Kotaku has published a story today about public/shareholder doubt in Electronic Arts’ current CEO of three years, John Riccitiello. Prior to Riccitiello’s tenure, EA was known for regurgitating franchises ad nauseum, much like the current state of Activision. While many folks still purchased Madden in droves, a negative cloud hung over the affairs of EA. On the other hand, under Riccitiello, EA has focused its portfolio on good games rather than profitable games, which, in this industry, are not always the same thing unfortunately. With this came games like Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, Rock Band, Spore, and Left4Dead, not all of which were as profitable as EA had hoped, causing the company to lower its annual revenue forecast from $3.9bn to $3.675 and shares during Riccitiello’s EA to slump from $52 to $17.11. Now financial experts are calling for a regime change.
The irony, as Kotaku points out, is that as EA’s profits and shares fall, its games have gotten better. While there are still those that are obstinately opposed to EA because of the old EA, the perception of the company by gamers, in general, has softened in recent years. However, this has obviously not translated into dollars for EA, and it seems most gamers are not willing to put their money where their mouth is. It must be hard for Riccitiello to justify his position on quality while sequels like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sell hand-over-fist.
As Kotaku commenter Hamsfork pointed out, “This is why we can’t have nice things.” Personally, I’ve gotten a little sick of the industry’s case of sequelitis, and its aversion to innovate and bring new ideas to the table. It’s a sad state when Gears of War’s “Active Reload” feature, as nifty as it is, is touted as “innovation.” I’ve found myself buying less of these sequels, and more of the creative and niche stuff, and yes, more of EA’s games. Hopefully, Riccitiello’s gameplan is a long term one, and the company banks more than it has been, otherwise we may see a return to form for EA. And then we all suffer.
[From: Kotaku]
