EA exec: 'Industry' slowly discovering rest of calendar
Glen Schofield, general manager of EA's Redwood Shores, seems to think publishers are slowly having epiphanies about the illogical decision to cram every major release into the last quarter of the calendar year. Speaking with GI.biz, he states the "the industry" is finally recognizing that it could launch blockbusters during the summer and, if the title is good, it could still do well. The comment comes after EA's Mirror's Edge and Dead Space failed to meet sales projections. Both titles were new IPs dropped into the madness of the holiday season.
Gamers and the game press have been screaming for years that the overall release schedule needs to change. BioShock's solid August launch -- and significant press coverage -- is currently the go-to example of stepping outside the Q4 circus for a new game. Even high-profile franchises like GTA IV (April '08) and Resident Evil 5 (March) avoided the holiday mess. Times are slowly changing, but don't expect the holiday overdrive to be gone just yet.
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