No one likes EA's joke about singleplayer games, even EA
Brands are now social media influencers who say things like «vibe check» and «I was today years old when,» behavior which backfired for EA this week. The publisher's careless meme format Mad Libs led to a tweet that was taken as an attack on fans of singleplayer games and the developers who make them. Current and ex-employees of the company, including Respawn head Vince Zampella, responded publicly.
The tweet in question(opens in new tab) had such an incendiary effect that I almost dare not repeat it, but here we go:
«They're a 10 but they only like playing single-player games.»
The marketing person who wrote that tweet is saying—if you can believe it—that the most attractive person they can imagine would be rendered unattractive if they didn't have an interest in multiplayer games. Thousands responded to the tweet, which is generally a good thing when you're a brand's social media account, but the nature of the responses is probably not what EA was aiming for.
The joke has been perceived as an intentional or accidental expression of contempt for singleplayer games due to greater profit potential offered by multiplayer, live service games, as well as an embarrassing gaffe for EA, given that many of its studios produce singleplayer games or modes.
Vince Zampella, head of EA-owned studio Respawn, responded(opens in new tab) to the tweet with a relatively mellow facepalm emoji. Respawn's biggest game is Apex Legends, a live service battle royale game, but the studio is also known for Titanfall 2's singleplayer campaign and the recent singleplayer-only action game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
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