Electronic Arts is closing Maxis, the studio behind the SimCity franchise, EA confirmed in a statement to Polygon today, following reports on Twitter from now-former employees of the...

Treat your Sims to a day of pampering with The Sims 4 Spa Day! Learn more about this Game Pack: http://o.ea.com/40382 Take your Sims to the spa for a revitalizing massage or work on the all-new Wellness skill with some yoga. Choose from 4 pre-built venues, build one of your very own, or bring all the tranquility into your Sim’s home with all-new objects and furnishings.

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Yes… there is a problem with EA’s origin server. There is no way to know when it will be back up…but if you are getting Error messages…or “you hav been logged out,” you are not alone. As in millions of players. So…chillax. Do something else and don’t panic. It is likely another DDOS attack…which seems to be part of the new “fun” hackers from Russia have these days. But, hey…just two more weeks and this madness will be over? Maybe…

As Nintendo continues to celebrate an incredibly strong launch for its hybrid Switch console, a looming question remains about whether major third-party publishers will lend significant software support to the system. In a recent earnings call, mega-publisher Electronic Arts suggested that strong hardware sales may be convincing the company to give the system a second look.

IGN wrote a corporate apologists editorial a few days ago pretty much saying that all this "hate" for EA is really unfounded. The article completely overlooks every consumer complaint leveled against the company, and there are 10 simple reasons why people hate EA and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

It took 40 hours of game play or an extra payment to unlock Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, among others.

The recent controversy surrounding EA and their insane monetization schemes in Battlefront 2 has drawn the battle lines once again with angry consumers and gamers on one side, while developers and gamers (but not THOSE kind of gamers) making impassioned pleas for understanding. Somehow, after years of feature creep (loaned heavily from exploitative pioneers like free-to-play mobile games and MMOs) the camel's back has broken now that you have to earn credits and craft cards just to play a Star Wars character in a dang ole' Star Wars game.

So over the past week the big story has been the massive backlash against EA for the loot box mechanics on Star Wars: Battlefront II. According to some very conservative estimates, it would take 40 hours of continuous play to unlock Darth Vader as a playable character. This is assuming you save every single point of in-game currency and don’t spend any of them on other things. Then you’d need another 40 hours to unlock Luke Skywalker. Even if you’re just going to save up for a simple loot box, it will take three hours of play.

It's easy to think that Star Wars: Battlefront II is the sole result of Electronic Arts' work. That publisher taken the lead on developing and promoting the sci-fi shooter, which is available now on PC and consoles. But Lucasfilm is involved with everything.

At the height of the controversy surrounding microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II, a Reddit user who goes by the name Kensgold posted an open letter to publisher EA and other developers in the video game industry. “I am 19 and addicted to gambling,” he wrote. Kensgold wasn’t talking about roulette tables or online poker. He was talking about spending over £10,000 on in-game purchases over the last several years.

Petition to Remove EA’s Star Wars License Reaches 80K Signatures Early last week, a petition surfaced with the intent of requesting that LucasFilm parent company Disney remove the Star Wars license from Electronic Arts. As can be expected, Star Wars fans were frustrated with the studio’s handling of the franchise for Battlefront 2, especially as it pertains to microtransactions and loot boxes. When we first reported on the petition, it was gaining steam and had about 19,000 signatures, but now it has exploded. It’s only a few days later, and now the petition is up to 82,000 signatures and climbing.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowers its price target and profit forecasts for Electronic Arts due to poor sales of its "Star Wars" title.

Star Wars Battlefront II’s controversial lootbox implementation and the broken progression system has been a hot topic ever since the open beta dropped, and it seems that it has resulted in the sales dropping down considerably. A perfect example of what gamers can achieve when we vote with our wallet. Star Wars Battlefront II has gotten such a negative perception that even the casuals are now starting to avoid it. Baby steps , but definitely ones in the right direction.

If true, you can file this under "u" for "unsurprising." According to a report (via GameIndustry.biz) sources from within EA's BioWare studio have claimed that Anthem has been pushed back to 2019, after being announced as a fall 2018 title. The same report claims that BioWare is feeling intense pressure due to events revolving around Mass Effect Andromeda and Star Wars Battlefront II, both of which were notorious for disappointment.

Though EA hasn't announced definitive plans for the future of its Star Wars games and their releases, the company's executives offered some idea of when players might expect Respawn's upcoming action game, as well as the next Star Wars Battlefront sequel.

In May 2013, Disney licensed the rights to make Star Wars video games to Electronic Arts, and the company immediately assigned projects based on the franchise to some of its top studios. However, rumors are circulating that Disney is not happy with how Electronic Arts has handled the Star Wars license, and may license the brand out to some of the company’s competitors, particularly Activision and Ubisoft.

EA and DICE have detailed the changes being made to Star Wars: Battlefront II's progression system after hastily turning off the ability to buy virtual currency at the game's launch last year. The most fundamental change is that progression is now linear, meaning that star cards and all gameplay-impacting items are now earned as set rewards for leveling up. Experience points are doled out for characters, classes, and ships that give you skill points at level ups to unlock or upgrade star cards.

Electronic Arts unveiled its plans for sweeping changes to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 last week, including an overhaul to the progression system that removes Star Cards from crates, a return of the Crystals currency, and limits on what you can buy with them—which is to say, cosmetic items only. The update went live today, revealing that it's also unlocked all hero characters and ships: No more having to grind your face off for credits before you can start chopping people to bits as Darth Vader.

Electronic Arts has just unlocked all of the heroes in the game, meaning you will no longer have to go through Battlefront 2's awful progression system to play as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader -- beloved characters who were available for FREE and without all of the extra work (or cash) in the first Battlefront. This doesn't excuse Electronic Arts for its initial plan to drain players of every last penny with its predatory microtransactions, but it's something.