John-riccitiello
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EA CEO says digital gaming sales will overtake console numbers next year
Need more evidence that physical media is inching towards the door? Enter this Reuters conversation with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. While the company -- the largest publisher of "interactive entertainment" (AKA video games) -- is hurting on sales during the awesome global recession currently underway, he thinks the future is digital. All digital. Riccitiello had this to say on the matter: "When people think of games, they traditionally think, in the U.S., of what sells on the Xbox, the PlayStation, and the Wii, and they forget about all these online services that are out there... if you add all that stuff up, it's almost half the industry now. It's about 40 to 45 percent. Next year it's likely to be the larger share of the total industry and it'll be bigger than the console games all put together." He went on to say that if EA's digital arm was a standalone company, "it would be like the darling of Wall Street." Of course, he's not just talking about XBLA and the App Store -- this is an all-encompassing view of the digital market, including casual gaming, Facebook apps, and WoW transactions as well. It may not be the kind of all-encompassing push needed, but we are hoping this sort of noise rattles the industry enough to mobilize smarter, more centralized methods of online distribution.
EA's Riccitiello predicts fewer titles per year, harder push for digital distribution
[EndSights] Having already implemented major layoffs for a second year in a row, EA CEO John Riccitiello needs to start cutting more nitty-gritty costs. Following up on previous statements about cutting the number of releases per year, the executive tells Reuters that the company will have 40 releases in the next fiscal year, but that around 30 releases a year "wouldn't shock [him] at some point in the future." Focusing on fewer, quality titles sounds like the THQ gambit.Another way EA can reduce costs is by cutting down on its packaged goods manufacturing and distribution. Riccitiello believes packaged games like Madden NFL will always have a following, but that digital distribution will account for half the industry in 2010, up from 40 percent. He states that EA's "goal" for the publisher's digital distribution operation is to become "as important as, and over time maybe more important than, our packaged goods business."
EA says Wii software performance weaker than anticipated
EndSights EA's John Riccitiello has got some 'splainin to do. Investors are bound to be frustrated with the video game publisher, which recently reported a net loss of $391 million, spurring a layoffs that affected more than a thousand employees. EA's decision to not be evil has seemingly backfired, with the company forced to focus on "core slate" games that can be iterated over and over again.The CEO is also blaming poor sales of the publisher's Wii titles. "I think the Wii platform has been a little weaker than we had certainly anticipated," Riccitiello told investors during a conference call this week. "And there is no lack of frustration to be doing that at precisely the time where we have the strongest third-party share. We are building the products that I think the most highly rated on the platform and at this point in time, generating the most revenue of any third-party platform."Certainly, no one can say EA hasn't been trying. Dead Space Extraction was praised by most critics, but managed a mere 9,000 units in first-month sales. "I really do think that the opportunity exists to find different ways to partner with first party in this case to sort of help establish in the minds of the consumer legitimacy of some of these other brands when they are going out," Riccitiello suggested, seeminlgy urging Nintendo to offer better support to third-parties that have been languishing on the Wii platform. Certainly, Nintendo can afford to share the wealth.[Via gi.biz]Source – Electronic Arts Q2 2010 Earnings Conference Call [PDF]
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looking to catch MW2-jaded PC gamers on the rebound
Perhaps detecting a dedicated server-shaped weakness in the competition's defenses, Electronic Arts is beginning to position next year's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a legitimate heir to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare throne. On yesterday's Q2 earnings call, EA Games label prez Frank Gibeau said that, in addition to other things, Bad Company 2's "deep new online play with dedicated server support ... will put Battlefield in head-to-head competition with Call of Duty for quality and online gameplay." EA CEO John Riccitiello later said, "Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ... has every right to see itself as a rival to the #1 FPS game that one of our competitors is releasing next week." (Note: We presume Riccitiello misspoke and meant "this" week and not "next" week ... unless he thinks Left 4 Dead 2 is the #1 FPS game and that EA is its own competition). Continuing to pour gasoline on the dedicated server fire, Gordon Van Dyke from Bad Company 2's DICE tells IncGamers, "On the PC, it's a PC version, which is getting that same treatment, and then also a little bit more as PC users are generally used to a different type of experience than console users are, and we recognize that and we want to make sure that we give that to the PC market and give the console market more." He was less committal when discussing modding tools, offering, "Once we start getting there and the engine gets to a level where we can release tools that are easy for our own guys to use, and then easy for people publicly, then we'll get into that and we'll really start to focus on it." Though the first Battlefield: Bad Company never made its way to the PC, with promised support for the platform and a PC beta hitting this December -- just a few weeks after the PS3-exclusive console beta gets underway -- it's clear EA and DICE are making up for lost time. Source – Electronic Arts Q2 2010 Earnings Conference Call [PDF link] Source – DICE: Bad Company 2 PC Gets A "Little Bit More" [IncGamers]
EA trims its 2010 lineup, focuses on high-profit games
As the mushroom cloud still hangs in the air after Electronic Arts' devastating quarterly report, which also brought with it 1,500 layoffs, the publisher plans to focus on games that are sure bets. MCV notes EA CEO John Riccitiello's statement, made during an investor conference call yesterday, that the company will release approximately 30 titles in its 2010 fiscal year, a 50 percent cut from fiscal year 2008. Develop picked up on the executive going on to say that EA has a "core slate" that it will "iterate on an either annual or bi-annual basis ... all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition two million units or more." He continued that any game that can't be expected to be a "very high profit contributor and high unit seller" is out from "this point going forward." What a difference a year makes.It sounds like the "old EA" might be making an unwelcome, albeit economically enforced, return. We can hate it as much as we want, but EA's accountants, stockholders and surviving employees probably prefer the security. Source -- EA slashes release slate in half [MCV]Source -- EA going cold on new IP [Develop]
Losses, layoffs in EA's Q2 earnings report
EA announced a net loss of $391 million in its Q2 2010, which ended September 2009. The losses have increased from last year's $310 million. In addition, sales, at $788 million, are down $106 million in Q2 2010 from the same period last year. EA CEO John Riccitiello remains positive about EA's outlook, explaining, "EA is performing well, with quality, sales and segment share up so far this year." CFO Eric Brown echoed Riccitiello with his own confusingly half-upbeat statement, saying "We met our second quarter expectations and delivered a record quarter for revenue. Today we are announcing a significant cut in our operating expenses and the acquisition of a leader in social games, Playfish." Those cuts, revealed earlier today, will result in the loss of around 1,500 jobs by March 31, 2010. Last year's restructuring planned only 1,000 layoffs. EA estimates that the restructuring plan will save around $100 million after about $130 - 150 million of restructuring costs. We hope that, this time, the company arrives at a structure that works.
Dead Space tops on Riccitiello's list of faves
When John Riccitiello needs to unwind from a long day as CEO of EA, he does it with dismemberment. That's the word from an interview with Fox Business in which Riccy (No? Well, worth a shot) names Dead Space as his favorite game of the past 12 months. We're assuming he's not talking about the Wii version of the game, since it's a statistical improbability that he owns it. After his revelation that digital distribution offset retail sluggishness, the publishing boss went on to say it takes him around "50 to 60 hours" to finish a typical game. It prompts the question: Exactly how many times is he planning on fending off the necromorph threat?
EA: Downloads offset sluggish retail sales
EA's John Riccitiello has a bit of advice for the anxious investors, analysts, and fanboys who eagerly await the monthly NPD numbers: "There's an entire other world of download, online, all the things that are going on that doesn't really show up in the surveys and I think that's the future." NPD figures only track retail sales, a market that has been challenged by the downturn in the global economy. Games like Madden 10 may sell fewer copies than previous versions, but that doesn't mean investors should jump ship. "Online games that you download, games you would get by way of iPhone for example, that totally digital business is up so strong that it's actually offsetting the challenge we see at retail," Riccitiello tells FOX Business. Offerings like Madden 10 on iPhone, the upcoming Madden NFL Arcade, and Madden 10 DLC should go far in helping the company's bottom line. "The retail business is down," Riccitiello admits, but "the combination [of both retail and digital] is up." Riccitiello's belief that digital is the future of the industry echoes earlier sentiments from EA Sports boss Peter Moore, who called the retail model "a burning platform." See Riccitiello's full interview with FOX after the break. [Via Edge]
Madden 10 for Wii sold only 67K copies in August, EA calls overall sales 'discouraging'
We first caught wind that an imperfect storm was brewing for this season's Madden offering shortly after kickoff in mid-August. Now we know that not only has Madden 10 for Wii been sacked at retail, but EA is less than happy with the performance of the franchise as a whole thus far in '09.IndustryGamers received word from NPD that Madden NFL 10 for Wii -- a game touted as being rebuilt from the ground up for Nintendo's console this year, in part to improve sales -- sold only 67,000 copies in the month of August. In comparison, the PS2 version sold 160K copies, with the Xbox 360 SKU selling the best at 928K. This time last year, the Wii installment of Madden 09 sold ... just about 116K copies.In the same afternoon, Bloomberg reported that EA CEO John Ricitiello emailed his employees a memo that stated, in part, "It is discouraging that one of our highest-rated and best-marketed Madden titles in years is facing strong headwinds." Ricitiello clearly wasn't faulting quality, but rather downward industry sales trends which he admitted "present a challenge." That may be the case, but it doesn't explain the Wii version's shockingly low sales, especially for a franchise that's about as mainstream as they come.Source -- Madden Wii Sells Just 67K Copies [IndustryGamers]Source -- Electronic Arts Says 'Madden,' Industry Sales Drop [Bloomberg]
EA: We would like to see console price cuts this year
John Riccitiello is well-known as a man accustomed to living on the edge. His opinions, often controversial and polarizing, frequently tear rifts between factions of the gaming community. We imagine his latest outburst will be no different -- during EA's Q1 conference call, the polemical CEO said, "We think pricing will move hardware," and added, "We anticipate price cuts at some point and we'd like to see them later in the year."Sure, this may seem like the popular opinion right now, but there's plenty of folks who hold opposing beliefs. Like us -- we wouldn't mind seeing a universal increase in the price of consoles. You know, to keep the proles out.
EA calls Sims 3 leak its 'demo program'
"You identified our secret marketing campaign!" EA CEO John Riccitiello said of the large-scale piracy of a pre-release version of The Sims 3. "That was a very large scale – concentrated on Poland and China – demo program." How could Riccitiello be so cool about piracy? He told IndustryGamers that the incomplete leaked game served as an invitation to buy the full version, so despite the inadvertent leak, the value of the data from this "experiment" may outweigh the losses. "A huge amount of the gameplay is an overlay for the community," he said, "where you are sampling assets created by other people. So for the pirate consumer, they don't get the second town, they don't get all the extra content, and they don't get the community. It was only concentrated on Poland and China, but I think of it as not being that different than a demo."This kind of piracy only serves as a test for EA's ongoing move to online content. Riccitiello believes that EA is moving toward selling "services," by which he means longterm online games for which the initial purchase is either nonexistent or a small portion of the total payment for the game. "By the way, if there are any pirates you're writing for," he told IG, "please encourage them to pirate FIFA Online, NBA Street Online, Battleforge, Battlefield Heroes... if they would just pirate lots of it I'd love them. [laughs] Because what's in the middle of the game is an opportunity to buy stuff."
DICE creative director happy with EA's current direction
Apparently DICE has got some love for the way John Riccitiello is running Electronic Arts. DICE Creative Director Lars Gustavsson tells Eurogamer that the CEO's quality over quantity focus is gaining momentum -- he points to Dead Space as an example of the "right direction."Gustavsson explains the publisher puts on "creative director classes" about four times a year, where 20 other creative directors from EA get to talk shop. He expresses that there's an "enormous brain pool" in EA and the new ways of thinking at the publisher are taking advantage of this.Sadly, for all the good stuff going on at EA -- and there's no denying we've heard a lot of positive stuff from insiders -- it appears consumers aren't buying the product in the quantities the publisher needs ... it's tragic, really.
DICE 2009: Riccitiello addresses recession, a 'blessing' for gaming industry
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello knows a thing or two about money -- and considering the recent, brutal round of layoffs that the company had to undergo, he probably knows a thing or two about the current economy's sad state of affairs as well. Loading up a tongue-in-cheek screenshot depicting a gruesome wreck in Burnout Paradise, the EA commander-in-chief addressed the recession's effects on the gaming industry, as well as his company's strategy for staying afloat, during his speech at the 2009 DICE Summit in Las Vegas.Said strategy is unbelievably simple -- Riccitiello summed up the EA survival plan which will result in over 1,000 positions within the company being jettisoned by April in three easy to remember steps: "Start by deciding what's important. Invest heavily in those programs. And cut the rest." This likely adds insult to injury to the nine (apparently unimportant) studios and publishing locations which were recently "cut" by the company, but it sounds like this relentless pruning is in the best interest of the EA mothership.However, according to Riccitiello, gaming enthusiasts shouldn't be completely disheartened by the recent outbreaks of industry downsizing. He hypothesizes that the "riffraff" that tarnishes the gaming universe will die out, allowing for the market to become more accomodating for the visionaries and luminaries who want to move the medium forward. We certainly hope Riccitiello's dream of a "survival of the fittest" gaming utopia is realized -- we just hope we're all not eating shoelaces and apple cores by the time it gets here.
WAR population numbers revealed, but what do they mean?
When Mythic Entertainment released Warhammer Online on September 18, 2008, it quickly became the fastest selling MMORPG ever. A month after release, they announced WAR had registered 750,000 players and people were buzzing that it may actually make a noticeable dent in World of Warcraft's armor. But as the expression goes: good things usually don't last. Box sales in your first month are one thing, but what matters most for a subscription MMORPG is player retention. Since October 2008, EA and Mythic have remained completely silent about WAR's numbers, something that is never really a good sign. Player and industry speculation was rampant given consistent reports of an in-game exodus of players. The speculation that WAR was losing players was confirmed by a financial report released by EA stating that WAR had just over 300k subscribers as of December 31, 2008. Let a new round of speculation about what these numbers mean begin.Join us after the cut where we'll discuss the reasons I think WAR lost so many players in such a short period of time. I'll also chat about how I think Mythic can regain those lost subscriptions and perhaps grow even larger!
More Wii games from EA thanks to low development costs
EA's John Riccitiello has made a strong argument for why EA is looking to increase its Wii development. It boils down to the fact that developing for the Wii is a lot cheaper than for other current-gen consoles. Riccitiello said during EA's Q3 2009 earnings call that "development is typically a third to a fourth as much for a Wii game than it is for a PS3 or an Xbox 360 game." When put like that, it's a wonder anyone develops high-definition games at all.Riccitiello went on to explain that this is largely due to Wii developers "producing less art than for high-definition games." As a result, EA will be giving the Wii as much developmental emphasis as the 360 and PS3 enjoy collectively, seeking to "rival Nintendo on their own platform." If the announcement of Dead Space for the Wii is any indication, more emphasis will also be put on bringing more hardcore experiences to the console, rather than ports of the latest Madden or block-based puzzle games.Source – Ricitiello: Wii development is 'a third to a fourth the cost' of next-genSource – Ricitiello: Wii to get 'half our emphasis'
Pachter: Riccitiello is the right man to save EA
With all of the bombshells EA dropped last night, some might be questioning whether John Riccitiello is the right man to guide EA into a profitable future. Video game analyst Michael Pachter isn't one of those, however. Pachter thinks that's the kind of person that needs to be in charge at EA and describes Riccitiello as "a bright guy with a ton of experience" and being "sufficiently conscientious to lead the company." It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops from Pachter's end, however, as he criticizes Riccitiello's past strategies for EA and his "desire to balance between future growth and current success." The past strategies Pachter refers to are likely the company's gamble on new IPs, Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. As for us, we like the more gutsy EA. But we also want Mass Effect 2 ...
EA announces Dead Space for Wii, hints at MotionPlus support
Here's a weird surprise out of EA's ongoing Q3 financial earnings conference call: CEO John Riccitiello revealed an upcoming Dead Space game for the Wii, saying, "We're bringing core intellectual properties and franchises in categories we think have legs on the Wii platform. A good example of this is Dead Space. We're bringing a Wii title to the market this year and it is absolutely going to be the quality and fear factor that you got on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC SKUs this past year."Riccitiello had previously hinted at the title obliquely in a July VentureBeat interview, saying "Go look at Dead Space and imagine playing that game with a wand and a Nunchuk. If they improve the precision, then you could have a good experience," in reference to the MotionPlus peripheral. In a portion of the call following his mention of Dead Space, Riccitiello said that EA is "taking great advantage of [Nintendo's] new hardware addition with Motion Sensor [sic] and what that's going to give us is the kind of gameplay we think is going to rival Nintendo on their own platform."At this point, we don't know if the Wii game is an adaptation of the original or a new title in the series, nor do we have a release date. We'll let you know the details as soon as possible.%Gallery-23118%
EA confirms multiplatform Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company sequel
Listen up, fans of slow elevators and shooting everyone in sight. EA's recent financial earnings call divulged information indicating the publisher is readying sequels to BioWare's sci-fi RPG, Mass Effect, and DICE's multiplayer-driven FPS, Battlefield: Bad Company. There isn't that much else to report, other than EA CEO John Riccitiello saying that Mass Effect 2 would be available on "multiple platforms" and Bad Company would be "back on consoles" in Q4 of fiscal year 2010, which translates into normal people speak as sometime between January and March 2010.We'll try to corner more information on these two titles and update as soon as we can.Update: First screen of Bad Company 2 released.
Breaking: 300k Warhammer Online subscribers as of December 31, 2008
We just learned courtesy of an eagle-eyed forum goer at VN that as of Q3 2008, Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online had over 300,000 accounts. There is an EA investor's call taking place shortly where CEO John Riticiello may elaborate on this, so we'll keep you posted. We'll also post our thoughts on this news tomorrow.Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning®, an MMO from EA's Mythic Entertainment studio, ended the quarter with over 300K paying subscribers in North America and Europe. [Courtesy of Yahoo Finance]
Riccitiello blows $1 million on EA stock
John, Ricci -- can we call you Ricci? -- what are you doing, man? Look, we know being the big shot CEO of one of the world's biggest publishers affords you plenty of opportunity to, well, afford a bunch of expensive stuff ... but blowing your cash on EA stock? Worse still, blowing it on 42,500 snippets of stock, to the cumulative value of just over a million dollars? Sounds like a bad idea, honestly.Perhaps you haven't heard, but EA lost quite a bit of money in the last quarter. It seems your company's been spending dough on developing -- you won't believe this -- "new" IP. Do you really want to support a company that's dumping funds into crazy, non-sequel projects? There's just no way that's going to fly. You're better off investing in those Activision guys. Trust us, people are never ever going to get tired of Guitar Hero 27, Tony Hawk 19 and Tony Hawk Presents Guitar Hero Featuring Spider-Bond. See you in the short-term, Ricci.
