6 ms·

> Disney have a fundamental, core company value of “No Gambling” > For a concrete example: Every cruise line has an onboard casino – except for Disney cruise s

> Disney have a fundamental, core company value of “No Gambling” > For a concrete example: Every cruise line has an onboard casino – except for Disney cruise ships. Wow that puts some teeth behind this debacle. I was under the impression this would be a lot of noise and battlefront 3 would sell a billion copies.

wlkr 9y ago
I was totally unaware that Disney so vehemently stuck to their "No Gambling" value. Searching for further reading I found an interesting blog post [0] which explains how new (Marvel, LucasFilm) Disney IP is (was) being removed from slot machines and gambling games. [0] https://www.onlinecasinoselite.org/post/disney-claims-the-rights-on-star-wars-and-marvel-slots https://www.onlinecasinoselite.org/post/disney-claims-the-ri...
- digi_owl 9y ago
  There was also a PC game, Marvel Heroes, that had their contract pulled recently for no apparent reason. Some in the player community has claimed that the CEO had a rap sheet and Disney was pull out because of the whole Metoo thing, but pulling out over the heavy use of loot box mechanics may make more sense.
Fiahil 9y ago
Indeed, this is the most interesting information in this article. I will definitively look for Disney's reaction !
lettergram 9y ago
Apparently, they are down 60 percent over the previous versions sales[1]. And their stock is tumbling from all sales. [1] https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-11-20-star-wars-battlefront-2-physical-sales-down-60-per-cent-on-battlefront-1 https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-11-20-star-wars-battlefro...
- BoorishBears 9y ago
  *Down 60 percent in physical sales Physical sales have been declining across the board. And their stock is at a 5 year high almost exactly 5 years after doom and gloom over how SimCity’s DRM debacle would end EA.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - eppsilon 9y ago
    To be fair, the stock market in general is near all-time highs. I agree that SimCity didn't have much impact on its own though.
  - harlanlewis 9y ago
    Physical sales down 60% yoy is far from the industry norm [1]: 2016: down 17% (5 percentage points) 2015: down 18% (8pp) 2014: down 13% (7pp) 2013: down 15% (8pp) (this isn’t a perfect comparison, because the battlefield number is change in count while the industry numbers are change in share, but it’s a starting point) (edit: despite the industry-wide decrease in share, physical sales have actually been increasing in count since 2013 [2], making the Battlefield decline in physical sales look even worse) Unless they significantly changed how they sell in different channels (news to me), there has to be something title-specific beyond delivery format cannibilazation going on. Hard to speculate if that’s primarily the PR backlash or a combination of things (title fatigue, short release cycle since last edition, quality…). I imagine EA is pretty resilient against a single title underperforming though, be it SimCity or Battlefield or whatever else. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/190225/digital-and-physical-game-sales-in-the-us-since-2009/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/190225/digital-and-physi... [2] https://www.statisticbrain.com/video-game-yearly-sales/ https://www.statisticbrain.com/video-game-yearly-sales/
swivelmaster 9y ago
The most popular Marvel and Star Wars mobile games have used loot boxes since their respective releases 2+ years ago.
- ctrl-j 9y ago
  > The most popular Marvel and Star Wars mobile games have used loot boxes since their respective releases 2+ years ago. Is it possible Disney execs simply did not recognize that an in-game mechanic not commonly called "gambling" was in fact gambling? Is it possible when they do a more thorough analysis, they may be upset by this?
  - swivelmaster 9y ago
    I worked on Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. I can't answer your question without breaking NDA. edit: Okay, I get that this is being downvoted for not contributing to discussion, but I just wanted to be clear about why I'm not chiming in on this one in particular, given that I'm generally very actively involved in discussions about stuff like this. I enjoyed working at EA very much, and I enjoyed working with the folks at Disney/Lucas as well. And as for the person who said 'just violate your NDA' - I openly associate this username with my real name and provide my contact information in my profile. I don't believe in hiding behind a username - this is me, these are my thoughts and opinions, not some amped-up avatar that I use to blow off steam on the internet.
    - joshuas 9y ago
      Can I buy a Lootbox that might have your answer in it?
    - username223 9y ago
      Then break it. They can hardly fire "swivelmaster."
    - mdorazio 9y ago
      You're downvoted for providing no value in your comment. If you want to comment a tease "I know the answer but can't tell you.", just don't comment at all.
jasonlotito 9y ago
Except when you look at all the other areas that Disney allows it's products to be sold via gambling mechanisms. Such a fundamental, core value that it can be proven false within a few seconds of searching.
Spooky23 9y ago
Disney has a long-term outlook for their brands and business. Disney as an entity will almost certainly exist in 2117. EA? I doubt it. They are doubling down on lazy skinner-box type gameplay models. Their entire business is one act of congress away from total vaporization.
hkmurakami 9y ago
Fascinating. Across the pond, Nintendo has a pretty hard stance against it (but not explicitly since their corporate history has strong gambling ties in the early 20th century), and Akira Toriyama has refused to license his IP to the pachinko slot machine industry while almost every other peer of his has done so.

wlkr 9y ago

I was totally unaware that Disney so vehemently stuck to their "No Gambling" value. Searching for further reading I found an interesting blog post [0] which explains how new (Marvel, LucasFilm) Disney IP is (was) being removed from slot machines and gambling games. [0] https://www.onlinecasinoselite.org/post/disney-claims-the-rights-on-star-wars-and-marvel-slots https://www.onlinecasinoselite.org/post/disney-claims-the-ri...

digi_owl 9y ago
There was also a PC game, Marvel Heroes, that had their contract pulled recently for no apparent reason. Some in the player community has claimed that the CEO had a rap sheet and Disney was pull out because of the whole Metoo thing, but pulling out over the heavy use of loot box mechanics may make more sense.

Fiahil 9y ago

Indeed, this is the most interesting information in this article. I will definitively look for Disney's reaction !

lettergram 9y ago

Apparently, they are down 60 percent over the previous versions sales[1]. And their stock is tumbling from all sales. [1] https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-11-20-star-wars-battlefront-2-physical-sales-down-60-per-cent-on-battlefront-1 https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-11-20-star-wars-battlefro...

BoorishBears 9y ago
*Down 60 percent in physical sales Physical sales have been declining across the board. And their stock is at a 5 year high almost exactly 5 years after doom and gloom over how SimCity’s DRM debacle would end EA.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- eppsilon 9y ago
  To be fair, the stock market in general is near all-time highs. I agree that SimCity didn't have much impact on its own though.
- harlanlewis 9y ago
  Physical sales down 60% yoy is far from the industry norm [1]: 2016: down 17% (5 percentage points) 2015: down 18% (8pp) 2014: down 13% (7pp) 2013: down 15% (8pp) (this isn’t a perfect comparison, because the battlefield number is change in count while the industry numbers are change in share, but it’s a starting point) (edit: despite the industry-wide decrease in share, physical sales have actually been increasing in count since 2013 [2], making the Battlefield decline in physical sales look even worse) Unless they significantly changed how they sell in different channels (news to me), there has to be something title-specific beyond delivery format cannibilazation going on. Hard to speculate if that’s primarily the PR backlash or a combination of things (title fatigue, short release cycle since last edition, quality…). I imagine EA is pretty resilient against a single title underperforming though, be it SimCity or Battlefield or whatever else. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/190225/digital-and-physical-game-sales-in-the-us-since-2009/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/190225/digital-and-physi... [2] https://www.statisticbrain.com/video-game-yearly-sales/ https://www.statisticbrain.com/video-game-yearly-sales/

swivelmaster 9y ago

The most popular Marvel and Star Wars mobile games have used loot boxes since their respective releases 2+ years ago.

ctrl-j 9y ago
> The most popular Marvel and Star Wars mobile games have used loot boxes since their respective releases 2+ years ago. Is it possible Disney execs simply did not recognize that an in-game mechanic not commonly called "gambling" was in fact gambling? Is it possible when they do a more thorough analysis, they may be upset by this?
- swivelmaster 9y ago
  I worked on Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. I can't answer your question without breaking NDA. edit: Okay, I get that this is being downvoted for not contributing to discussion, but I just wanted to be clear about why I'm not chiming in on this one in particular, given that I'm generally very actively involved in discussions about stuff like this. I enjoyed working at EA very much, and I enjoyed working with the folks at Disney/Lucas as well. And as for the person who said 'just violate your NDA' - I openly associate this username with my real name and provide my contact information in my profile. I don't believe in hiding behind a username - this is me, these are my thoughts and opinions, not some amped-up avatar that I use to blow off steam on the internet.
  - joshuas 9y ago
    Can I buy a Lootbox that might have your answer in it?
  - username223 9y ago
    Then break it. They can hardly fire "swivelmaster."
  - mdorazio 9y ago
    You're downvoted for providing no value in your comment. If you want to comment a tease "I know the answer but can't tell you.", just don't comment at all.

jasonlotito 9y ago

Except when you look at all the other areas that Disney allows it's products to be sold via gambling mechanisms. Such a fundamental, core value that it can be proven false within a few seconds of searching.

Spooky23 9y ago

Disney has a long-term outlook for their brands and business. Disney as an entity will almost certainly exist in 2117. EA? I doubt it. They are doubling down on lazy skinner-box type gameplay models. Their entire business is one act of congress away from total vaporization.

hkmurakami 9y ago

Fascinating. Across the pond, Nintendo has a pretty hard stance against it (but not explicitly since their corporate history has strong gambling ties in the early 20th century), and Akira Toriyama has refused to license his IP to the pachinko slot machine industry while almost every other peer of his has done so.