EA hogs Porsche license from all developers that can actually write racing games

Shift518 Automotive
1

Meaning, no Porsche for Forza 4.

EA just tell Turn 10 to go fuck themself when they try to get EA to grant them a sub-license (a very common practice in the industry) to include a good amount of various Porsche models in Forza 4. Looks like EA is determined to hog the Porsche for their sub par crash fest of a so called “racing” game they are making.

Thanks EA for once again proving that why we can’t have nice things. My projections is most likely Forza will be going the GT route of including Ruf instead.

EA, Turn 10 Unable To Reach Deal On Forza 4 Porsche License
by Kyle Orland [Console/PC, Business]

August 25, 2011

EA, Turn 10 Unable To Reach Deal On Forza 4 Porsche License

Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 says it has been unable to secure a deal with EA to include Porsche cars for use in the upcoming Forza Motorsport 4.

Previous games in the Forza series have featured Porsche cars through a sub-licensing deal with EA, which owns the exclusive rights to use Porsche models in video games. But in a recent blog post, Turn 10 developer Brian Ekberg says “EA couldn’t see their way towards collaborating again,” for Forza Motorsport 4.

“This kills me. … We’ve asked our contacts at EA to reconsider their position frequently and regularly over the last 18 months,” Ekberg said. “We also reached out to various influential people in gaming to lobby on our behalf, and on your behalf, but that was to no avail.”

Ekberg drew a contrast between EA’s handling of the Porsche license and Forza’s exclusive license to the Ferrari line of cars, which he points out the company has always been willing to sub-license to other racing games.

“We’ve always found that we just weren’t willing to block other racing games from having Ferraris outright, as we believed that this would do nothing but hurt the racing ecosystem,” he said.

While Ekberg said he respected EA’s right to run their business as they wish, he said he hopes the companies will be able to renegotiate this issue soon.

source: gamasutra

2

I don’t know why porche would sell the rights because its free advertising so you’d think they’d want their cars on as many games as possible.

3

makes sense, but they are probably not going to hit the majority of their target market via video games. but what do i know

4

thats a disappointment for sure

5

LOL…brand licensing is one of the most lucrative business today. And it’s VERY expensive. any company that has a popular name could give it away for free…but why when you can charge companies a fee and royalties for using the name/logo/trademark… I have applied for some brand licensing through some automotive manufactures for some of my products and it’s defintiely not cheap. Some companies charge hundreds of thousands of dollars(NFL for example), some not so much. Example…brand licensing for Daimler Chrysler…$5000 first year plus ~15% sales for sales under 75K a year. The actual fees are typically based on how much you plan to sell your first year, in a given year, and what the product is/how much it will cost. It’s alot of legal paperwork.

Porsche is exclusive…meaning that they assign licensing to key compnaies and only those companies car use it. IE they have one company that(legally) produces their clothing line, one company that does watches, etc,etc. I’ve aplied for some brand licensing through them…couldn’t afford the upfront costs they wanted for the product.

Porsche is the one who gave EA the exclusive rights. Not all companies do that(most don’t actually).

6

EA have been granting sub-license to the Forza series up until 4. According to Turn 10, they actually hold the Ferrari license, but they sub it out to other games to use.

EA is clearly just being an asshole.

7

Their just mad that their NFS games suck. :rofl

8

EA has not made a good racing game since the first Need For Speed

9

False. NFSU2 was great and NFS Most Wanted was decent. Police chases were amusing.

10

Correction, sir-you’re wrong. They went downhill after they got away from the simple concept of recreating the experience of driving a performance car.

11

Dear Travis,

I guess we can agree to disagree about this Need For Speed issue.

Warm regards,
Ryan

12

Lmao

13

NFS1 was my fav game. driving the diablo 202mph was the greatest thing ever lol.

14

what about the NFS2? Had all the all-time great cars (McLaren F1, Ferrari F50, Jaguar XJ220).

15

NFS2 was the best, and I did enjoy the original Hot Pursuit on Ps1. EL NINO!

16

Fuck ea