John-riccitiello
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EA talks Tiger deal, wants him to start winning
EA may be cool with Tiger Woods using that five wood to knock his balls into every patch of grass he can, but there's one thing it can't put up with forever: a loser. Speaking at the Reuters Global Media Summit, EA CEO John Riccitiello said that what he was expressing wasn't a "threat" against Woods, but that the company has the athlete's name on the game because of his standing in the sport. Riccitiello explained the company has no plans to drop Woods, but it's a business relationship based on the publisher and the athlete bringing their "best." He expressed, "Both of those things need to be true in the long run for the partnership to make sense." Riccitiello says the company is willing to give Woods the opportunity to turn it around "for a period of time," even as other corporations have walked off the green. The executive now keeps a standard alarm clock and a "Tiger Woods patience timer" by his bedside.
Riccitiello: EA backing away from big acquisitions, not buying Harmonix
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello revealed a core attribute that the megapublisher is prioritizing in the coming years: Thriftiness. He explained the company has no interest in pursuing more multi-million dollar acquisitions for now -- rather, he said the company will focus on better integrating some of the major casual game developers it acquired over the past year, including Playfish, the Facebook game developer EA bought out for $300 million (with $100 million in potential bonuses) last November. When pressed on whether the publisher was considering purchasing the recently let-go Rock Band developer Harmonix, Riccitiello responded that such an acquisition would "look like I'm doubling down on yesterday." He added, "I'm sure some smart investor will buy the business feeling that they can catch a falling knife, but more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefitted from getting the timing exactly right." That seems awfully harsh, but we suppose it's not quite as harsh as if EA were to buy the developer then dissolve it a few years later.
EA: Medal of Honor has generated $100 million
There's no doubt that EA had an uphill battle on its hands with Medal of Honor. The industry has been waiting to see just how Medal of Honor would fare against the likes of Halo: Reach and the looming release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Now, EA has announced that the game managed to ship 1.5 million copies in its first five days. Speaking to Fox Business, EA CEO John Riccitiello noted that the game has generated $100 million for the company. Not quite as impressive as the numbers pulled in by Halo: Reach, but certainly a strong showing for an aging franchise in need of a jump start. Riccitiello also touched on Medal of Honor's disparate review scores, chalking them up to the game's polarizing real-world subject matter. Regarding the Taliban controversy surrounding the game, Riccitiello said that the issue boiled down to media outlets being unfamiliar with multiplayer games. "When you were a kid you might've said 'Cowboys and Indians.' Somebody had to be the Indian," he said. "It's not really fun if everyone's a cowboy." See the full interview after the break.
EA boss says Need for Speed series was hurt by 'death march' dev cycle
EA CEO John Riccitiello told attendees of a recent Bank of America conference (via CVG) that Need for Speed developer Black Box Studios was "on a death march, building for five years in a row," citing a decline in sales between 2004 and 2007 as the end result. "[They were] annual iterations, they had to put it out; no rest for the weary," Riccitiello said. He then explained that "It was definitely our fault," adding, "Those days are gone. We're back in two studios and we've got them on bi-annual cycles." In his opinion, the forthcoming Hot Pursuit reboot is the fruit of that changed-up development cycle. "This year is right back in the core action driving ... it's had a two-year dev cycle ... I feel great about it," he posited. Oddly, no mention was made of the now annual Black Box franchise Skate, but we're hoping for an announcement of Skate: Hot Pursuit by year's end.
Electronic Arts keynote is here, 2pm PT / 5pm ET
The historic Orpheum Theater, home to EA's E3 2010 keynote [photo] [Update: Things are about to get underway here at the Orpheum. Click past the break for all the action, live!] The Electronic Arts E3 keynote starts in just over an hour, at the historic Orpheum Theater (fun fact: That's where it was last year, also!). Before things really get going, make sure to read our pre-E3 interview with CEO John Riccitiello beforehand, and let us know what you want to see most. Us? Another Mirror's Edge game, please!
Interview: Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello talks E3
Joystiq: What's EA's overarching strategy going into E3? What's the message you guys are looking to communicate to consumers? John Riccitiello: I think mostly what we're going to try to do is introduce 10 great products. So, but I think the message behind all the products is that -- and we feel very proud that we've got what I think is the best industry lineup. We'll talk about that, I'm sure, on the call. And then, increasingly, what we're doing is driving transformation where there's just a whole lot more to these products than a simple package goods. There's a full series of services and benefits and post release contents. There's a version for the iPhone. There's a version for the iPad. There's a version for social networking that sort of lets you sort of engage in ways you probably never imagined you would. So, for us it's about Dead Space 2, it's about Medal of Honor, it's about Crysis 2, it's about The Sims console. It's about probably the best Madden we shipped this generation, maybe including the last. It's a rebirth of NBA Live, now NBA Elite, and a lot of really cool titles. Then it's all the rich services that are coming behind it. And frankly underpinned by what I think is the industry's best quality story.
Star Wars: The Old Republic not planned for fiscal year 2011
If you're eagerly awaiting the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, even with the release window of April 2011 being thrown around, you could be forgiven for holding out hope that the game might get a slightly earlier release. (If you're sick of hearing about it, you might be hoping for an early release too, just so everyone will shut up.) But your hopes will not be borne out, it seems -- and the game might even come a bit later than we'd expected. John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, has stated again that the game is not expected to ship during fiscal year '11. Although he didn't reference Star Wars: The Old Republic by name, Riccitiello referred to a new MMO currently under development -- and CFO Eric Brown later referred specifically to the game as not being part of the '11 fiscal year forecast. The period under discussion ends on March 31st, 2011, which means that we can still look for the game early next year, but it's not getting pushed any faster. Still, it's only a year away, and that year could go quickly. [ via Joystiq ]
Star Wars: The Old Republic shipping after March 2011
During EA's fourth-quarter earnings conference call, CEO John Riccitiello made a reference to a "major new massively multiplayer online game" -- probably Star Wars: The Old Republic. "EA is incurring significant development costs for a major new massively multiplayer online game," he said. "However, this game is not expected to ship in fiscal '11." Later, CFO Eric Brown responded directly to a question about The Old Republic, saying that "It's not included in our FY11 release slate." This all but confirms that The Old Republic is the game referred to by Riccitiello during a similar call in January, when he gave a "major MMO" a release date of spring 2011. If it's in the spring, but not in EA's fiscal 2011 (which ends March 31), that means we can look forward to some Jedi fellowship sometime between April and June of next year.
Used game retailers respond to 'Project Ten Dollar'
It's unsurprising that most game retailers who dabble in the pre-owned market feel jilted by an initiative EA CEO John Riccitiello calls "Project Ten Dollar" -- after all, it was designed to reclaim some of the revenues earned by secondhand sellers. A number of representatives from used game retailers recently spoke to GamesIndustry (login required) about the perils EA faces by bundling DLC redemption codes with new copies of the publisher's games. Chipsworld exec Don McCabe said consumers won't prosper under this new system, as copies of the game will lose their resale value, but retailers will "just readjust [the price] bearing in mind you have to buy the voucher." Marc Day, CEO of SwapGame, says diminished resale value will do more harm than good to the publisher's bottom line, as "customers who trade in for cash or credit do so to acquire new games they could otherwise not afford." Check out GamesIndustry's full article for more retailer opinions on EA's new DLC strategy. It's an interesting read on what might turn out to be a pretty vicious cycle.
Riccitiello talks 'Project Ten Dollar' and digital distribution
Crack open a fresh copy of Mass Effect 2, The Saboteur or Dragon Age: Origins and you'll see it: A code to download some piece of game content that those suckers buying used will have to pay for. It's not just coincidence that EA is shipping so many games with these bonuses/punitive measures (depending on your perspective). It's what CEO John Riccitiello calls "Project Ten Dollar," a bid to take back a portion of revenue from the estimated $2 billion in annual used game sales. That and the rest of Riccitiello's strategy to to make EA more reliant on digital content is detailed in a new BusinessWeek report. All we know is, with a 25 percent decline in revenue for Q3, the company needs to find some way to fill the gaps sooner rather than later. Though Riccitiello seems convinced the digital strategy will patch the hole, some remain unconvinced. Former EA consultant Eric Goldberg told BusinessWeek, "While it's possible EA can make the extremely difficult transition from providing a shiny disc in boxes to [leading] in digital, history suggests it's rather unlikely."
Riccitiello reckons console price cuts came too late
Yesterday's EA earnings call was packed with tidbits about upcoming games but, as reported by VG247, there was time for some minor mudslinging as well. During the call, EA CEO John Riccitiello was asked about industry health and tie ratios, and said "I think a... factor in 2009 was sort of a lack of aggressive pricing on first-party if you will, a little bit too late with their price-cuts." He later added that console use was actually up, even in the face of social gaming platforms like Facebook. So, think what you will about Riccy's stance on price cut timing, the one thing that's certain is that we're not to blame.
EA loses $82 million in fiscal Q3 2010, revenue down 25%
Right off the bat, you should know this: for EA, losing $82 million in the third quarter of a fiscal year is an enormous improvement. Compared to the same period last year ("Q3" for EA is October 1 – December 31), the company lost 559 million fewer actual physical dollars. Yes, really. Now that we've told you that, we should also note that the publisher pulled in 24.85 percent less revenue year over year (down to $1.243 billion in Q3 2010 from $1.654 billion in Q3 2009). That said, Playfish had "two of the top ten Facebook games" for the quarter! Good thing EA spent $300 million on those folks, eh? Okay, okay, real talk: the company also points out that it was the "#1 packaged goods publisher in North America and Europe" for its entire fiscal year. CEO John Riccitiello even notes that Mass Effect 2 is "the first blockbuster of 2010." And hey, with 2 million units already shipped, we tend to agree.
Bioware confirms 2011 SWTOR release
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Bioware_confirms_2011_SWTOR_release_Massively'; Yesterday we talked about a rumor that had been floating around thanks to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, who had mentioned the spring 2011 launch of an unnamed MMO on a recent conference call. Of course, the Star Wars: The Old Republic rumor mill sprang into action, with good cause as it turns out. Sean Dahlberg of Bioware confirmed the rumor on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forums earlier today: While we have not announced a specific date, we can confirm that we are targeting a spring 2011 release for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. We've got a lot of exciting updates and reveals planned throughout 2010, including the first-ever hands-on testing for the game. It's not too late to sign up to be a game tester, so go to www.swtor.com/tester and sign up today. We can't wait to share more about the game with you as we progress through the year, so make sure you stay tuned to the official website for details. While it may not be quite as soon as many fans were hoping for, the extra time gives Bioware a chance to add all those final touches and roll out a nicely put-together game for 2011.
Star Wars: The Old Republic rumored for spring in 2011
A long time from now, in a game store probably not too far away... you might be getting your copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Well, all right, spring of 2011 might not be all that far along, but if you're one of the many eagerly looking forward to Bioware's entry into the MMO arena, it certainly feels like an eternity. ShackNews has recently reported on a rumor that John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, mentioned that they were looking forward to their next big MMO launch in spring of 2011 while discussing the company's financial outlook. Although he was cautious and stated they had not announced a launch date, he did mention that the team was making "great progress" toward that timeframe. Obviously, the game was not specified by name, which does technically mean he could have been referring to another game. But unless they've secretly been developing Warhammer Online II: The Warhammering, in all likelihood we can expect to see Star Wars: The Old Republic early next year. Which might be good news if you're a Bioware fan anyway, since Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 are making enough of a dent on your wallet this year.
EA's Riccitiello: Nintendo 'learning' how to support third parties
More than twenty years and five home consoles later, you'd think Nintendo would get this "third-party support" thing by now. However, EA CEO John Riccitiello says the console manufacturer is still learning how to reach out and offer a hand to games other than their own. "They've always been first-party-centric, and they're learning how to be third-party supportive," Riccitiello told Gamasutra. Looking at November's NPD figures, it's clear that Nintendo has been very good to itself. But is there hope for EA on the Wii? "Third-parties can do a lot better on the platform with the right support from Nintendo." What kind of "support" are third parties like EA looking for? Most likely, third parties are looking for co-opted marketing opportunities provided by other first-party platforms, like Sony's PlayStation.Blog or Microsoft's MW2-branded hardware. Unfortunately, Nintendo appears content with its hands-off approach to third-party marketing, offsetting all the blame for the failures of GTA: Chinatown Wars and countless other games at the hands of their respective publishers.
Sony says PS3 motion controller was codenamed 'Gem,' might or might not actually be called Gem
We never heard much more of the rumored Sphere codename for Sony's PlayStation 3 motion controller since it cropped up a few months ago, but it looks like we now finally have another name for it besides "PlayStation Motion Controller." That word initially came from EA's John Riccitiello, who let slip the name "Gem" during his talk at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference when speaking about Sony's and Microsoft's new motion controllers. Just odd enough to work? Well, not so fast, as Sony would only go so far as to confirm to Kotaku that Gem was "an early code name for the product," adding that they "haven't announced final name at this point." Not exactly a full-on non-denial denial, to be sure, but it would seem that the door for Gem is at least open a tiny crack. [Thanks, Aaron]
Riccitiello addresses EA morale, effects of negative press
With a second year of major layoffs at publisher Electronic Arts, questions about morale and investor perception surround the company. EA CEO John Riccitiello told IndustryGamers that in the case of morale, those who survived "understand the logic, they agree with it and support it and think we're a stronger company for the moves." The exec stresses that those who remain are "all excited about [EA's] move into digital and direct-to-consumer" -- something that may not have been true when he brought up the strategy two years ago. Riccitiello also feels that there was a lot of bad press relating to EA's Q2 results -- the one with all the layoffs -- and that "a lot of negative articles were written that entirely missed the point that [EA] felt [it] had a great first half ... sometimes people almost believe more what they read in a newspaper than what they hear from their own company." In fairness, that seems rather understandable, given recent events in corporate America.
EA: Pandemic's California location 'significant' in decision to close studio
EA CEO John Riccitiello claims there were multiple factors in the decision to shutter Pandemic Studios, but one of the most significant was the studio's California base of operations. In an interview with Kotaku, Riccitiello blamed a combination of regulatory changes that affect technology and entertainment companies in California, as well as the tax incentives offered in other countries as major factors in the company's decision. "For good or for bad, we are taking down headcount in California because it is really expensive," Riccitiello said. Another factor in the decision is the rapid growth of digitally delivered titles and browser-based games, leading Riccitiello to believe that the industry is quickly moving away from a focus on "packaged" software. "In a world that used to be all PC, then used to be all console, now it's neither." Riccitiello's comments echo those of Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada, who recently advised publishers to prepare for the "exponential growth" of digital delivery and server-based games following the announcement the studio would restructure its Eidos London offices, resulting in layoffs. Pandemic Studios' closure comes at an interesting time, as the announcement was made just weeks before the studio's final title: The Saboteur. However, Riccitiello reiterated that the company's brand and franchises will live on.
Riccitiello: Mirror's Edge deserves second chance, EA still pushing new IP
EA CEO John Riccitiello told IndustryGamers that the company has no intention of reducing its reliance on new IP. "Does this mean EA is backing away from investing in quality and innovation?" Riccitiello asked. "Absolutely not. It's religion for me; I believe quality and innovation is what works." EA faces a difficult task now: finding room in EA's now-reduced slate for the new content Riccitiello promises and the sequels the company must produce. But it's a task Riccitiello seems to believe is worth undertaking. "I believe there are publishers out there that are milking franchises at their peril," he said. "I do think you can sort of stop innovating and do well while you coast for a couple of editions before a product starts to fall apart or a sector starts to fall apart." The juggle involves sequels like Mirror's Edge 2, perhaps. "There are some things we learned about that [first] game," Riccitiello told Kotaku. "It was, I think, a massively innovative product. To be honest with you, I think it's a game that deserves to come back." The CEO said he's "had several very lively debates" with the dev team about the design of a future game. "And they are working on it."
EA aims to reclaim FPS dominance with Medal of Honor, Battlefield
"I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but in the way that Activision sort of alternates sequels of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty and owns the leadership position in FPS [first-person-shooter], between Medal of Honor and Battlefield, I want it back," EA CEO John Riccitiello declared in an interview with Kotaku. This means war. With the Call of Duty franchise growing into a $3-billion juggernaut, it's no surprise to see EA looking to topple Activision's bulging beast and reap the significant rewards. According to Riccitiello, the newly rebooted Medal of Honor and March's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 represent a strategy of "innovation and quality," one he suspects is bolstered by DICE's multiplayer expertise. "We think we've got an advantage over Modern Warfare 2 with our multiplayer," he suggested. "The guys at DICE do that really, really well." So, you think the console wars are intense? Just wait until you see the war ... wars.