Twice as many people as there are in this photo downvoted a single Reddit comment today (photo: http://www.3dsbuzz.com)
The most downvoted comment in Reddit's 12-year history was published today, surpassing the previous record by more than tenfold.
And it's not about Trump, ISIS, Brexit... not even close. It is, however, about a topic important to more than 300,000 people who clicked the downvote button in less than 24 hours.
The history-making comment was, in fact, caused by Darth Vader. More specifically, it was about the people's right to choose Vader as a character in Star Wars: Battlefront 2, the latest blockbuster installment from Electronic Arts.
An unsuspecting Electronic Arts public relations rep wrote a reply to explain to an outraged fan why Darth Vader’s character is locked behind a paywall even though the game costs about $80.
As EA's PR rep would soon discover, the answer he gave wasn't quite satisfactory.
Returning to the page some time after writing the comment—perhaps after a quick coffee break—EA's PR rep must have felt like exiting hyperspace straight into a meteor shower (like Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back).
Navigating the resulting chaos will be a formidable challenge for even the best public relations pilots in the galaxy. Should we tell them the odds?
Here are some of the headlines starting to appear:
The Next Web — EA’s dumb Battlefront 2 reply is the most downvoted comment on Reddit ever
Motherboard — ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II’ Gave EA the Most Downvoted Comment in Reddit History
Congratulations to EA for Posting the Most Hated Comment in Reddit History
Why are gamers banding against developers?
EA is unfortunate to be the focal point of this outrage, but the issue around in-game transactions and loot boxes has been brewing for some time now. This is just the latest symptom of the growing rift between game developers and their consumers.
With hardware advances, video games have become more sophisticated but that makes them more expensive to produce.
According to a Newzoo report on the gaming industry, revenues from blockbuster PC games have been declining in both Western and Asian markets.
As it is becoming tougher to make a profit, developers are effectively forced to tax gamers. They are doing it in creative ways—through various in-game transactions that subtly nudge players toward spending more money on their games.
But what started as a model for generating some additional income has started to transition into the main source of revenue.
These in-game 'nudges' started to become more blatant. Like the silly traps Ewoks placed in the forests of Endor—they started as cute distractions but gradually grew more sinister, destroying the gameplay experience like two tree logs smashing the head of an AT-ST walker.
Because of this, in recent years an us-versus-them mentality has been developing in the gaming industry. Given the economics the trends seem difficult to reverse.
But let me paraphrase the opening crawl from Return of the Jedi now:
Little does the gaming industry know that a
movement called GNation has secretly
begun construction on a new
gaming ecosystem
that makes a lot more sense than
the business model’s of today’s industry.
Camera pans down to reveal…
A link to a post I have written previously about a company using emerging technologies to disrupt the business model of the gaming industry from the ground up.
Trust me, Obi Wan Kenobi, blockchain is our only hope to restore order in the gaming industry (what a mishmash of Star Wars quotes that was).