Curt Dawg

At this point, the only reason the MCS is still around at this point is because of MUT. But EA has lost sight of the goal. The goal should be for MCS and MUT to have a symbiotic relationship where both benefit from each other. When the MCS grows, more people become interested in playing MUT and competing, which ultimately leads to more people spending money on the game. Instead, the MUT team has spent the last few years trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of the MCS community and some of its most loyal consumers. That relationship has become adversarial at this point. These are the people playing the game the most, creating content, teaching others how to play and bringing more attention to MUT. If anything, they should be the people EA is trying hardest to keep happy. You also have to think about the next generation of competitive players. If someone watches the MCS and decides they want to compete, that process should be as accessible as possible. EA’s goal should be to grow the competitive scene, not create more barriers to getting involved. Rather than focusing on growing the overall player base and creating a product people actually want to spend money on, it feels like they’ve prioritized getting more money out of the same group of people who are already committed to the game. The problem with that approach is that eventually those people are going to stop playing. And when you lose your most dedicated players, you’re not just losing their money. You’re losing the people who create content, build communities and friendships and introduce new players to the game. In my opinion, we’re seeing the consequences of that right now. This is the worst overall state I’ve seen MCS and MUT in since the MCS started and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Nobody is saying EA shouldn’t make money from MUT. Obviously, that’s a huge reason the MCS exists in the first place. But there’s a huge difference between growing your revenue through compounding and creating a better product that attracts more players and growing it by continually extracting more money from the people who are already invested. One of those approaches is sustainable. The other eventually drives away the people keeping your game alive. And if EA continues going in the direction it has been the last few years, I really don’t see how the MCS or MUT survives long term.