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[FordGTGuy]

No, instead he scammed over a million people into buying a game that didn't work at all.

Talk about spreading FUD.

 

[Iacobellis]

But did he really? Xbox was a huge money drain and 360's sales only exploded after Mattrick came in.

360 sales exploded from day one. Yes, they got even better with the NXE and then Kinect-era, but the innovative IPs have faded. The J. Allard, Peter Moore, and Robbie Bach trio will never be beaten.

 

[Unspeakable Evil]

Out with the old shit, in with the new shit.

 

[Rapstah]

Any word on how much the severance package is?

515 Bioware Points, you can buy them in batches of 500.

 

[Alienous]

Battlefield 4 was so expensive to produce that Riccitiello was asked to step down.

 

[Proxy]

Maybe now the Wii U will get proper support. No?

Yeah, I'm going to say no.

 

[TalesOfWin]

How about you find all the games and anti-consumer tactics that Riccitiello greenlit in the last 5 years and stop relying on the same 2 games that came out in ancient times that everyone else relies on and gives them infinite amounts of goodwill for some strange reason?

and Kotick isnt anti-consumer? You approve the DRM in D3?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Riccitiello greenlit Mirrors Edge, Dead Space and Brutal Legend.

Oh, he greenlit Brutal Legend?

He's worse than I thought!

 

[Nirolak]

This won't change a thing. EA basically just sacrificed one of their own in an attempt to quell the customers' anger towards them. That's how cold-blooded they are. Instead of figuring out why customers are angry at them (ie. stopping the online-only code for example), they just do useless thing like this.




Keep dreaming.

Well I guess if you view their shareholders as their customers...

 

[picklecannon]

Sad news, I reallt loved EA this gen.

I think if anything EA will only get better from here. Worst case they should stay the same so you'll be alright!

 

[Rösti]

Just a heads up on the upcoming conference call:

EA expects that its revenues and earnings per share for the current quarter will be at the low end of, or slightly below previously issued guidance provided in its press release dated January 30, 2013. Actual results may be materially different and can be affected by many factors, including the levels of usage of the Company's digital products, initial sales of new products that will be released before the end of the quarter and other factors detailed in the Company's annual and quarterly SEC filings.

EA will announce its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 results on May 7, 2013 and will host a conference call at 2:00 pm PT (5:00 pm ET) to discuss the results.

http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=749234

We will most certainly get more information before March 30th, but May 7th is the date for more financially toned discussions. And that conference call I wouldn't want to miss due to this change in executive leadership.

As for the change itself, I'll say that I hope this will equal a more effective and stable Electronic Arts with focus on qualitative brand management to avoid the current situation they have with hundreds of old, unused assets that are just collecting dust. It's of course bad for John that he lost his job but he's a grown man and should be able to handle the consequences of "his" firm's actions. And with the recent events regarding SimCity and Star Wars: The Old Republic, these actions speak of some grim negligence when it comes to internal and external communications. Hopefully the new leader can sort that out and restore most of EA's reputation.

 

[diamount]

Jason Schreier from Kotakue posted that, while detailing the financial dive. Pretty good read to explain his resignation. http://kotaku.com/5991181/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-steps-down

Was that big dip due to Bioware/Pandemic purchase?

 

[Opiate]

He's worse for gamers who would like to play something other than COD. Obviously, he's much better for shareholders.

I'm a gamer, though, so I think the view that Kotick's way is a success and Riccitiello's way is a failure is really depressing. I think it's weird that GAF is so anti-EA/Riccitiello.

What about Skylanders, Starcraft, Diablo, Guitar Hero and WoW? ActivisionBlizzard makes quite a few games, but very few of them are single player, narrative driven, console focused games at this point.

I think this tends to be the problem for many people. If you like big budget, epic, AAA single player games, then yes, EA was "better for gamers." Big projects for EA like Mass Effect, Dead Space, Dragon Age, and even Dante's Inferno focused much more on this big budget single player experience than almost any ActivisionBlizzard game this generation.

ActivisionBlizzard has a certain type of game they make, and so does EA. If ActivisionBlizzard struggled, that would be bad for multiplayer/socially focused gamers. Again, if you are a single player, narrative driven, AAA console person, then yes, EA is more important for your personal preferences and their struggles are not good for your tastes.

But I do not think one would say ActivisionBlizzard is "bad for gamers." Just bad for a particular type of gamer.

 

[Tempy]

EA had 5 million+ sales hopes for the franchise by this point. Dead Space 3 will get nowhere remotely close to that, is already price chopped, and even being given away for FREE in the SimCity debacle.

I never thought Dead Space would be 5+M material, but would be a great 1-2M selling franchise as long as you don't fuck around too much with its formula or try to milk it to death. Now that the 5+M plan has been botched, my fear is that the franchise is too damaged to return to its previous, more modest expectations.

 

[sp3000]

How about you find all the games and anti-consumer tactics that Riccitiello greenlit in the last 5 years and stop relying on the same 2 games that came out in ancient times that everyone else relies on and gives them infinite amounts of goodwill for some strange reason?

You still haven't explained why Kotick is somehow a better CEO from a gamer's perspective. All the "anti consumer tactics" you talk about are EA copying what Activision started.

 

[Bluth54]

Question. Their approach with Origin in the PC space, keeping large titles as origin exclusive. Has this been a successful tactic for them?

I don't think we will ever know for sure, but while I'm sure that some of their big games like Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3 have sold well on the PC, I doubt that making them Origin exclusive has had a huge effect on Origin.

I always got the impression they did that because they wanted Origin to replace Steam as the digital distribution platform that PC gamers use. They wanted people to buy not only their big games like ME3 and BF3 from Origin, but other games as well. I would guess that most gamers who use both mainly use Origin for big EA games and Steam for most other games.

 

[grimshawish]

So what now?

More or less of:

• Sequels?
• On disc DLC?
• Microtransaction being weaved into every game's SP and MP?
• Turning every game into generic xyz for more mainstream appeal?
• More me too games?

More of a strategy behind EA games, expect more on the PC side especially.

 

[Kallor]

You can't fuck fans over harder when you've got nothing that they desire.

There's always another fan favorite dev to buy and bury.

 

[Black Door]

Rats jumping ship. First it was the Bioware founders, then one of the guys from Respawn, now one of the big ones.

Here's hoping for a future where they get bought by Nintendo

 

[Derrick01]

and Kotick isnt anti-consumer?

Did I say this, or did you want me to say this?

You still haven't explained why Kotick is somehow a better CEO from a gamer's perspective.

He's not as dangerous to the industry as a whole, that's good enough for me.

 

[JWong]

Who is Kevin Dent?

 

[Tenki]

Youth, you say?

 

[Quentyn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHzLt3C_z0

Marrying strong business with strong IP didn't work after all. Damn you Kotick.

 

[diamount]

When has a CEO ever resigned of their own volition? Either they're retiring or it's a firing dressed up to look like a resignation. Thanks Kevin Dent for stating the plainly obvious.

I'd be hard pressed to resign a $1million p/a job.

 

[Duster]

John Riccitiello is out of work but will find employment at <Parameter: String> GMT.

Sadly I doubt that this move will significantly chance EA.

 

[Data West]

Any word on how much the severance package is?

Free copy of Dead Space 3

Riccitello: "At least now I can go home and enjoy my copy of SimCity."
Parameter:String
"No! NO! THERE WAS TIME!"

 

[Saty]

July 2012 : http://www.develop-online.net/news/41363/Pachter-EAs-Riccitiello-fears-for-his-job

Pachter: EA boss fears for his job

EA president John Riccitiello is worried he is at risk of losing his job over the publisher’s falling stock, according to US analyst Michael Pachter.


Riccitiello wanted to know why EA’s stock is at an all-time low, despite its earnings going up.

The length of the current console cycle has taken EA by surprise. Patcher said the lack of new console announcements between 2008 and 2009 “contributed to sequelitis”, which is bringing companies into decline.

“I had lunch with John Riccitiello last week. He was asking me why no one wants to buy his stock,” said Pachter. “He doesn’t understand what’s going wrong.”

Pachter thinks that the reason EA’s stock isn’t rising is because “we’re in fifth year of the three-year turnaround”.

Riccitiello’s response, said Pachter, was: “‘Yeah, but, in 2008, when we said it’ll be a three-year turnaround, I thought new consoles were coming out in 2010-2011’.”

 

[Rad-]

I'd be hard pressed to resign a $1million p/a job.

He probably gets like 5 million when he leaves though.

 

[Iacobellis]

It's funny, I saw both of these images in a recent Sakurai thread.

 

[The Technomancer]

Which colour ending is this?

Okay, this got me

 

[Bigmac1910]

Finally, and damn, Pachter was right. I just hope that the next person in line will make some better decisions, maybe Peter Moore would be better?

 

[Screenboy]

Nintendo support coming?!!












:trollface

 

[AlexBasch]

Their basketball game has Jay-Z. Jay-Z! Clearly it's superior.

To this day, I don't understand what or why is relevant that Jay-Z is on the name of that game.

I mean, I'd like to see City FIFA: United are cunts, produced by Noel Gallagher, but still.

 

[old manatee]

yay!

 

[GavinGT]

Who is Kevin Dent?

A giant douchebag who fancies himself some sort of gaming industry insider/soothsayer.

His most notable accomplishment appears to be starting Twitter flame wars with anyone and everyone. Other than that, he founded a company (of which he was the only employee). Then, as of late January, he became COO of a company that gives users shitty rewards for playing shitty mobile games.

 

[AuthenticM]

So they fired President Shinra. Rufus is next.

Be scared.

 

[TheSeks]

Wait, he was fired? Or did he resign on his own terms? Wario's OP is confusing me.

 

[demidar]

Marrying strong business with strong IP didn't work after all. Damn you Kotick.

Is strong business a codeword for MICROTRANSACTIONS EVERYWHERE?

 

[Sub_Level]

Imagine Battlefield 4 with no Origin and with no pay-to-level-up option.

 

[Nirolak]

Honestly, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. The guy started-off guilty of self-dealing with the bioware/pandemic deal, IMHO. And things didn't get much better from there. Many online gaming disasters (Sims online, Motor City online, Star Wars, etc.).

The board should have booted him years ago.

The ship was actually turning around and making progress though, so that gave him a long lifeline.

The problem with this fiscal year is they actually went backwards for the first time since their nadir, even by their own accounting procedures, and did so across multiple product failures and disappointments. Given that they have a shrinking line-up, they can't have that many of those and still look good.

I never thought Dead Space would be 5+M material, but would be a great 1-2M selling franchise as long as you don't fuck around too much with its formula or try to milk it to death. Now that the 5+M plan has been botched, my fear is that the franchise is too damaged to return to its previous, more modest expectations.

EA's CFO was pretty clear they were jettisoning franchises that weren't notably profitable because they drag down margins, so the series wouldn't be surviving at the lower end either.

 

[Tempy]

Mirrors Edge 2 is now a possibility? 0:

I want to think that Mirrors Edge 2 will be a reality once Timothy Langdell loses the Edge trademarks (any day now!).

 

[Tobor]

When has a CEO ever resigned of their own volition? Either they're retiring or it's a firing dressed up to look like a resignation. Thanks Kevin Dent for stating the plainly obvious.

Gamers can be amazingly obtuse at times.

I remember arguing with Sony fans who thought Kutaragi actually resigned. Lol.

 

[DemonNite]

Cevat Yerli, GAFs current favourite CEO/President to take over next

 

[Alchemy]

Board of Directors is still there, not much will change.

 

[Rad-]

Wait, he was fired? Or did he resign on his own terms? Wario's OP is confusing me.

Forced to resign most likely.

 

[Opiate]

Nintendo support coming?!!












:trollface

That doesn't seem likely, but I would say EA is poorly aligned for the current market generally. The Wii U isn't exactly the best example of a missed opportunity, though.

 

[C4Lukins]

People quickly forget just how shitty EA was before he took over.

 

[TalesOfWin]

Did I say this, or did you want me to say this?



He's not as dangerous to the industry as a whole, that's good enough for me.

Now you gave me a good laugh. You really like the 90% (or so) multiplayer only games Activision seem to focus on?

 

[VariantX]

Is this the Nintendo curse striking again? He should have known not to tempt fate.

The Nintendo "curse" involves developers leaving Nintendo, not publishers.

 

[Iacobellis]

People quickly forget just how shitty EA was before he took over.

What made them so shitty in 2004-2006 like some people in this thread have said?