EA’s public relations team must have went into over-drive this week as The Consumerist released results for their annual “Worst Company in America” list. The software publisher topped Bank of America for the title after thwarting other corporate villains like ATandT and Comcast in earlier rounds of the March Madness-style tournament where readers voted in head-to-head matchups.
Bank of America drew the ire of consumers last year after promising new fees – which it quickly rescinded. Their role in the 2008 economic collapse and ensuing bailout undoubtedly also aided in their path towards being named the “Worst Company” in the country. Bank of America beat out other Wall Street banks including Citibank and Chase.
For its part, EA has actively sought out ways to alienate their customers. The company has implemented a series of online passes that restrict the use of features to first-time purchasers, effectively neutering used game sales for popular titles like Battlefield 3. Their online service – known as Origin – has been criticized for its assault on users’ privacy, including the ability to make computer hardware, software and Internet usage available to the company. Undoubtedly there were also gamers motivated by the rather unreasonable position that Mass Effect 3 had a bad ending (seriously guys, get over it!).
The response from Electronic Arts isn’t exactly humble. “We’re sure that bank presidents, oil, tobacco, and weapons companies are all relieved they weren’t on the list this year. We’re going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide,” EA senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg told GameSpot. I guess we’ll take that as a business-as-usual response.
What do you think? Is EA the “Worst Company in America” or does someone else deserve the title? Leave your comments below!
