Feldon 
According to a Friday Press Release from Daybreak Games, the company has hired Larry LaPierre, a 14-year veteran of Electronic Arts and former Zynga general manager as well as Chris Wynn, senior director at BioWare, EA Sports, and a lead producer of Microsoft‘s Gears of War series. Both referred to H1Z1 as Daybreak’s “newest franchise” but did not reference other Daybreak games.
The gaming industry is small and its people tend to hop from company to company. As anyone familiar with the gaming industry knows, EA and Zynga both have a tarnished reputation. EA was nominated Worst Company in America in 2012, while Zynga has been accused of wholesale copying of competing games. However the profitability of EA and Microsoft’s Gears of War series cannot be argued. Daybreak has always been great at announcing things, but then struggled to execute and deliver. If I have a hope, it’s that these two hires will bring Execution and Delivery to Daybreak.
EverQuest and EverQuest II have kept the lights on at Daybreak for 17 and 12 years and I hope that these will get more attention and appreciation as well. This is being discussed on the EQ2 Forums.
EA?
EA?!?!?
/insert sounds of displeased response here
Oh great, this means that things will be pushed out the door long before they’re ready, buggy and unfinished, and good luck even hoping for a fix down the line.
I came back to EQ2 because SWTOR is impossibly broken and they’re not even responding anymore. I guess I have more broken to look forward to.
MY thoughts exactly — poor EQ and EQ2 — down the tubes like SWtOR soon ? We’ll see — doesn’t sound too great atm ( then what am I going to play ? Rift ? LoTR? ) Well, unless they mess those up too……
EA and Zynga… couldn’t ask for worse if you ask me, one is a backwards-looking cesspit and the other is worse. I’d love to be surprised but sure won’t be holding my breath.
Wow everyone in the comments above are so quick to get upset because EA is mentioned. Guys its not like DBG got consumed by the corporate beast. They simply hired some dude who used to work for them. Don’t be so quick to blame this dude for all the wrong things EA has done. A lot of good developers leave EA, rather they’re fired, laid off, or they quit because of how they’re treated by the higher ups. I think its a good idea to give one of those people a fighting chance to keep their career going with a different company. Look at the current bioware situation and how many of those guys are leaving. Its terrible over there.
Give Mr. LaPierre shot.
EA does have a reputation.
https://consumerist.com/2014/09/05/ea-ceo-we-dont-want-to-win-worst-company-award-for-3rd-time/
EA CEO: We Don’t Want To Win Worst Company Award For 3rd Time
And there’s Zynga.
http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/03/zynga-departures-finish-new-ceos-complete-makeover-of-the-management-team/
June 3 2014
“You have to hand it to Don Mattrick, the chief executive of Zynga. He’s thorough. Since he arrived in July, Mattrick has turned over the entire senior management team at Zynga.”
“Larry LaPierre, former an executive on EA’s Need for Speed games, joined as general manager”
But Mr. LaPierre left.
And:
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/larry-lapierre/credits/developerId,46438/#
Game Credits (By Role)
Diablo (1996) (Development Director)
He is not completely unaware of RPG.
Chris Wynn? Eh.
Mass Effect Andromeda Development Director Leaves BioWare
December 2015
http://gamerant.com/mass-effect-andromeda-director-leaves-bioware/
“In a surprising announcement on Twitter, senior development director, Chris Wynn, announces his departure from BioWare and his work on Mass Effect Andromeda.”
“Wynn hasn’t revealed why he suddenly decided to leave BioWare in the middle of development on Mass Effect Andromeda, but we do know that he is returning to the United States of America thanks to his initial Tweet. Prior to joining BioWare Montreal, Wynn worked as a producer at Epic Games and Microsoft, helping to launch games like Gears of War 3 and Gears of War Judgment.”
/*
Interview with NFS Most Wanted Senior Producer Larry LaPierre
December 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWuP0cLEFCg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Hxo92iPEI
Interview with GOW3 Producer Chris Wynn
October 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y7CFNz-l4A
Holy crap, certainly things are not so desperate that we need EA’s leftovers, lol. I think the last interaction I had with EA was to demand a refund for Mass Ick 3, and their Origin platform is something no one should ever put on a computer, assuming you actually like the computer. Zynga at least I’ve never heard of.
I’m less (immediately) worried by where the two came from, but that Daybreak is talking about H1Z1 as their flagship and all the talk since the announcement of EQN’s ‘death’ has zombies and gaming consoles.
Its time people accept the inevitable end of the EQ Franchise. It is going to happen sooner rather than later. I didn’t want to accept it for a long time, but I have finally made peace with this soon to be reality.
I agree. I have fought this thought proces for years but finally accepted reality about 8 months ago. Thankfully before I paid for another year for my four subs or bought any more expansions. I guess with age, wisdom does finally show up.
Aye – I’m worried that GU100 in all it’s glory is going to be our last one……
Was his first official action to fire RadarX? He’s been dead quiet since the 9th and there’s a new person issuing warnings now on official forums
Offhand, yeah, it’s been feeling like zombie consoles ahead for awhile now. Columbus Nova bought all this as an investment, afterall. That two upper managers have been hired fresh now means there is a real agenda, although one we may not, ultimately, like at all.
As to this guy, I figure anybody who gets away from Pincus is making a healthy move. Besides, Zynga’s on the ropes now. That building’s up for sale now, although you’d have to take the current owner as a tenant. bleh
Regarding RadarX, check Feldon’s immediately previous posting regarding Zendesk.
People are acting like SoE/DBG was or is any different then the greed or horrid reputation of EA. *rolls eyes*
They did day one DLC? News to me.
If you’re talking about EQ2, then that’s a terrible analogy considering how the game came out in 2004 before the era of Early Access, Day 1 DLC, or F2P. Have you took a look at H1Z1 or PS2? Both had P2W (buy upgrades/weapons/ect) on day 1. One of them was unfinished and launched as it only had half the content that was promised and the other has been in “Early Access” for well over a year. The P2W aspect in both games was 10 times worse then in EQ2.
SoE has always been greedy and nothing has changed. This guy jumping on board is just bringing a pile of poo to dump on top of another pile of poo.
Personal experience with EA. EQ2 is doomed. Pack your bags kids, we are moving.