Riccitiello
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EA CEO won't share Old Republic release date because of "principal competitor"
E3 usually isn't a big news get for us here at WoW Insider, as Blizzard does its own thing with its own announcements and showing up to conventions. However, one piece of news really stuck out as interesting in relation to Blizzard. EA's CEO John Riccitiello made some interesting statements regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic's release date. The Old Republic is EA's MMO set during the fan-favorite Old Republic era of the Star Wars franchise. Riccitiello said: Announcing a release date "would be irresponsible for two really good reasons", Riccitiello said. "One, the competitive marketplace. Putting a window out there creates a window of opportunity for our principal competitor to put out an expansion pack or an ad campaign et cetera around our launch window. Bad move at this point in time." Now, while Riccitiello does not name Blizzard specifically, there are only a few potential "principal competitors" in the MMO market. Blizzard is definitely the biggest name at the table. What Riccitiello is saying is that announcing a release date for their MMO would give Blizzard the opportunity to move in on EA's hype, move its own release dates around, or prepare a patch or game release for the same time frame that The Old Republic would launch.
EA's Riccitiello: Wii could use price cut, support toward third parties
EA CEO John Riccitiello feels that if the Wii would drop its price to $99 that it would "explode" back to its '07 and '08 sales levels. In an interview with IndustryGamers, the executive expressed that the recent Wii declines come from Microsoft and Sony offering competitive "gesture-based" peripherals against Nintendo's device. Riccitiello also dragged out the classic complaint regarding Nintendo's treatment of third-party content. "I think it's a frustration for all third-party publishers, when a platform holder does less to promote third-party content. A great third-party company is Apple, a company that's all third-party content," he stated. "I don't care whether it's Mario or Twilight Princess or GoldenEye; it was their own content. I'm going back to N64, and I can go back to SNES if you want, but they've never really been a heavy third-party supporting system." He concluded that it's not that Nintendo doesn't try to do good by third parties, just that Nintendo starts "the morning thinking what's best for [its] own intellectual property."
Take-Two confirms meeting with EA, letting offer expire tonight
Just a little while ago, Take-Two announced that EA has agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement and review the object of its hostile financial affection's business plans for the next three years, turning this hostile takeover into something more ... amicable. Take-Two has also confirmed that it intends to let the clock run out on EA's $25.74 per share takeover offer, which expires today at midnight.At face value, what this means is that EA still wants to buy Take-Two, and that the current offer still isn't reasonable to the Take-Two board. Meanwhile, the FTC will have finished its anti-trust probe on the issue this Thursday. Perhaps once EA gets a look under Take-Two's hood the two companies can come to a mutually agreed upon price to end this saga -- or some other publisher could come out of left field and scoop Take-Two up.
Riccitiello upbeat about MotionPlus
Of course, EA CEO John Riccitiello's job is to make every decision his company makes sound both well-considered and awesome, even when he's backhandedly saying that some things didn't work out. In an interview with VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi, he managed to both dismiss their past games and sound optimistic, thanks to the enhanced spin tracking found in the Wii MotionPlus device."The Wii MotionPlus is going to be good. If I had to pick one thing we suffered from, it was imprecise control on the Wii. That meant certain genres were never going to perform as well on the Wii." The MotionPlus, according to Riccitiello, is "an opportunity for third parties to be more successful." The new peripheral, along with Nintendo's now-famously "weak" E3 lineup, means that this is a good year for companies like EA to put out Wii software. "Frankly, if you look at Nintendo, it's obvious there is a chance for third-party success. They didn't show a lot of content from Nintendo's first-party group. They got a lot of that out last year. So third-party games will likely do better."
Riccitiello buys $1 million in EA stock
Showing the man has a little bit of confidence in his company, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has bought 20,000 shares of stock at $48.37 apiece, totaling approximately $967,400. According to Barron's Online (subscription required), this is the second purchase he's made since becoming chief in March 2007. He now owns 47,294 shares and about 75,000 exercisable options.Said a spokesperson, "John believes that senior executives should be invested in the company." The stock was as high as 54.57 on May 13, the day they reported a $454 million loss in Fiscal 2008. Of course, if he's still confident in the inevitability of the Take-Two takeover, those shares will probably rise a good bit. Speaking of which, the third extension for the Take-Two offer now puts the deadline at June 16.
EA hires former EA exec as new CFO
EA's named a replacement for outgoing Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson and the winner is: Eric Brown of McAfee Inc. GameDaily reports Brown is no stranger to the ways of EA, having served as Chief Operating Officer of EA's Redwood Shores Studio.EA CEO John Riccitiello says Brown's broad international experience and industry knowledge make him a perfect fit for the company. Surprisingly there was no gloating about needing a CFO on board who can easily handle a major acquisition. Brown officially begins the job April 14, three days after EA's hostile takeover deadline against Take-Two.
Analyst: EA being Rockstar's 'white knight' is 'bullsh*t'
Amidst EA's hostile takeover of Take-Two, EA Chief Exec. John Riccitiello told the New York Times last week that his company would "represent a white knight" to a developer like Rockstar (GTA, Bully) and bring its games to a wider audience than Take-Two could. GameDaily spoke with a couple of the industry's leading analysts, like Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, who called the "white knight" statement -- wait for it -- "total bullsh*t, and disrespectful" to Take-Two's new management team.DFC Intelligence's David Cole says that Rockstar doesn't need EA's help to bring its games to a wide audience. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter thinks Riccitiello doesn't really understand the definition of a "white knight." He points out that Rockstar is no "damsel in distress" and could become independent, even though it wouldn't own GTA -- Take-Two owns the GTA IP and that belongs to whichever company owns it.Read -- Analyst: EA's Riccitiello 'Disrespectful' Towards Rockstar, Take-TwoRead -- New Shareholders to Weigh Take-Two Bid
Take-Two asks shareholders not to take EA offer
Take-Two is appealing to stockholders not to consider EA's early-morning all cash tender offer, which pitched a purchase of the company's stock at $26 a share (a 4.4% premium over yesterday's closing price). The Take-Two board states it will review and consider EA's offer and, within 10 business days, advice stockholders of the board's position on the matter along with its reasoning.The 10 day "please wait" request from the Take-Two board is still way within the April 11 deadline given by EA on its $26 per share offer to stockholders. EA wants Take-Two and it wants it bad.
EA makes all cash tender offer to purchase Take-Two
With Take-Two Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick having thoroughly rejected EA's initial buyout offer, the Madden and Burnout publisher has redirected its corporate Katamari at Take-Two shareholders. EA has announced the commencement of a tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software at $26 per share. Valued at approximately $2 billion, the offer reportedly represents a 64% premium over Take-Two's closing stock price on February 15, the company's last trading day before EA began its increasingly aggressive financial courtship. Compared to Wednesday's stock price, it constitutes a 4.4% premium.Barring extension, the tender offer is good until midnight EST on Friday, April 11, 2008. EA CEO John Riccitiello described the offer as "a great opportunity for Take-Two shareholders" and as a a way to "maximize the value" of their investment. "For EA shareholders, the combination would add additional intellectual properties to our already strong portfolio and welcome Take-Two's talented creative teams to the great development organization we've built at EA," he concluded.Will shareholders deem this offer welcomed financial assistance or unwanted financial insistence? We'll have to wait and see.
EA: Rock Band may face shortages through year's end
Continuing their tradition of sitting in on droning investor earnings report calls (so you don't have to!) Gamasutra noticed EA president John Riccitiello predicting that Rock Band bundles may be tough to come by for a while. "We won't be able to put up enough inventory to meet the demand of this fiscal or calendar year," Riccitiello told the investors, adding that those who don't buy at launch "won't be getting one for Christmas, unless you know someone at one of our retailers."While Riccitiello could be plausibly accused of simply trying to talk up demand in advance of the Nov. 20 launch -- he did encourage listeners to "get in line outside your favorite retailer, because we've got one hot product" -- we find the idea of shortages very easy to believe given the game's strong pre-order sales. With Guitar Hero III already selling out at retailers nationwide, it looks like the market for rhythm games might just be big enough for two expensive, hard-to-come-by products.
