The Consumerist have announced EA as the winner of the 2012 Golden Poo, awarded to the company voted by readers as "the worst company in America." EA won the final showdown against the Bank of America easily, taking 64.03% of the votes.
AT&T, Comcast, Walmart and Citibank were among the contenders that fell by the wayside as the vote-off progressed. In the end, the collective weight of the voting gaming community ploughed EA into first place. "Readers ultimately decided that the type of greed exhibited by EA, which is supposed to be making the world a more fun place, is worse than Bank of America's avarice, which some would argue is the entire point of operating a bank," say the Consumerist.
In response, EA gave this statement to Gamasutra . "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."
The Golden Poo presented a good opportunity for frustrated players to voice their dissatisfaction with EA's aggressive approach to monetisation, and the perceived effects that this has had on the integrity of the games under the label. It's a trend to that's led to microtransactions in Mass Effect 3, buyable unlockables in Battlefield 3, countless Facebook and iOS spin-off games, bizarre cross-game promotions, pre-order deals and controversial day one DLC. Embarrassing examples of poor customer service emerge regularly from EA's chat helplines. All in all, it's not a pretty picture.
That feeling that you're being milked for more money after just having laid down £40+ for a game is grim, but it's a feeling that many people get from EA games. Goodwill toward the publisher has never been high, but it seems to be plunging to a new low. Do you reckon EA deserve the award?
