Electronic Arts has done it again. They’ve won Consumerists’ Worst Company in America Award for the second consecutive year. The Golden Poo is awarded only to the worst of the worst, and EA had distinguised company this year. Among the companies that EA was competing with for this award: Bank of America, Comcast, AIG, and other widely hated companies.
EA’s practices and not its products are largely what is in question here. The Consumerist lists the shortcomings of EA, and how it “failed at three core requirements of running a consumer-friendly business.”
So what were these core requirements? Consumerist says that numerous decisions that EA has made with their stance on micro-transactions, cashing in popular game franchises, and rights management issues were a large part of EA securing this award.
Though more importantly, they believe that the company just can’t seem to avoid bad publicity. A combination of Peter Moore’s attention drawing rebuttal of EA’s inclusion in the contest titled “We Can do Better”, and their inability to deal with consumer outcry in events the SimCity fiasco were probably the major reasons that EA passed companies with far more detrimental impacts on consumers and the economy of the United States.
