EA Games Just Made A Mockery Of Games

Summary

The video discusses Electronic Arts (EA) Investor Day 2024, focusing on CEO Andrew Wilson's strategy to impress investors with AI advancements. Despite video games being EA's core business, the real focus for investors is the company's embrace of AI technology to drive future growth. The video critiques the presentation of user-generated content platforms and AI tools that promise efficiency but may compromise game quality. It highlights the growing role of AI in the gaming industry and its potential to alter traditional game development while catering more to shareholders than gamers.

Takeaways

• 📈 Andrew Wilson, EA's CEO, presented at the EA Investor Day 2024 with high stakes, as the company's stock is near an all-time high.
• 🎮 Investors are not just concerned about good games; they want to see EA’s strategy for future growth, with AI being a key talking point.
• 🤖 EA showcased their 'Imagination to Creation' AI technology, demonstrating how players can create in-game assets with simple text commands, aiming to be like Fortnite or Roblox.
• 🛑 The scripted AI feature appeared forced and cringe-worthy, especially with phrases like 'make it more epic,' suggesting that it lacked genuine innovation.
• 💰 EA is pushing the idea of user-generated content with AI at the core, intending to reduce dependence on game developers and increase profitability.
• 📊 Investors were targeted with ideas of growth and shareholder value, but the reality is that AI might not translate directly into successful games.
• ⚽ EA is integrating AI into its sports games, like mapping 150 stadiums and 11,000 players in their college football game, which shows practical use of AI.
• 💡 Despite the hype, many of EA's AI initiatives resemble machine learning techniques that have been around for years but are now repackaged as 'AI' to appeal to investors.
• 🧠 While AI can improve workflows and content creation, it risks being misused by executives who don't fully understand the gaming industry, leading to subpar results.
• 😬 EA's investor presentation exposed a disconnect between corporate goals and consumer expectations, with a focus on impressing shareholders over delivering genuinely enjoyable gaming experiences.

Q & A

What is the significance of EA's Investor Day 2024?

EA's Investor Day 2024 is significant because it's the first time in 8 years that the event is being held, during which EA CEO Andrew Wilson has to convince investors, like pension managers, that EA's future strategies, particularly involving AI, will ensure growth and shareholder value.

Why is it important for Andrew Wilson to impress investors at this event?

Andrew Wilson needs to impress investors because if EA’s strategies, especially around AI and user-generated content, don’t resonate with investors, the company’s stock could fall, leading to negative press during his scheduled TV interviews.

What role does AI play in EA's future strategy?

AI is a central part of EA's future strategy, as demonstrated by their focus on generative AI tools for game creation, which they showcased during the event. EA aims to leverage AI to create user-generated content efficiently, potentially leading to exponential growth in content creation without relying on large development teams.

What is the 'imagination to creation' system showcased by EA?

The 'imagination to creation' system is a tool EA demonstrated that allows users to create game content using simple text prompts, which is then translated into game assets. This AI-powered tool aims to streamline the content creation process, allowing users to create their own game experiences.

Why are investors drawn to EA’s AI strategy?

Investors are drawn to EA's AI strategy because it promises a new level of efficiency and scalability. With AI and user-generated content, EA aims to solve the limitation of needing more game developers by having users create content, which could lead to increased profitability.

How does EA plan to integrate user-generated content into their games?

EA plans to integrate user-generated content by offering tools that allow players to create and customize their own game environments and experiences using no-code systems, similar to platforms like Fortnite or Roblox. This system is powered by AI, allowing for infinite content creation.

What concerns are raised about EA’s AI-driven content creation strategy?

There are concerns that EA’s AI-driven content creation strategy could lead to low-quality, unbalanced gameplay experiences. Critics argue that good games require thoughtful design and balance, which AI-generated content might not provide, leading to 'slop' rather than well-crafted games.

What recent changes in EA’s gaming portfolio were highlighted during the event?

EA announced several changes to their gaming portfolio, including a third Jedi game, Skate entering Steam Early Access in 2025, Apex Legends regaining player sentiment after changes to its business model, updates to Battlefield with multiple studios working on it, and continued updates for Sims 4 without a Sims 5 release.

What is EA’s goal with Project Air?

EA's Project Air is designed to create characters and interactive experiences using AI. This project aims to allow consumers to have dynamic interactions with AI-generated characters, showcasing the company’s AI capabilities to investors. It is part of EA’s broader push to demonstrate the use of AI in enhancing user experience.

What is the key message that EA wants to convey to investors regarding AI?

The key message EA wants to convey to investors is that AI is not just a buzzword but a fundamental part of their business strategy. They aim to use AI to enhance content creation and improve game development efficiency, which they believe will drive future growth and profitability for the company.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Stock Market Pressure on EA's CEO

Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, is under pressure to deliver a successful presentation at the EA investor day on September 17th, 2024, as the company's stock is near its all-time high. The narrative highlights the importance of investor relations and the potential consequences of failing to impress, such as a stock price drop and defensive TV interviews. The script also touches on the broader gaming industry and the influence of AI, suggesting that Wilson needs to convince investors like Jim, a pension manager unfamiliar with video games but aware of the industry's significance and the impact of AI.

05:01

🎮 EA's Vision for Infinite Content Creation

EA envisions a future where a system with a vast library of assets allows user-generated content creation similar to Fortnite or Roblox. This approach aims to address the imbalance between the limited number of game developers and the vast potential consumer base. The script critiques EA's demonstration of this concept, suggesting it appears unpolished and lacks the finesse of carefully designed games. It also points out the disconnect between what impresses investors—efficiency and growth potential—and what makes a good game, which is not just about quantity but quality and balance.

10:01

🤖 EA's AI Initiatives and Investor Perception

The script discusses EA's AI initiatives, such as Project Air, which allows for the creation of characters and experiences using AI. It highlights the company's attempt to showcase AI as a key part of their strategy to investors, who may not fully understand the gaming industry but are enticed by the potential of AI. The narrative also includes a humorous example of EA creating a non-existent investor character named Ace Toai to demonstrate the capabilities of their AI. The script suggests that while EA's AI efforts might seem impressive to investors, they may not necessarily translate to better games or experiences for players.

15:03

📚 The Reality of AI in Game Development

This paragraph delves into the practical applications of AI in game development at EA, such as using machine learning for asset creation in EA Sports College Football and content curation in The Sims. The script contrasts the realistic uses of AI in game development with the exaggerated claims made to investors. It also addresses the ethical dilemmas and potential misuse of AI, suggesting that while AI can enhance creativity, it can also lead to the production of low-quality content if misused or misunderstood. The narrative concludes with a critique of EA's investor day, suggesting that the company's focus on impressing investors may come at the expense of creating quality games.

Keywords

💡Investor Day

Investor Day refers to a formal event where companies, like EA, present their financial performance and future plans to investors. In this video, EA held its Investor Day in 2024 for the first time in eight years, making it a significant moment to showcase strategies such as AI and user-generated content to secure investor confidence. The pressure on EA’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, to ensure the success of the event reflects the high stakes involved.

💡Generative AI

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can create new content, such as text, images, or even game elements, based on input prompts. In the video, EA demonstrates its use of generative AI in their gaming platform to allow users to create game content without coding. This AI strategy is crucial to the company’s pitch to investors, as they aim to position it as a revolutionary tool for efficiency and scalability in game development.

💡User-Generated Content

User-Generated Content (UGC) refers to content created by users rather than the company itself. EA’s vision, as discussed in the video, is to allow players to generate game content through simple AI interfaces. This is compared to platforms like Fortnite and Roblox, where players contribute to the content ecosystem. For investors, this means potentially unlimited content creation without the need for a large development team.

💡Apex Legends

Apex Legends is one of EA’s flagship games, specifically a battle royale-style shooter. In the video, the presenter discusses how EA adjusted the game’s business model to improve player sentiment, but these changes led to missed revenue targets. This example is used to illustrate the delicate balance between player satisfaction and profitability, a key theme in the investor discussion.

💡Shareholder Value

Shareholder value refers to the financial returns generated for investors or shareholders of a company. In the video, this concept is central to understanding why EA focuses on AI and user-generated content: these strategies aim to boost profitability and growth, which will in turn increase the company’s stock value. It reflects how companies like EA are driven by the need to continuously create value for their shareholders.

💡Project Air

Project Air is an initiative by EA to integrate AI in character creation and user experiences within their games. In the video, this is showcased as a novel way to engage players by allowing them to interact with AI-generated characters. For instance, an AI-generated character, Ace Toai, is created as an example of how this technology could work. The concept highlights EA’s push toward automating game development and personalization using AI.

💡No-Code Development

No-code development refers to tools or platforms that allow users to create software or digital content without writing code. EA’s new content creation system, powered by AI, is presented in the video as enabling no-code development for users, allowing them to build games and experiences by simply providing text-based instructions. This innovation is positioned as a way to democratize game development, making it accessible to a broader audience.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency, in the context of the video, refers to the ability to produce more content or products with fewer resources. EA’s pitch to investors revolves around using AI to increase efficiency by reducing the need for large development teams. By leveraging user-generated content and AI-driven tools, EA hopes to streamline the game development process, thus saving time and money while still delivering a high volume of content.

💡AI Husk

AI Husk, as mentioned in the video, refers to the artificial and automated aspects of a product, in this case, the use of AI to generate a game cover star (e.g., Jude Bellingham) for EA's football game without genuine human creativity. This term illustrates the growing concern that AI may lead to less personalized, lower-quality content, something that might be acceptable to investors focused on efficiency but troubling to players and creators.

💡Monetization Platform

A monetization platform is a business model or system through which a company generates revenue from its products or services. In the video, EA’s strategy of using AI and user-generated content is framed as creating a new monetization platform. By allowing users to generate their own content, EA can continuously monetize the platform through microtransactions or other revenue streams, potentially leading to exponential growth without needing to expand their development team.

Highlights

Andrew Wilson, EA's CEO, faces a pivotal moment during EA Investor Day 2024, with the company's stock near its all-time high and AI as a key focus.

The event is the first EA Investor Day in eight years, emphasizing the importance of the day for the company’s future growth strategies.

Investors are looking beyond just good games; they want to hear how EA is incorporating AI and how this will shape the future of the company's business.

AI is seen as a crucial component by investors like Jim, a hypothetical pension manager, who is more interested in tech advancements like AI rather than specific games.

EA announces a third game in the Jedi series and other major game developments, such as Skate hitting Early Access in 2025 and Apex Legends adjusting its business model.

Despite positive player sentiment, Apex Legends missed its revenue targets due to a reduction in monetization tactics.

Battlefield is in development with four studios and has been tested internally for over a year, with public testing expected in 2025.

No Sims 5 is planned; instead, EA focuses on ongoing updates for Sims 4 and introduces new multiplayer and mobile experiences.

The concept of generative AI plays a central role in EA’s future, with tools enabling user-generated content akin to Fortnite or Roblox.

AI tools like 'Imagination to Creation' allow users to create game elements with simple commands, though it’s met with skepticism from gaming purists.

Investors are more focused on how EA can increase efficiency and profitability through AI, rather than the quality of the games themselves.

Project Air is revealed, an AI initiative that allows consumers to interact with AI-generated characters, showing EA's commitment to AI.

AI and machine learning are already being used to map 150 stadiums and 11,000 players for EA Sports College Football, showcasing practical applications of AI in game development.

Investors are increasingly interested in companies with AI strategies, seeing it as a future growth driver, similar to how they viewed the rise of Nvidia and Microsoft.

Despite embracing AI, EA is criticized for promoting gimmicky and cringe-inducing AI implementations, like the Jude Bellingham AI promo for EA Football Club 2025.

Transcripts

Andrew Wilson is about to step on stage

he's EA CEO and the company's stock is

near its all-time high that's good news

but Andrew knows what's on the line he

knows that if their plan does not land

the stock will fall he knows that if

that happens he'll spend his already

scheduled TV interviews having to play

defense the day is September 17th the

event is EA investor day 2024 and it's

the first time they've held this event

in 8 years you and me we think video

games we think just make good games they

will sell well and your investors will

be happy but I think we both know that

it's not really like that in reality

generically we can judge someone by how

they treat service staff in a situation

like this we can judge an executive team

by how they talk to investors because

it's not about you or I if Dragon Age is

good that won't fundamentally change the

business of EA it won't trigger a stock

rally a stock rally that will be great

for the shareholders which of course

does include the executives because they

in large part are compensated with stock

now that paints a dramatic and

simplistic view of things in reality

it's a bit more like this Andrew needs

to convince Jim now we don't know Jim

but let's just say that Jim is a pension

manager Jim doesn't exactly know what a

video game is but he does know the

gamees industry is pretty important Jim

also knows that AI is Big so when Jim

thinks about where he puts his pension

fund as the fund manager well Jim's

going to want to hear what Andrew's got

to say about Ai and that is how today's

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investor day 2024 then look I care about

The Games first so here's what we

learned on the games front before we

jump into uh the delicious fun there is

going to be a third Jedi game skate will

hit steam Early Access in 2025 they say

that Apex Legends regained player

sentiment when they altered their rather

reviled business model to make it a

little bit nicer but uh because of that

well they have said that they've missed

their revenue targets uh in the game

because uh you know sad reduction in

cash grabbing as for Battlefield well

it's got four Studios and a tack team

working on it there's a game with single

player multiplayer and alleged BR

features that has been tested internally

for over a year with public testing next

year and finally for the games this Sims

there will be no Sims 5 Sims 4 gets

constant updates a mobile and

multiplayer experience alongside a movie

and a brand wide platform thrilling

stuff but uh you know not the point

today in investors are the point

investors do want more games more

widgets but they also know generative AI

is important and uh well that's why

everybody else is a bit angry at EA I

hope you're ready to make it more epic

and yes make it more epic is a quote

here extracted by Jeff key alongside a

video showcase of what EA call

imagination to Creation which is pretty

cringe we see in this a chatbot

interface face and a game engine pretty

simple you give it text tell it what to

do and it places stuff you ask for some

characters for your game a little popup

appears you select your characters and

our demo sees a grenade based

multi-level box maze PVP experience

that's lots of fun but Fun's not enough

we need spectacle and that is when the

words happen make it more

epic wow are you seeing this yeah that's

awesome yeah you heard it make it more

epic and uh a pyramid appears in the

Horizon for some reason so to make sense

of this here's the plan give this system

a massive library of assets and cod wrap

it in a user generated content product

akin to say fortnite or Roblox players

make things using no code and uh there

you go infinite content of course I look

at this you look at this and we think uh

that's slop we know that a good game

needs fine-tuned balance we know it's

the design that makes something

something good not just what's

generically learned from an EA data set

this is not Halo forge this is not

mapping and time Splitters or some

unhinged Gary's Mod map no it is none of

those things it is awful looking it does

not appear to be fun but for investors

they don't understand any of that the

bull case for them is a true step change

in efficiency you see the company exists

to generate shareholder value remember

the embracer group I just love one of

the quotes from Lars who's the CEO of

basically you know our overriding

principle is shareholder value and that

is of course said in the context of all

the lovely things that embracer group

did but that's just how these companies

run and when one looks at the price of a

company often profitability and a

expectation of growth are priced into

the current price so if you want your

stock to go more than just sideways you

need a big exciting bull case you need

something to show people you need a

little bit of fomo saying this is our

Direction it is Big its results will be

big and it is not priced into the market

yet so if you're a rational investor you

should put your money here with us

because we are looking to the Future and

with a system like this they want to

solve the problem with the game's

business and that's game developers you

see the thing is you can only make so

many video games our species only

produces a small number of game

developers but every member of the

species is a potential consumer how do

you get around this problem we all know

the game projects don't always work out

sometimes they backfire and from that

excerpt from Jason tri's book that was

posted in Bloomberg well we know that

one of the CFOs who was thrown into

Blizzard Entertainment who uh came from

the soap industry that individual just

thought hey you can make more games by

opening up more development offices

which is obviously not how it works but

it does show that there's a class of

executive investor who genuinely does

not understand how this industry works

so so that's why a case like this a cell

like this in EA investor day is pretty

good-looking the idea is you build user

generated content tools you have people

make their own maps and modes you then

monetize the platform and give yourself

a massive split because of course if you

monetize the platform you can just

recruit your users to make the content

and if you do that successfully

congratulations you can now grow

exponentially as a technology platform

with content made by your users and you

don't really need to be constrained by

uh you know hiring good development

teams that's obviously the opposite of

why we like games but to investors it's

catnip especially for investors who want

more AI in their portfolio but they

don't want to be too Consolidated in

Nvidia and Microsoft and that's why

looking at this video it all looks like

we look at the UI we laugh at

the obvious fakery we look at how the

character select ction screen is

obviously a mockup and is pulling in

characters that just make no cohesive

sense but the investors are blind to

that instead they feel safe knowing that

in the face of Roblox and fortnite EA is

demonstrating a robust user generated

content strategy but one that is built

with artificial intelligence at its core

the best bit though for us is that we

can look at EA's recent track record

including a track record that they think

is so good they they can show it to

their investors for you and me though we

just get to have a free laugh EA

football club 2025 pretty awesome you

don't have to give FIFA licensing money

and you got all of the same Ultimate

Team Revenue this time though promoted

by the AI husk of coverstar Jude

Bellingham yes I want you to assume the

brace position imagine the plane is

about to go down you need to assume the

brace position because it's the only way

you're going to survive this cringe

let's see what Jude said

it's like a dream come true stepping

onto the pitch for the first time it was

a surreal feeling I mean I grew up

watching Real Madrid I even played as

them in EA Games with my brother joke so

to actually play for real in front of

all those fans it's something you can't

really explain EA actually did this they

thought this was shippable and a good

idea but it kind of gets worse it brings

me to project air you will love this Mr

Wilson assures me and you that quote AI

is not merely a buzzword to us you know

he has a deep passion and conviction a

passion and conviction that has led to

this here's how EA described project air

right project air lets us build

characters that we the consumer can have

experiences with I mean I don't know

about you fellow consumer but I enjoy

having experiences with characters but

as a cute flourish to really show off

their technology and action enter Ace

toi legendary investor world-renowned

venture capitalist who knows how to to

play his cards right stunning stuff but

that's just a character bio no as he a

themselves said we need to be able to

have experiences with Ace because while

Ace toai is not a real person Ace toai

has been created by EA's new project air

they entered the prompt I'm thinking a

high State PC who swims in the waters of

innovation with that prompt our man is

created Ace to sigh they then decide to

give Ace a challenge this of course is

the experience how about pitching him a

business idea and seeing if I can lock

in an investment now to be clear this is

not some sort of elaborate joke they

actually showcase this the idea of

making your own character have any

experience with him they thought they do

this legendary investor character as a

as a way to be cute towards the uh the

attending audience for EA investor day

2024 obviously if they were going to be

a bit more targeted to The Gamers they

would have made it altogether a lot more

steamy and related to the Dragon Age

franchise anyhow it's obvious

they want to get to a place where they

don't need to rely on game development

efforts and Patch cycles and content

cadences where they want this stuff to

just be existing and users creating the

content for themselves all in a way

where EA continually get paid obviously

though that is far off let's today talk

about what they're doing in the video

games right now so we've just survived a

whole bunch of investor buffoonery the

sorts of things that Andrew Wilson will

be saying to investors to basically get

them thinking that that EA is amazing

but let's talk about the concrete how it

actually impacts how we play games and

how games are made there's a few

examples whenever they talk about using

AI for EA Sports college football what

they mean is using machine learning

stuff right using photos to map 150

stadiums and 11,000 players they did

that as pre-production which then

allowed for the full development of the

game to start with all the assets that

they needed I think that's a really good

usage of that technology how else are

you going to get like college football

with 11,000 players and all of the

different stadiums how are you going to

get that in the game especially for say

your local team that is pretty cool

whenever EA president Laura melee says

that the Sims platform is going to use

AI to take a player request and surface

matching content from a library of a 100

million assets she is reasonable I mean

maybe that's standard machine learning

maybe they do use a large language model

to sort of process the uh the player

request but that's the kind of thing

that makes sense and in many ways has

existed for a long time because be it a

modern smartphone camera a Google search

or so many things that we've been using

for the last two decades it's existed

under the name of machine learning for

years and years and years the difference

is that to promote this to investors you

got to wrap it up in a sexier package

one that they can understand one that

looks similar to the thing that made

Nvidia explode in stock price and that's

why regular run-of-the mail machine

learning is just going to be called AI

even though its intelligence is so

singular and limited that it's not

really that and this of course extends

to techniques that enable better

upscaling that maybe agid you in

photogrammetry like we saw in sports uh

college football that enables your small

local College Stadium to actually be in

a video game but the thing is that to

investors those don't really matter

seeing AI matters and that makes our job

hard because by the definition that

companies use to sell themselves to

investors Blizzard Entertainment uses

Artificial Intelligence on World of

Warcraft well they actually do is they

use machine learning to resize helmets

to fit different races because that's

grunt work that no artist wants to do

and so we end up in this strange

situation where to the SE Suite AI is

just other chance to signal that they a

forward-looking investable company we've

been here with crypto almost every major

company talked up having deeply

integrated crypto plans how much of that

has actually happened in a way that has

moved the needle for a consumer I mean

it's basically not happened but what I

would say is that Ai and how it's

developing now is more powerful it

Sparks more ethical dilemmas and so in

the very best instance a professional

can work out how to use new technologies

in their workflow be that traditional

machine learning or yes even using a

large language model I do actually use

large language models a fair bit do you

know what it's for uh some copy editing

stuff red teaming my own work because I

just know that I have some pitfalls as a

writer and um just having a more

accurate spell check that's really

useful but the point is most of what

I've done for the last 10 years is

writing I know what good looks like so I

know how to use a new tool to make my

human creativity better but that's the

problem here that's the best case

scenario best is not default and right

now incentives steer Us in the opposite

direction that's why Electronic Arts

spent an investor day humiliating

themselves to their customers and to

their workers because for the workers

they see this they know it looks bad and

the best that they can expect is to

receive Half Baked tools made by

Engineers working to the specs of

Executives and that is why I even as

somebody who by default is a techno

Optimist have a little bit of a dim view

of where this stuff is going to go I can

see these things being used well I can

see the technology unlocking better

opportunities but I know the people who

actually have the power who actually

move the needle well they are the ones

that have just forced AI into insert

whatever normal consumer application you

use where it is unwelcome unhelpful and

at best just promotes the factory

farming of slop content and that's why

we must always examine the incentives

just like what we did investigating the

implosion of one of Indie Gaming's

greatest Publishers watch it next

there's even a billionaire Island

involved how can you not click it's

going to replace my face in like half a

second