Gibeau: EA 'innovated too much' with Dungeon Keeper

EA's reboot of Dungeon Keeper rubbed new and old fans the wrong way with an aggressive approach to monetization – it's a free, mobile app heavy on microtransactions and shifty five-star rating schemes. The original game's creator, Peter Molyneux, dubbed the reboot "ridiculous," and in June, EA CEO Andrew Wilson called the situation "a shame."

EA Mobile head Frank Gibeau this week told GamesIndustry that EA didn't do a good job marketing the game or communicating to fans what they could expect from a new Dungeon Keeper.

"Brands ultimately have a certain amount of permission that you can make changes to, and I think we might have innovated too much or tried some different things that people just weren't ready for," Gibeau said. "Or, frankly, were not in tune with what the brand would have allowed us to do. We like the idea that you can bring back a brand at EA and express it in a new way. We've had some successes on that front, but in the case of Dungeon Keeper, that just didn't connect with an audience for a variety of reasons."

Dungeon Keeper is still running and its live services have been handed to another studio. Regardless of players' views of the game, Dungeon Keeper is performing well enough to keep it alive for a while longer, Gibeau said:

"When you bring in a group of people to Dungeon Keeper and you serve them, create a live service, a relationship and a connection, you just can't pull the rug out from under them. That's just not fair. We can sustain the Dungeon Keeper business at its level for a very long time. We have a committed group of people who are playing the game and enjoying it. So our view is going to be that we'll keep Dungeon Keeper going as long as there's a committed and connected audience to that game. Are we going to sequel it? Probably not."

[Image: EA]