Electronic Arts is under fire for a tweet that appears to criticize people who like single-player games. On Twitter, the trend “They’re a 10 but…” is a humorous look at qualities that are relationship dealbreakers, no matter how attractive the person may otherwise be.
Several big companies got in on the trend and demonstrated how to do it right. For example, Wendy’s tweeted, “They’re a 10 but they say they’re lovin’ it.” The official Minecraft account tweeted, “They’re a 10 but they don’t sort their inventory.”
As is the nature of trends, the “They’re a 10 but…” tweets had largely died out by the time EA decided to jump on the bandwagon. Yesterday, the company sent out the following tweet:
Surprising no one except perhaps EA, the clapback was swift and widespread. The responses ranged from annoyance to anger to users reminding EA that the company itself publishes single-player games. Others in the game industry, including many EA developers, also joined in the discussion. Cory Barlog, the producer of God of War, said, “Single-player games forever.” Developer Obsidian said, “Single-player is dope. Multiplayer is dope. Games are rad.”
EA has proven again and again over the past several years that the company is largely tone-deaf when it comes to its image. Remember the company’s attempts to rebrand loot boxes as “surprise mechanics”? Remember how EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II originally required players to grind for 40 hours if they wanted to play as Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker? EA was even rated the “Worst Company in America” by Consumerist in 2012, beating out AT&T and Walmart — an impressive feat.
Within a few hours, EA was already walking back the tweet, saying, “Roast well deserved. We’ll take this L cause playing single player games actually makes them an 11.”
