Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

78 Comments

Apple, EA Deny Relationship Over Plants vs. Zombies 2

Both companies publicly deny exclusivity was paid for on iOS.

Apple and Electronic Arts have both vehemently denied the existence of a paid agreement between the two companies to ensure Plants vs. Zombies 2 launched first on iOS.

No Caption Provided

These denials are in response to a story I filed yesterday, which featured a comment made by a high-level EA executive about Android.

“Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2],” said Frank Gibeau, former head of EA Labels and now in charge of EA Mobile.

This quote was confirmed by multiple sources attending an employee-only Electronic Arts town hall, and was verified by other sources who came forward after the story published.

Nonetheless, an EA spokesperson today called the story categorically "not true."

This expands on a statement from the company last night.

“A comment from an internal meeting taken out of context has created an unfortunate misunderstanding,” said a company spokesperson in a statement yesterday. “Reports of a paid relationship between Apple and EA are factually inaccurate, and we apologize for any confusion.”

Plants vs Zombies 2 launched on Android in early September but only in China. According to Gibeau’s other comments at the meeting, the Android version has been outselling (which most likely means more installs, not necessarily monetization) the iOS version six-to-one in China. The international version will roll out in October.

Not long after the story was published, Apple quickly issued a denial, as well. A spokesperson painted the allegation that Apple paid for the exclusive debut of Plants vs. Zombie 2 as “not true.”

Using the term “paid” in the headline may have been overreaching on my part. Based on Gibeau’s comments, which is reporting that I continue to stand by, it’s more likely the companies entered into an agreement that ensured promotion of Plants vs. Zombies 2 in a very meaningful capacity. Promotion on the App Store is extremely powerful, and can make or break a game’s success. The idea that Apple would think of leveraging this opportunity to broker deals is not a crazy one, but I’m also surprised at the flurry of responses from both Apple and EA in regards to this story. This is common practice in the video game industry. In any other case, it wouldn’t even be a story, but where there is smoke, there is fire. I smell smoke here. Did Apple deliver a briefcase of cash to EA? No. Do I believe there was some agreement between the two? More than ever.

You don’t make a comment about “truckloads of money” unless there’s something to back it up.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

78 Comments

Avatar image for morningstar
morningstar

2548

Forum Posts

351

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By morningstar

Why is this such a big deal? It's not the first time it has happened and not the last.

Avatar image for vikingdeath1
vikingdeath1

1356

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By vikingdeath1

I'VE BEEN LIED TO NOW TELL ME WHO TO BE ANGRY AT!

Avatar image for bonechompski
BoneChompski

421

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Being paid in services instead of cash is the same thing. Exchange of value.

Avatar image for lyfeforce
Lyfeforce

450

Forum Posts

9

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

The amount of effort being put out there to refute the report seems a tad like overkill.

Avatar image for williamhenry
williamhenry

1324

Forum Posts

555

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 6

Why is this such a big deal? It's not the first time it has happened and not the last.

Because Apple likes to distance itself from being a game publisher as much as possible. They act like they are above games and that games are only a fraction of the reason why people use their devices. So for them to do something like this, it goes against that whole mindset.

Avatar image for joshwent
joshwent

2897

Forum Posts

2987

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Isn't the only question now... how much did Apple pay EA to say that they never paid them?

Avatar image for donpixel
DonPixel

2867

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By DonPixel

yeah, either true or false: I have no clue on why is this such a big deal...

videogames news, the excitement.

Avatar image for jaks
jaks

257

Forum Posts

18

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

It's troubling from a leadership perspective at EA because this means Gibeau is either totally out of the loop in his own department or a bald faced liar. He is pretty far up the ladder to the point of being considered CEO when that job came open. I know it happens all the time, but I don't like it when big companies lie.

Avatar image for morningstar
morningstar

2548

Forum Posts

351

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By morningstar

@morningstar said:

Why is this such a big deal? It's not the first time it has happened and not the last.

Because Apple likes to distance itself from being a game publisher as much as possible. They act like they are above games and that games are only a fraction of the reason why people use their devices. So for them to do something like this, it goes against that whole mindset.

Ahh, that'll explain it, thanks for the heads up. I don't know much about Apple as I have none of their devices. They should get off their high horse then, it wouldn't excactly rock the world anyway.

Avatar image for bbalpert
BBAlpert

2978

Forum Posts

34

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 16

"Now hiring: New head of EA Mobile.

Job requirements: Creativity, motivation, and not being a fuckin' snitch"

Avatar image for starvinggamer
StarvingGamer

11533

Forum Posts

36428

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 25

@patrickklepek said:

You don’t make a comment about “truckloads of money” unless there’s something to back it up.

Beep beep

Avatar image for razielcuts
RazielCuts

3292

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Where are the sources of these responding comments coming from? Are these public press releases or private email responses to you @patrickklepek? I tried to google the 'not true' comment from yesterday and couldn't find it, I would've thought other sites would've picked the response up as well? It also seems like other sites are citing the 'truckload' comment mainly linking to Polygon too?

Avatar image for patrickklepek
patrickklepek

6835

Forum Posts

1300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Where are the sources of these responding comments coming from? Are these public press releases or private email responses to you @patrickklepek? I tried to google the 'not true' comment from yesterday and couldn't find it, I would've thought other sites would've picked the response up as well? It also seems like other sites are citing the 'truckload' comment mainly linking to Polygon too?

Everything has been private.

Avatar image for chilibean_3
chilibean_3

2406

Forum Posts

324

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

When using the words "truckloads of money" I'm more likely to assume it wasn't a serious comment.

Avatar image for jayjonesjunior
jayjonesjunior

1148

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

“Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version [of Plants vs Zombies 2],”

I can't imagine a "context" where this quote means anything but what we all have assumed.

Avatar image for hameyadea
Hameyadea

394

Forum Posts

32

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

ARRRRG! I'm so anrgy that I'll not buy yet another iPhone, I stop at only 5 iPhone models *fakes rage*

c'mon, using "truck loads of money" in the conference (even if invite-only) usually means that some kind of deal was brokered between the 2 parties. Was it a bad choise of words? Probably. Was there some kind of a deal? Most likely. Personally, I find it funny how EA and Apple were quick to outright deny. Too suspicious

Avatar image for swick
Swick

266

Forum Posts

699

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 6

If it's a quote, then it's a quote. Out of context? I guess that's possible. But again, these corporate entities are screaming way too much for there not to be some truth to this.

Avatar image for amyggen
AMyggen

7738

Forum Posts

7669

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

@morningstar: It's also Apple caring more about Android than they usually admit.

Avatar image for theht
TheHT

15998

Forum Posts

1562

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 9

You don’t make a comment about “truckloads of money” unless there’s something to back it up.

...beep, beep, beep.

Avatar image for nadesico33
nadesico33

40

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I remember a quote that seems appropriate (paraphrased, I don't remember the actual quote): "The more vehemently something is true, the more often it is true."

Avatar image for alternate
alternate

3040

Forum Posts

1390

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

typo in the first line

Avatar image for clonedzero
Clonedzero

4206

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Yeah, seriously, why is this a big deal?

Avatar image for razielcuts
RazielCuts

3292

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@patrickklepek: Okay cool, no worries. Just thought if they released some sort of statement in black and white I'd be interested in seeing what context things were said. If they mention PvZ by name or just a general, 'EA is like everyone else who releases on our app store.' Although it does seem weird that they do mention EA by name specifically and not just blow it off as 'we have no special relationship with third parties,' certainly smoke there.

Avatar image for galacticpunt
GalacticPunt

1512

Forum Posts

4

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By GalacticPunt

@starvinggamer said:

@patrickklepek said:

You don’t make a comment about “truckloads of money” unless there’s something to back it up.

Beep beep

Truckloads of money backin' up.
Truckloads of money backin' up.

Avatar image for morningstar
morningstar

2548

Forum Posts

351

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@amyggen: Another good point, certainly.

Avatar image for cyberfunk
cyberfunk

180

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

I dont understand why they would deny this? Sony and MS love to boast about their exclusives.

Avatar image for bicycle_repairman
Bicycle_Repairman

715

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

So we can expect a new lunch show called "Scoops and the (fired) Snitch" (Bombin with S&S Think about it, marketing gold) any day now?

Avatar image for murdoc_
Murdoc_

810

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@chilibean_3: That's exactly how I would take it, not seriously and treat it as an offhand, inaccurate remark. No idea why Patrick is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill on this.

Avatar image for lycangav
LycanGav

27

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By LycanGav

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Avatar image for mrfluke
mrfluke

6260

Forum Posts

-1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By mrfluke

@amyggen said:

@morningstar: It's also Apple caring more about Android than they usually admit.

i think this is the main takeaway.

but i mean in the post jobs era they have been more direct in their quips against android

and jobs i believe is on record saying he would go to thermonuclear war with android.

so i dunno, a more direct move like this is not that shocking to me.

Avatar image for matseffect
matseffect

29

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 13

Edited By matseffect

I don't think its that shocking A thing considering its more or less what happens in the console space all the time. I do think its some great reporting by Patrick, he is one of the few people in the games press going great stuff.

I don't see why they would not just confirm it. "Yeah we paid for it", its not the first or last time it has or will happen.

Avatar image for budwyzer
Budwyzer

801

Forum Posts

39

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

  • Plants vs Zombies beta was announced for Brazil and Australia
  • I dug the iPad out of the closet
  • Blew the dust off
  • Had to charge it from dead
  • Setup an Australian account
  • Beat the game without paying any real money
  • Have no idea where the ipad is now

EA lost a sale, and so many more I'm sure, with that terrible F2P model. In fact, the whole grindiness of the entire game almost made me want to stop playing all-together more than it made me want to spend money to open the next world.

Avatar image for shaunage
Shaunage

948

Forum Posts

152

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 10

In related news, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is still garbage.

Avatar image for kwang2000
kwang2000

52

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By kwang2000

"In any other case, it wouldn’t even be a story, but where there is smoke, there is fire. I smell smoke here. Did Apple deliver a briefcase of cash to EA? No. Do I believe there was some agreement between the two? More than ever."

Pulitzer prize winning journalism story of the year.

Avatar image for redrocketwestie
RedRocketWestie

381

Forum Posts

69

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

@joshwent said:

Isn't the only question now... how much did Apple pay EA to say that they never paid them?

What would EA have to gain from throwing Apple under the bus truck full of money? Once one has come out publicly denying a deal, it hurts the business relationship to call them liars, and in the meantime, what do they have to gain? Customer goodwill? For EA, that would be like spitting on a forest fire. No additional money would have been needed for EA to corroborate the story.

Avatar image for darlan
Darlan

39

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

I sure seems like they paid for exclusivity and I trust Patrick's reporting, but in the interest of discussing things I suppose there is another possible incentive for iOS exclusivity: just avoiding the android piracy rates for the first few months, much like how Ubisoft delays their PC releases.

Avatar image for afterland
afterland

168

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@morningstar said:

Why is this such a big deal? It's not the first time it has happened and not the last.

Because Apple likes to distance itself from being a game publisher as much as possible. They act like they are above games and that games are only a fraction of the reason why people use their devices. So for them to do something like this, it goes against that whole mindset.

Games ARE only a fraction of their services. Hardware makes up the majority of their profits, which they put out in their earnings call, which anyone can look up. They have never said they are above games, they always demo a game to show off their latest hardware. The conclusions people are jumping to are really bizarre.

In any case, I'm also in the "why is this news?" camp.

Avatar image for 2headedninja
2HeadedNinja

2357

Forum Posts

85

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

@darlan said:

I sure seems like they paid for exclusivity and I trust Patrick's reporting, but in the interest of discussing things I suppose there is another possible incentive for iOS exclusivity: just avoiding the android piracy rates for the first few months, much like how Ubisoft delays their PC releases.

That doesn't really make sense if the game is F2P in the first place though.

Avatar image for stonyman65
stonyman65

3818

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

From what I've gathered following this story (loosely, because I don't really care) but it looks like someone at EA let something slip that they shouldn't have, the suits at Apple and EA lost their shit and set the office on fire because of it, and now both of them are backtracking saying they didn't do what they said they did before.

Am I missing anything?

Avatar image for foxillusion
Foxillusion

154

Forum Posts

978

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 7

I am completely in the dark as to what else "Apple gave us a truckload of money to delay the Android version" could possibly mean. What could the 'context' possibly have been

Avatar image for popogeejo
Popogeejo

623

Forum Posts

28

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Popogeejo

Behead those who criticise Mac.

Pay no attention to the shady deals behind the glowing white apple.

That Apple wasn't and still isn't being open about their business deals is fine since everyone else does it. Don't make me have to get off of my high horse.

Avatar image for mudman
MudMan

1423

Forum Posts

300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

@stonyman65 said:

From what I've gathered following this story (loosely, because I don't really care) but it looks like someone at EA let something slip that they shouldn't have, the suits at Apple and EA lost their shit and set the office on fire because of it, and now both of them are backtracking saying they didn't do what they said they did before.

Am I missing anything?

You're missing the part where the "someone at EA" is actually the "suit" in charge of their whole mobile business. There are like one or two guys above him in the entire company.

Kinda puts the whole thing in a different light than what you imply.

Avatar image for striderno9
striderno9

1362

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 6

Good job Patrick, stand by what you reported.

Avatar image for joshwent
joshwent

2897

Forum Posts

2987

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By joshwent
Avatar image for vibratingdonkey
vibratingdonkey

1238

Forum Posts

1219

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 2

Good ol moneyhats is alive and well.

Avatar image for funkasaurasrex
FunkasaurasRex

854

Forum Posts

84

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By FunkasaurasRex

THESE MOTHERFUCKERS CALLIN SCOOPS A LIAR

LOOK'S LIKE SOMEONE'S GONNA GET GOT BLAT BLAT

Avatar image for pandabear
PandaBear

1484

Forum Posts

238

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

@williamhenry said:

@morningstar said:

Why is this such a big deal? It's not the first time it has happened and not the last.

Because Apple likes to distance itself from being a game publisher as much as possible. They act like they are above games and that games are only a fraction of the reason why people use their devices. So for them to do something like this, it goes against that whole mindset.

Games ARE only a fraction of their services. Hardware makes up the majority of their profits, which they put out in their earnings call, which anyone can look up. They have never said they are above games, they always demo a game to show off their latest hardware. The conclusions people are jumping to are really bizarre.

In any case, I'm also in the "why is this news?" camp.

Microsoft use their resources to the development of Gear of War by Epic and we're all ok with that. Sony get an exclusive contract with thatgamecompany for Journey, Flower and Flow and that's fine too. Apple pay EA to for a timed exclusive on Plants vs Zombies 2 outside of China and suddenly it's a scandal?

Who cares what the wording is... he said "truckload", so what? This isn't the WikiLeaks of game news, this wasn't sourced from secret emails and backroom recordings, it was a quote from a meeting held in a town hall. Jobs wasn't big on games at first, but he softened on them when the money rolled in and newsflash he's dead anyway. It's Cook's show to run now.

I swear if Google did this for Android or even Sony paid to get PvZ 2 as a timed exclusive for Vita people wouldn't care this much.

I joining you in the "Why is this news?" camp "...

Avatar image for hellknightleon
HellknightLeon

489

Forum Posts

184

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 2

This is not a big deal. Even in the start. I think this is just Scoops trying to not be called out. It was a dumb report and the quote was a bad one. I think this is Scoops fault. Keep up the good work, but remember this is not it.

Avatar image for tallinn99
Tallinn99

2

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Tallinn99

PvZ2 was a much anticipated game. The previous game was available on Android. The Chinese version of PvZ2 is available on Android. However it is launched as an iOS exclusive pissing off a whole lot of Android users. I think a story that explains why this happened is news. That the story has been picked up by half the bloody tech media probably backs that up. Of course I'm spending my time commenting on it so I could be biased...