Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-33905330-20190222102100/@comment-28169398-20190226163944

FM is an outpost of EA... Outposts almost always get hit harder than headquarters when layoffs come around. Basic politics and proximity to the ultimate decision makers makes them vulnerable, even if the numbers say they shouldn't be.

In conversations with them, RR3 has been hitting its targets. What that translated to in contribution to revenue was not disclosed, but they were doing what they had been asked to do; still not enough to make them bulletproof.

The trend in gaming is E-Sports. We saw it in the statements about the FM layoffs from EA and now we see that Codemasters has teamed up with Motorsports.com with their release of Dirt Rally 2.0 to focus on E-Sports. Frank Sagnier even feels that E-Sports and Virtual Racing will become an Olympic category in the future.

The monetization from E-Sports would come from broadcast contracts and major endorsements. People are also likely a lot more willing to pay for season passes to participate in leagues and not just for new content.

And Drestin's argument about Fortnite is off the mark. Battle passes enhance gameplay as defined in Fortnite. While not improving your skills, Battle Passes can accelerate your advancement unlocking tiers. My take on this is that it is more like buying upgrades in RR3 that you need to get to 100% in a series or even unlocking an ES. Sure you could get their by playing, but buying accelerates progress. And sure, what gets unlocked in Fortnite is cosmetic, but then so are the 100% Clubs on these forums... You get to brag a bit and it is a sign of your progression and commitment to the game to the broader community of players.