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[SolidSnakex]

Who is Kevin Dent?

A guy that seems to have something to say about every news story, but doesn't seem to be accurate with any of his "sources".

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

Sadly I doubt that this move will significantly chance EA.

Yeah, I don't see anything changing. What Riccitiello left will be where EA goes in the future. Freemium, micro-transactions and always-online models.

 

[ultron87]

Was that big dip due to Bioware/Pandemic purchase?

That was the 2008 recession.

 

[bhlaab]

Is this good for gamers or bad ?

It is non-affective to gamers.

 

[Saige]

EA under Riccitello didn't meet shareholders expectations. So expect the next CEO to 'double down' on making quarterly gains. More sequels, more annual games, more DLC. Riccitello seemed to generally want great games coming out of EA.

They will definitely continue to squeeze every penny out of people, I'm just thankful I lost interest in the types of games EA made awhile ago.

And it seemed like Riccitello gave up on the great games thing after the Mirror&#8217;s Edge/Dead Space period. Chasing that mainstream market.

 

[JWong]

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

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

 

[demidar]

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

The curse evolved, like a plague. In fact it's the Nintendo plague now.

 

[Seda]

Interesting.

 

[dream431ca]

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

 

[Art Teitlebaum]

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

And when there is change, it might be for the worse.

 

[Rad-]

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

Well one thing I remember is that EA's game quality was pretty shit back then. When Riccitiello came, it improved for a short time but lately it has been back in decline.

 

[Opiate]

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

Here is a good example of what I'm talking about. Again, not judging here, but pointing out that EA was a bastion of single player, narrative driven AAA games this generation, particularly compared to Ubisoft (whos only major contribution to this was Assassin's Creed, and who otherwise thrived on DS shovelware, Just Dance, and other social content), and ActivisionBlizzard (as you noted).

If you don't like multiplayer/social games, then obviously EA's struggles are bad for you.

 

[Odrion]

Nothing will change other than this guy's resume.

 

[Dr.Acula]

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

Read Saty's post, he was fired, Pachter predicted it. Oh God, my eyes are bleeding and frogs are falling from the sky, what's happening?

 

[MechaX]

For the guy personally, sucks that it came down to it. But hopefully EA has nowhere to go but up from here (yeah fucking right).

Yoichi Wada next, please!

Now if there is a CEO that needs to be ousted...

 

[Pachterballs]

wtf?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I think EA will double-down on microtransactions, if they work.

Battlefield 4 will certainly have them in some capacity. If it doesn't, then EA isn't as committed to them as we all think.

 

[RionaaM]

Which colour ending is this?

Perfection in 5 words.

 

[antitrop]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

Fired was a poor way of saying "forced to resign".

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Hmm yes interesting interesting.

 

[nekomix]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

I think Howard Stringer at Sony was fired by this way, at the end of FY 12 and was replaced by Kaz in April 1 2012.

 

[Data West]

Were people fond of Pandemic? Like... Saboteur was their first 'okay' game.

Sure Battlefront was cool, but it was just Battlefield with a Star Wars skin.
Mercenaries was blech

 

[Protome]

That would be great.

Bring back the Skate franchise too.

Yeah, he should really kill any hope of EA being profitable again. While we're at it, Medal of Honor should be a yearly franchise.

 

[grimshawish]

I think EA will double-down on microtransactions, if they work.

Battlefield 4 will certainly have them in some capacity. If it doesn't, then EA isn't as committed to them as we all think.

If they do this then the truth is they'll be in long term trouble. They need a valid strategy, not just sticking different business models on the end of things.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I think EA will double-down on microtransactions, if they work.

Battlefield 4 will certainly have them in some capacity. If it doesn't, then EA isn't as committed to them as we all think.

With BF4 being a next-gen game (unless something weird happened), I'll be incredibly shocked if microtransactions aren't at all present. You just know they're gonna go nuts with that kind of thing next-gen. Their moves so far all felt like toes being dept into the water.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

For the guy personally, sucks that it came down to it. But hopefully EA has nowhere to go but up from here (yeah fucking right).



Now if there is a CEO that needs to be ousted...

Wada killed it with Eidos. Regardless of game quality, the games themselves are doing pretty well and new IPs have an excellent chance of being franchised.

It's just all the other stuff in his purview that's terrible.

 

[WrenchNinja]

This might be a dumb question but how does a CEO get chosen?

 

[Nirolak]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

I think he probably had an agreement to step down if the FY didn't end well, but yeah, I really doubt Kevin Dent would know.

 

[Iacobellis]

Well one thing I remember is that EA's game quality was pretty shit back then. When Riccitiello came, it improved for a short time but lately it has been back in decline.

But the MVP Baseball series belonged to those years!

 

[Opiate]

This might be a dumb question but how does a CEO get chosen?

For a publicly traded company, the board of directors. For a private firm, whoever owns it.

 

[Alessandro]

I think Riccitello did good in his first years: he oversaw the shift to digital delivery and created Origin for EA which was a successful gamble in my opinion. The last three years have been crap though: microtransaction madness, Kotor launch and recently Simcity are a stain that will need a lot of work to fade away.

I don't envy the next CEO since next-gen is on the doorstep and new business models are urged by consumers.

 

[Paskil]

In particular, I am confident that the investments we have made in games for next-generation consoles will put EA in a strong leadership position for many years ahead.

confident that the investments we have made in games for next-generation consoles will put EA in a strong leadership position for many years

investments we have made in games for next-generation consoles will put EA in a strong leadership position

games for next-generation consoles

consoles

BOOM. Console announcement co-opted, Come at me MS.

 

[Quentyn]

If we're going with EA internal staff to replace him, Frank Gibeau would probably be the best choice of possible candidates to replace him, but I'm not sure if he's high enough up to get it.

I'm curious. Why him and not Peter Moore?

 

[Illithid Dude]

There was a period in 2008-2009 where EA seemed to be doing everything right, but now....

I'm really curious to see what direction EA goes in, though. Hoping for a Peter Moore take over!

 

[unbias]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/18/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-has-stepped-down/#more-146304

From the RPS article, Walker thinks it sounds like he is falling on his sword, so EA can gain some ground that they have lost since hiring him.

I would be shocked if this changes how they do business though, since it is so monolithic in size, that changing course will break a few things.

 

[JWong]

Fired was a poor way of saying "forced to resign".

Forced isn't the right word either. There's pressure on him, but every CEO gets pressure to resign. It's not 100% voluntary, but it's more voluntary than fired or forced to resign.

 

[Ace Harding]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

It's not necessarily a lie. When the CEO of a major corporation "steps down," it is often the result of a series of discussions and negotiations between the Board and the CEO. They might be heated, they might be totally civil. But when it is this clear that a transition is needed, its hard to just say he resigned on his own terms.

Its not uncommon for a CEO to sit through a transition. In fact I'd say its the norm unless they did something really bad (like criminal). Its not a normal desk job. You don't just get canned on a Friday and clean out your desk.

Edit: In fact its probably part of his contract, and tied to his golden parachute.

 

[Tobor]

Sounds like it. If Riccitiello was fired, he'd be gone immediately, but he's around for a couple of weeks to see a smooth transition.

Not the kind of course if one is fired.

Someone should remove that lie from the OP.

This is exactly the way this sort of termination usually goes down.

 

[graboids]

Hope this means we finally get Mirror's Edge 2 and more Bad Company...

 

[Neuromancer]

No more tussling.

Hope this means we finally get Mirror's Edge 2 and more Bad Company...

If anything both are probably less likely now.

 

[C4Lukins]

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

Need for Speed franchise became terrible. Madden 06 was probably the worst game in the franchise, and FIFA was very mediocre and was getting its ass handed to it by PES. That plus EA had been buying and destroying beloved studios for years, some would say intentionally to remove competition. Now not everything he did was perfect, but not only was EA a super evil company at that point but they also produced complete shit for the most part.

 

[GrizzNKev]

What a great day.

 

[Nirolak]

This might be a dumb question but how does a CEO get chosen?

Generally the board of directors interviews people internally and externally and picks the choice they like best, sometimes with input from the previous CEO depending on if they trust their judgment.

The last time this happened (with Larry Probst moving from CEO to Chairman of the Board), Larry favored EA's former COO (JR) for the job and he ended up getting selected.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Hope this means we finally get Mirror's Edge 2 and more Bad Company...

If you're trying to become fiscally secure, do you make a sequel to a game that underperformed?

 

[Protome]

Were people fond of Pandemic? Like... Saboteur was their first 'okay' game.

Sure Battlefront was cool, but it was just Battlefield with a Star Wars skin.
Mercenaries was blech

Mercenaries 1 was fantastic, Battlefront were both fun too.

I don't understand why people blame EA for Pandemic's downfall though. Yeah, EA shut them down, but can you blame them? Mercenaries 2 was delayed what, 4 times? And was still an unfinished broken mess. The Saboteur was also delayed, and while it was a good game it also felt unfinished.

 

[Megasoum]

Were people fond of Pandemic? Like... Saboteur was their first 'okay' game.

Sure Battlefront was cool, but it was just Battlefield with a Star Wars skin.
Mercenaries was blech

What? Mercenaries was amazing. A Just cause 2 six years early.

Merc2 was a big pile of crap however.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I think EA will double-down on microtransactions, if they work.

Battlefield 4 will certainly have them in some capacity. If it doesn't, then EA isn't as committed to them as we all think.

I think paying for a Double XP boost, which was just confirmed for the new Gears, will be something very popular with shooters going forward. People are obsessed with leveling up, and being able to buy something that lets them do that faster will be very appealing. So i'd be surprised if EA didn't implement that into BF4.

 

[Chronoja]

The shift to origin only left a serious amount of money on the table. I never understood the decision.



I used to buy EA pc games. I have not spent a dime on an EA pc game since they moved to origin.

Yep, this is why I brought it up, since the moves boldness cost them in regards to some potential users. A lot of people got burned by their decision and opted to not follow through on buying EA games. I personally haven't bought a game on origin either other than Battlefield 3. It was not a decision made out of hate, just a general sense of "I really can't be bothered loading up origin every time to play 1 or 2 games".

Add to that, I speak from personal experience here only, but the amount of marketing that went into games like Crysis 3 for example, nearly every major gaming site had huge advertisements regarding its release....yet when it came out it felt like it was a ninja release. What I was seeing was a reminder that the game existed and had a man holding a bow in it all over the place, but was it showing up in the Steam "coming soon" list where it would actually pique my interest? no it wasn't

Again, this isn't about Steam vs. Origin, it's just me pondering whether the large push in marketing power for their games and platform worked towards or against them, in contrast to say, higher visibility on steam's store front.

I agree we will probably never truly know but it's a question worth asking to since it's generally from consumer response that we can guess.

 

[Malio]

Meet the new boss, will be the same as the old boss. (But he'll have even MORE pressure on him to money grab)

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

Could someone kind enough list the studios that have closed during riccitello's tenure?

 

[Tobor]

I think Howard Stringer at Sony was fired by this way, at the end of FY 12 and was replaced by Kaz in April 1 2012.

Stringer, and Kutaragi, and Scott Forstall at Apple, and Steven Sinofsky at Microsoft, and on and on...