Reaching & Contacting EA

[Redline]

So I got in contact with EA's Origin support team (most likely outsourced to India). They have escalated my questions regarding getting into contact with EA's legal department to their specialist team.

So now we wait 1-2 days to see what they email me back.

I also contacted Chillingo (EA distribution arm for Origin) as possible route to reach EA's legal team.

Worth a shot I suppose. There are no other methods/phone numbers/support lines that I found through intense googling to contact EA.

[RoundShades]

Ehh, hopefully they put you through to the right people. Legal teams in general probably won't want to recognize this, history or no. Now, it reaching a dev leader to one of the many teams, who use their own contact to a legal team, can inquire about permission for an individual request.

Just in case they get back to you asking whom you wish to contact. EALA I hear is no more. If they have any residual staff from those teams, who were dissolved into other teams, i'd inquire about that.

[Glacious]

What are the questions you asked out of curiosity? and assume you spoke to Havoc/RypeL/Fobbygen regarding there contact with EA and the current status and position they are in?

Just checking as would look abit amateurish if lots of different random people where trying to contact EA, when it should be a single person/point of contact in the know

[Redline]

At this point I just asked for contact info of the right department.

I gave a little background info about the agreement with EA in the past.

I am familiar with the original agreement. From what I know there is no contact between EA & Totem Arts.

This is my attempt to get Havoc/RypeL, and any other lead devs the opportunity to speak with a real person from EA.

EA specialist team got back to me. Essentially they said we don't know anything or how to deal with this. "If you have legal questions consult your lawyer and have them contact us through the appropriate avenues". Spoken like a true politician, a fake answer with no useful information.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Guest

[testman]

Well, you could

[Redline]

Well...thats a good idea. Except now they are being flooded with letters this week due to that video lol.

Can someone

1. Get 2-3 mailing addresses of the exec's from that video that we should contact and post them here.

2. Write up a formal letter requesting SOMEONE, ANYONE from EA would post here. Be sure to explain the plight of not being on steam or origin, and being free to play. Or email us back at "RENEGADEXLOVESEA@Gmail.com" or your own email if your a dev.

3. Rally the mass' of renegade-x to all tweet at these exec's and send letters at a SPECIFIED DAY AND TIME when we are all ready to go personal army 4chan style.

[Ryz]

If we can't fund the game, maybe we can fund a (legal) team. I am not sure how it works, but here in the Netherlands it would be disturbing if I were contacted by a lawyer cause it would mean something is not right, but from what I understand it's more common and 'the way' to do this in the USA? Maybe someone can give feedback on this?

Instead of trying to reach EA by a lot off different approaches we might be able to hire someone who can do an official contact attempt.

Any ideas on this?

[djlaptop]

I work about a mile from EA's headquarters in Los Angeles. If it would help, I'd be happy to walk into the building and politely ask for a meeting with whomever. I'm media so it's not exactly like I'm some random off the street.

I've interviewed some of their guys at E3 before for the radio, and they've generally been pleasant to deal with. We even did some promotions together and they let me give away a bunch of copies of RA3 and Tiberium Wars when they came out for Xbox.

[TK0104]

Would be nice If they give away the finished parts of Renegade 2. But I'm sure the files are stashed in the basement for years. And I think that's a dream that will never come true

[RypeL]

Yeah I think starting a new organized attempt to get in contact with EA would be nice.

We need to be clear in what we want from them first. And this I guess is

1. Beeing allowed on steam

2. Beeing allowed to accept donations

In that order.

The problem is: why should they do that ? What would they gain from it ? That's the problem we need to solve, then we could talk with them again.

[Gaysha]

The problem is: why should they do that ? What would they gain from it ? That's the problem we need to solve, then we could talk with them again.

EA has a massive PR issue, so they could gain some positive PR?

I doubt steam is even up for debate though, is it? What with origin and all..

[Ryz]

The problem is: why should they do that ? What would they gain from it ? That's the problem we need to solve, then we could talk with them again.

Besides PR the would gain that the CnC brand is kept 'warm,' but if you ask me it just looks like they don't really care about it.

[Xtractor]

If you could contact Joe Kucan (Kane) and have it on your side ,Surely they will listen to him ..and he probably knows to whom to talk .

[Ryz]

If you could contact Joe Kucan (Kane) and have it on your side ,Surely they will listen to him ..and he probably knows to whom to talk .

I am sure the Kane character is legendary, but I am not sure if the would listen to an actor to be honest... Nevertheless worth to try.

[Redline]

@DJlaptop

It would be really great if you could drop off a printed version of this letter. This is only version 1 & I will make further edits as requested. Be sure to explain the situation to whomever you give this letter to. ALSO GET AN EMAIL from someone at EA if you can!

Edit 2 done.

__________________________________________

To whom it may concern,

7+ years ago Totem Arts struck a deal with EA to allow development of Renegade X, an HD remake of the Command & Conquer Renegade Game. Since EA owns the assets to the defunct WestWood Studio, it was stipulated that this game must be for free & cannot be on steam. After nearly a decade the 100+ developers & community map makers that volunteer their time have created something to be proud of. The original developer who struck the deal with EA is no longer working on Renegade-X & we have lost all means of communication with EA.

Totem Arts wants Renegade-X to be a chance for EA to support Indie Games & create a great PR story of a game that had the odds stacked against them.

I humbly request the right person at EA

1. Establish a permanent channel for the main Totem Arts developers to contact EA for further negotiations. You may contact the developers at _________@gmail.com or call ___-___-____

2. Allow Renegade-X to be released on Steam for free of course. Being a stand alone title has forced Renegade-X to suffer through DDOS'ers, Hackers, and Abusers. However, the community has never been stronger & it is growing.

3. Continued goodwill towards providing a great gaming experience for Command & Conquer series fans.

4. Discuss the potential for monetary support or a kickstarter to further fund the development of Renegade-X, or lend official EA studio help to support this game.

Sincerely,

A Renegade-X Fan

Edited February 24, 2016 by Guest

[Ryz]

I wouldn't rub it in about the bad PR....Also I wouldn't tell them to post on the forum, cause people might pretend to be from EA. A mail for a domain from EA sounds better if you ask me.

Wouldn't it be better to create a letter and have them sign for receival? I am not show how this is called in English, but if someone drops a letter off at their reception it will likely not make it to the people in charge.

Good effort btw!

[Redline]

Okay reworked the PR bit. Also removed forum bit.

If you want me to mail an official letter sure I ship things all the time for my business. Sending just 1 signature confirmation letter to EA won't work in my opinion. It's about knowing the right people, and talking to those people. Connections...its all about who you know. DJlaptop says he might be able to get this to the right people or atleast be taken more seriously than the average joe since he is involved in the industry.

[RypeL]

Thats too harsh and sounds like an attack. Theres still a chance EA might shut us down and thats the last thing we want to happen.

*edit*

second verison is less harsh but still

Also im sry: im sure this is understood but just to be clear: You cannot write letters in the name of the devs without approval and i dont see this getting approval. Im not sure what to write instead, but until we know we cant.

What you could do is write a letter on your behalf to EA, explaining the situation and asking them to contact devs (we could give you email adresses). This is what you should do i think, instead of trying to get approval from everyone. Everyone who could get in contact with someone from EA could do that, hoping to establish a connection to the inside of EA.

[Redline]

Anything to get that conversation started of course. I will continue edits to address your concerns. Everyone just likes to talk about doing something and not making progress or real attempts.

Pvt msg me email address' plz? Later on I will pvt msg djlaptop a more "approved" version.

[djlaptop]

I almost wonder if a letter is even able to properly convey that Renegade X is much more than something that uses EA's intellectual property. There is an intricate level of delicateness that needs to be used when approaching EA, and is probably something that should be done face-to-face. I also would suggest only going to EA's promotions and marketing team. These are the guys whose eyes are open to what Renegade X could do for them. Under the proper conditions, I wouldn't be surprised if Renegade X could possibly even be included as a freebie with a future C&C game (assuming there IS a future C&C game). Sadly I think this would rule out Steam distribution in favor of EA's Origin, a concession we'd have to be willing to make.

We need to show EA the value that's been created by RenX and its community. And present it to those who can appreciate that value. If you approach the wrong executive or the legal team, they'll only see it as IP theft and things will not end well.

[Redline]

I think it would be really good if we had a new trailer for this next patch with all the new maps to showcase how far the game has come. Having a youtube link loaded on your phone to show the person at the front desk and/or a person that speaks with you for a few minutes would be key.

We need a 30-60 second trailer showing off the new maps, and just some cool organized gameplay. Much of this footage could be taken from fobby's old vids probably.

Presenting this as an easy win for EA is the priority. The game is already developed, they have to pay no one, its a great PR to help a free indie game, etc...

@Djlaptop If you drop off this letter do you think the person at the front desk will actually give it to the right person? The last thing we want to do is piss off EA, but at the same time doing nothing isn't helping the game "thrive" either. Unfortunately RenegadeX has little to no marketing team.

[djlaptop]

@Djlaptop If you drop off this letter do you think the person at the front desk will actually give it to the right person? The last thing we want to do is piss off EA, but at the same time doing nothing isn't helping the game "thrive" either. Unfortunately RenegadeX has little to no marketing team.

Just had a thought. I can cold-approach some EA team members at E3 this June and have them point me to the right people or team. That might actually be a great way to get a foot in the door, because usually the promotional teams are out in full force at E3 and there's tons of media around so they sorta HAVE to grin and hear you out, at least for a couple of minutes. That would be long enough to land the next meeting.

Obviously, I can't speak for the devs or Totem Arts, but I would be happy to help as best as I could. Devs, if you're reading this, please PM me if I can help in this (or any other) regard. If you'd like to utilize E3 2016, there's less than 4 months to put a presentation together.

[Ruud033]

I already tried to make contact with EA in the past, contact name (in France): Sandra Carneiro. Got redirected by EA Netherlands to her.

Did not receive a reply, ever. I said I was planning on making a game with the CNC Intellectual Property in it, was asking for the right procedure in order to get the approval, or get into contact with the right people about this subject.

Her email adress is scarneiro@europe.ea.com if you're interested. I didnt manage to get a phone number (as that would be better I think, calls always speed up the process)

So, that's 1 contact you could try. I dont have any US contacts. Maybe you should just call EA support and ask for the right contact person, thats how I got the email adres too! (to bad I didnt get a phone number)

As for the steam vs origin discussion; UDK is designed to be used with steam, we can use the steam network with UDK. Therefore its better to release this game on steam and not on origin

[brucewilliskillus]

This game would benefit so much from being on steam. So many people play a bunch of shitty free to play games, to have a game that exudes polish, quality and fun as renegade X does would surely attract a great deal of attention. Player numbers would explode. I really hope there is a way to contact EA. This project does not do anything but bring confidence back in the command and conquer franchise and would help EA if they ever wanted to launch it in the future.

[HaTe]

https://www.change.org/p/electronic-art ... n-approval

I know it's nothing major, but coming from a business management perspective, a petition with a lot of signatures can really have a big pull. Its only at about 60 right now, but if the petition can be classified as official and promoted a bit, I can definitely see it getting 200+, which would add to the overall appeal. At the very least, it cannot hurt.

[Xtractor]

Someone that might help if you can reach her https://ca.linkedin.com/in/janice-thoms-7336b519

[Xtractor]

Another way could be to contact STEAM and telling them that you want to add Renx on STEAM.And asking them a contact to Ea.

[testman]

As much as I like Valve, I don't think they could do much in that regard. Also, if they were willing to take action, you would have to take Valve Time™ into account.

[Xtractor]

I think we don't need more from EA to get on Steam.They already had said what was the condition :

Don't make any money with it

.

Obviously they approuved that the game was going to go public via renx website ,twitter, facebook ,servers,and other medias ..Going on STEAM is just another media,so I don't see any problem going STEAM,just stay in the prime directive ..don't make money with it

[testman]

I really wouldn't risk C&D due to "you didn't say we can't do that, so we did it" attitude.

Don't get me wrong, I would give my testicles to see RenX come to Steam, but I think that at this moment ensuring RenX existence is more important than increasing playerbase.

[Xtractor]

If TArts doubt that they wouldn't have the Blessing from EA for STEAM .they should doubt also for ,twitter,facebook and any others medias that offer RenX as a free game and close them .

[NodSaibot]

In reality, what would they do if we were to put it on Steam anyway? Shut down the website?

Edit: Members of the community and TA staff (i guess) have tried to contact them, and they are being ignored.

it is their fault really.

[Xtractor]

they wouldn't do nothing if TA don't get money for it because TA kept their word.

One thing I'm asking myself is do STEAM (even if its a free game ) ask devs money for been on STEAM ?

If they do its means a third party make money out of it ? which wont work, nobody should do money out of it .

If they don't ask money then if something EA would contact TA or Steam and ask them to take out the game from STEAM.

Like you said Zephyr ,TA can tell them how hard they had try to contact them before without any luck .

plus you will have that contact to discuss anything further.

[testman]

Shut down the website?

Sadly yes. C&D in my previous message stands for Cease and desist, which means shutting down site and everything related to it.

I would be all for it if intellectual property was held by some reasonable entity, but C&C IP is held by EA.

EA are far from using reason and logic. Asking them to show empathy is like asking fish to climb a tree.

That's why I believe that RenX team should not poke EA with legally questionable decisions.

That is unless you find some legally non-problematic loophole where Totem Arts are completely 100% guaranteed to not get C&D'd and RenX doesn't get nuked into oblivion.

[XD_ERROR_XD]

If TArts doubt that they wouldn't have the Blessing from EA for STEAM .they should doubt also for ,twitter,facebook and any others medias that offer RenX as a free game and close them .

In reality, what would they do if we were to put it on Steam anyway? Shut down the website?

Edit: Members of the community and TA staff (i guess) have tried to contact them, and they are being ignored.

it is their fault really.

Exactly my thoughts. I don't think even EA would pull off a Nintendo and shut down the game over this. They care too much about money, and this could be great publication for them. It's not that the people involved don't care. They don't know.

But we could ask NodSoldierGirl on twitter if she could ask about this for us. I believe she has contacts with several people that were involved with EALA, i'm sure she can at least get something done. She has already done a lot for the C&C Community as a whole so far, maybe she would be willing to help us with this issue?

[HaTe]

EA gave TA permission to make Renegade X so long as it was not monetized. Because TA used the Renegade name, Renegade units, the command and conquer mode, and a bunch of other things, the game is considered to be EA's Intellectual Property.

At the very least it would be a Trademark issue, Trade Dress issue, and potentially an Industrial Design Rights issue. That's why TA needed their permission to make the game (since standalones and mods have different legal rights). If TA were to apply for a Steam Greenlight position without EA's consent, it potentially could be very harmful (C&D) to Renegade X. That's why we need their permission.

However, I do not see any legal precedent for EA to take action if Renegade X does apply. As long as the contract is still valid that allows Renegade X to exist so long as it is not monetized, then Renegade X is probably safe for a Steam Greenlight application. Unless the agreement specifically stated marketing and/or accessibility limitations, TA would still be successfully acting upon their part of the agreement.

I'd like to read the original contract (whether it was just a simple reply or a full-out contract) and read all of the implications, personally. That way we can at least see if it is even possible to move forward without direct consent from EA (since they are purposefully being elusive, the case can be made that they know we are in our rights to apply and be on Steam, but do not wish to formally acknowledge it in order to insist upon Origin instead).

I am no expert on this manner, but do have a B of S degree in Business Management and took a couple Business Law courses. That does not make me anything close to a lawyer, but it does mean I know the general basics.

[NodSaibot]

I am going to ask my lawyer uncle some questions. And if they shut down the website? Who gives damn.

[Bananas]

A) The website is pretty important

B) A cease and desist doesn't mean just the website. It means stop all activity related to said thing or legal action will follow. That would mean anyone distributing or working on RenX would be at risk of legal action.

I doubt any lawyer who isn't specialized in copy right or works a lot with video games would know much. My uninformed guess is that any lawyer would sum this up the same. Don't poke the bear.

[Xtractor]

That First contact with EA telling TA its was ok ,you cant contact him again ? lost the email ?

[RoundShades]

That First contact with EA telling TA its was ok ,you cant contact him again ? lost the email ?

A disbanded developer, from what I heard. Basically, back when EA was making C&C games, their studio devs had some ties with the devs here, and now they are no longer a part of EA.

[RypeL]

Not Devs, Community Managers. Back then they still had Community Managers für C&C. Those were the ones that we usually talked to i think. But there is no C&C Community Manager anymore afaik.

[Xtractor]

Mb we can start a BIG cruisade via a Youtube .Like a pro video about the game and our goal to get one Steam and get EA attention ,to get Help from all the web community .And Spread this all over the social medias .Give to big names that might have link with EA or been follow by EA.(Like TBiscuits guys or others you may think ) One day Someone from EA will see and start discuss..Hopefully!

[Xtractor]

Here some EA names and title of EA guys you can try to reach

http://www.ea.com/executives

the CEO (Andrew Wilson ) is in Australia I think

send mails guys

[testman]

Nah, writing to CEO would probably just get filtered among shitload of other spam he probably gets daily.

IMHO last two people on that list would be better choice, since one is responsible for most of things related to games and other is in charge of "Corporate Social Responsibility", which sounds like the field where our issue falls into.

[Xtractor]

Nah, writing to CEO would probably just get filtered among shitload of other spam he probably gets daily.

IMHO last two people on that list would be better choice, since one is responsible for most of things related to games and other is in charge of "Corporate Social Responsibility", which sounds like the field where our issue falls into.

You probly right

Edit: I can try to get more infos like emails or stuff from EA Montreal if TA devs want

[Bananas]

A response has been received from EA. Please do not try to contact them individually or move forward with any type of petitions. The devs will provide more info when they are ready.

Topic locked. Don't make any new ones related to this. An official topic will be made eventually.

[Agent]

For those who were wondering: There will not be any Steam or Origin release. Renegade X will continue to be operated and developed as it has been (albeit we're far closer to completion, so development has definitely slowed a bit).