft?  I thought you wanted that for the XB1?

It isn't coming to the X1 for a while I think.

My kid plays his 360 more anyway still. Minecraft is still #1 lol.

PS3 port is up next they say.

X1 and PS4 have to wait til it is done I read somewhere.

I want more cross buy options for games like Minecraft.

Downloaded the latest patch for the One and so far, so good. Game hasn't crashed yet. Will have to give it more time before I declare the game fixed

Wall,

Minecraft will be on the PS3 starting Wednesday.

Current gen and the vita have to wait til 2014.

It won't let me post the link to the announcement today.

FightingOkra75 wrote:

Wall,

Minecraft will be on the PS3 starting Wednesday.

Current gen and the vita have to wait til 2014.

It won't let me post the link to the announcement today.

Cool. I sold one of my extra PS4's to a friend and his kid LOVES Minecraft. He just got it for PC though, so not sure if he's gonna get the PS4 version, although it looks like he'd have to wait anyways.