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[sleepykyo]

Be careful what you wish for.

Yep. A few years from now, the current EA is going to seem saintly in comparison to the EA with a CEO better at exploiting consumers.

 

[Eusis]

When Stolar was in charge of SCEA, he was the one to nix any RPGs on the PlayStation 1 until he left to handle the Saturn. He completely misjudged the market considering the success that Final Fantasy VII would later obtain for the PlayStation brand. Bernie Stolar was just plain horrible at judging the market.

And given how good the Saturn was with niche games in Japan... it was kind of unfortunate he came on board. :/

Though it seems he wasn't as extreme there. But I do worry if his philosophy, even worn down, still kind of exists at SCEA given they seem to be the most trouble getting certain games approved with. Unless it was a Sony philosophy to be that selective and he just got to call the shots then.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

I wonder when the Board of Directors asked him to "resign" as opposed to being fired?

When the accountants finished their report on the upcoming quarter?

 

[Tesseract]

goodbye sir, thanks for giving it your all. you championed good projects, and bad ones, but your intentions were commendable. farewell.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Be careful what you wish for.

That is what I am thinking. A lot of the positive changes that EA made years ago were under his watch. I think those decisions didn't pay off financially and the company was forced to make some tough decisions based on finances after the Star Wars disaster.

So we will see how this turns out. I would think Peter Moore would get the gig, but EASports didn't get better until AFTER he was promoted. He was content with the teams making back of the box features and not improving the games at all.

Gaming is in a weird spot right now. The games cost so much money to make that they have to get as much profit as they can out of them, but the methods they have tried so far have been met with a lot of distain from gamers. But to keep up with these big releases, something is going to have to give.

 

[nib95]

Good riddance, I just hope he doesn't get replaced with someone even more anti consumer.

 

[Espada]

But to keep up with these big releases, something is going to have to give.

But must they keep pumping out big releases? Why not several A-level titles rather than ultra-huge AAA showstoppers? If that type of game is not really feasible, scale things down.

 

[bill0527]

Too bad these CEO firings/resignations don't come in threes like celebrity deaths.

I'd want Ballmer gone next.

 

[Tesseract]

Too bad these CEO firings/resignations don't come in threes like celebrity deaths.

I'd want Ballmer gone next.

why?

 

[inky]

LOL, I agree that the next CEO can be even worse guys, but there is only one thing I can say to a guy who thinks like this:

"When you are six hours into playing Battlefield and you run out of ammo in your clip, and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you're really not very price sensitive at that point in time."

"A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10,20,30,50 hours on the game and then when they're deep into the game they're well invested in in. We're not gouging, but we're charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high."

"But it is a great model and I think it represents a substantially better future for the industry."

Good fucking riddance.

 

[twinturbo2]

Time for a new direction...a chance to really shake things up at EA.

Maybe now EA will finally restore some of the goodwill it has lost over the years. They ALMOST had it early this gen, but they screwed that up royally.

In a way it's kind of sad when a CEO leaves. Riccitiello stepping down really means an end of an era. But on the other hand, it's a chance to see the company evolve and adapt in ways the previous guy couldn't even dream of. Let's hope this pushes EA in the RIGHT direction.

Imagine a new CEO walking in, and his first announcement being that SimCity will have an offline mode. That would be a great start, honestly.

ON THE OTHER HAND, a new guy could COMPLETELY fuck up the things that Riccitiello has done right and push EA into an unprecedented world of milking. A change of leadership could be extremely dangerous if we don't get a guy who protects the interests of the core gamer at heart.

Imagine a new CEO declaring that all future EA games will be online-only + free to play + micro-transaction heavy. Yeah...

CEOs have SO much fucking power in this business. In a way, they are the company.

You're right. It could go either way.

 

[GavinGT]

But must they keep pumping out big releases? Why not several A-level titles rather than ultra-huge AAA showstoppers? If that type of game is not really feasible, scale things down.

Bigger risks, bigger rewards. And EA is in a better position than most to take those big risks, so there's no good reason not to. Besides, the mid-tier game is sort of dying. You keep adding those As or you're SOL.

 

[oti]

Guys, are you sure you know what you want? Listen to the wise words of Disney's Recess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze9WNXXgKCM

 

[hym]

I hope this will change EA's public relation attitude and slow down their crusade for lowest common denominator appeal.

But I fear Riccitiello is only a sacrifice for investors, a lot of the things I dislike about EA are innate to corporations this size with investor pressure, they can't function without leaving behind a trail of victims.

 

[xelios]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out etc.

 

[alr1ght]

LOL, I agree that the next CEO can be even worse guys, but there is only one thing I can say to a guy who thinks like this:



Good fucking riddance.

I've stopped buying EA games, so he can't be that much worse for me (other than influence).

 

[Zero-Crescent]

Genuinely surprised it took this long.

Yeah, I figured that he would be out after the whole Pandemic fiasco. Guess it took that, SWTOR, EA Partners, and SimCity for investors to finally lose faith in him.

 

[Nirolak]

So paging back over EA's events/interviews for the past few years, JR hosted most of them until this fiscal year, when Peter Moore started taking notably more spotlight while Riccitiello himself went mostly silent in terms of public appearances.

Besides the obvious reason (being COO), this would suggest they were considering him as the primary replacement candidate.

 

[speculawyer]

I've stopped buying EA games, so he can't be that much worse for me (other than influence).

I haven't made any attempt to stop buying their games but it just kinda happened. I've mostly switch to PC and they are mostly console games. And I'm a Steam guy and since they created Origin, EA kinda disappeared off my radar.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Good riddance,why did it take so long?

Sim City was that bad aye?

There were rumors he was getting the boot for months. It was getting to the point where it looked like they were just rumors.

 

[QaaQer]

Any replacement is likely to be cut from the same cloth, because their approach provides the best ROI.

If successful.

 

[jtb]

As much as GAF kinda shits on him, I have to ask, wasn't it under his watch that we also got Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, as well as some of the more interesting stuff out of the EA partners program?

Riccitiello has made some DUMB moves, some choices that alot of people here aren't the biggest fans of. But is his legacy at that company really so covered in hatred that he can't be credited for some of the better, more interesting stuff EA had done?


I kinda have no reason to believe that a new CEO would be any better.

The beginning of his reign was pretty good, but that's because EA were really really desperate at the beginning of the gen. I do agree that no CEO will be better though.

 

[GavinGT]

I do agree that no CEO will be better though.

There were no significant controversies surrounding the Battlefield 3 launch, and that sold pretty darn well. Maybe there's something to be learned from that.

 

[Eusis]

So paging back over EA's events/interviews for the past few years, JR hosted most of them until this fiscal year, when Peter Moore started taking notably more spotlight while Riccitiello himself went mostly silent in terms of public appearances.

Besides the obvious reason (being COO), this would suggest they were considering him as the primary replacement candidate.

Well, that COULD be a turn for the better (or at least more likable.)

 

[SMD]

Stolar had a lot to do with Sega's demise.

His active attempts to smother the Saturn with a pillow to force Sega of Japan to hurry up with the Dreamcast being the most infamous.

I forgot all about Stolar, so I looked him up and forgot he was the reason behind RPGs getting stuck in Japan.

Fuck's sake.

 

[Game Guru]

And given how good the Saturn was with niche games in Japan... it was kind of unfortunate he came on board. :/

Though it seems he wasn't as extreme there. But I do worry if his philosophy, even worn down, still kind of exists at SCEA given they seem to be the most trouble getting certain games approved with. Unless it was a Sony philosophy to be that selective and he just got to call the shots then.

SCEA is kind of weird in that regard. Stolar was also against releasing 2D games. You'd hear constant complaints about getting a 2D game onto a Sony system from guys like Capcom and SNK, but yet 2D RPGs like Disgaea were perfectly acceptable. It actually seems like the success of Final Fantasy VII meant that SCEA became more lenient on RPGs in general, whether 2D or 3D, whereas they still followed Stoler's ideas in terms of 2D games from other genres. Of course, the existence of digital and the need to compete with the 360 had mitigated this somewhat.

I've always seen SCEA as just being stricter than Microsoft or Nintendo of America in terms of third-party games though.

In reality, somewhat like Stolar or Riccitiello is supposed to be in charge of making their company a success. While we gamers might hate Bobby Kotick of Activision to the very core, he has generally been successful at making Activision a success. Not just successful, but also varied in making franchises and willing to drop things when they are costing the company money. Kotick is also aware of protecting the image of Activision considering he has generally stopped making comments about the gaming industry and just let the sells of his games speak for themselves.

 

[Clear]

If successful.

True, but the whole point of that sort of ultra-conservative, focussed approach is that its relatively risk averse. Basically if a title under-performs they kill the developer and cut their losses there and then.

 

[Aquamarine]

The beginning of his reign was pretty good, but that's because EA were really really desperate at the beginning of the gen. I do agree that no CEO will be better though.

Under Riccitiello we got:

+ Mass Effect 2 + 3
+ Dead Space 1 + 2 + 3
+ The Sims 3
+ Crysis 2 + 3
+ Dragon Age Origins
+ The Saboteur
+ Mirror's Edge
+ Battlefield: Bad Company 2 + Battlefield 3
+ Rock Band 1 + 2 + 3
+ Skate 1 + 2 + 3
+ Need For Speed Shift + Hot Pursuit + Shift 2
+ Kingdoms of Amalur
+ DeathSpank 1 + 2
+ Bulletstorm
+ Shadows of the Damned
+ Brutal Legend

Etc.

That's pretty darn good, despite all the times Ricitiello fucked up (Spore DRM, online passes, day-one DLC, etc.) goodwill with the consumer.

 

[sflufan]

When the accountants finished their report on the upcoming quarter?

Yes, that's about right!

 

[Giolon]

Appropriate time to bring this back: http://www.idleballad.com/

 

[Officerrob]

SWTOR did him in. When it bombed, it was only a matter of time.

 

[ambientmystic]

I'd like to say good riddance, but I can't.

Dude greenlighted some good IPs at the beginning of his reign but ended up outdoing ActiBliz by the end of it.

Perhaps he got fired for not fucking the consumers over enough to the shareholders' satisfaction. We're not out of the woods yet folks; things could get even uglier.

 

[DTKT]

SWTOR did him in. When it bombed, it was only a matter of time.

The stock didn't reflect that. SWTOR, surprisingly, seems to be a non-issue right now.

 

[S0N0S]

The Ballad of John Riccitiello

Perhaps someday we'll get an epilogue from Chris Remo.

EDIT: Beaten!

 

[Seik]

I hope with all my heart that the next one will be less insane than him.

Good riddance.

 

[Nekki]

This is what you get when you betray Iwata, John.

 

[nhlducks35]

This is what you get when you betray Iwata, John.

Don't worry, Iwata's probably next.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Good fucking riddance.

 

[The_Lump]

This is what you get when you betray Iwata, John.

Yup. Between this and the Origin hijacking news, I'd say the ninjas have been busy...

 

[AgentChris]

Good fucking riddance.

Holy shit. Good riddance indeed.

 

[Yawnier]

This was taken as a troll given the questionable source but

http://www.abload.de/img/eaisfinishedy6jd0.png

Check the date it was posted.

Looks like a bunch of bull that an overly enthusiastic and aspiring 13 year old wrote.

 

[Almighty]

As much as I wish I could say SimCity was the final straw, I am pretty sure this was set in motion before that game even hit store shelves. Not that it matters though. New CEO or not EA is still going to continue down the same path.

Thinking about it though it doesn't really matter to me anyway. I can't think of the last EA game I bought. I am not actively avoiding them either it has just turned out that way.

 

[la flama blanca]

Under Riccitiello we got:

+ Mass Effect 2 + 3
+ Dead Space 1 + 2 + 3
+ The Sims 3
+ Crysis 2 + 3
+ Dragon Age Origins
+ The Saboteur
+ Mirror's Edge
+ Battlefield: Bad Company 2 + Battlefield 3
+ Rock Band 1 + 2 + 3
+ Skate 1 + 2 + 3
+ Need For Speed Shift + Hot Pursuit + Shift 2
+ Kingdoms of Amalur
+ DeathSpank 1 + 2
+ Bulletstorm
+ Shadows of the Damned
+ Brutal Legend

Etc.

That's pretty darn good, despite all the times Ricitiello fucked up (Spore DRM, online passes, day-one DLC, etc.) goodwill with the consumer.

Can he really be credited for the creation of these games? I mean sure, they needed to make games, they are a games publisher.

 

[Nirolak]

Their Executive Chairman on their forward going strategy.

From Larry Probst: EA Leadership Transition

Today John Riccitiello submitted his resignation to EA’s Board of Directors. In a letter to the Board, John outlined that while the company has made enormous progress in improving product quality and transitioning to digital games and services, our financial performance is tracking below the expectations set at the beginning of our fiscal year. This was disclosed in our last earnings call.

John’s final day will be March 30. I will serve as executive chairman and work with John and the management team to ensure a smooth and orderly transition. The Board will immediately initiate a search and both internal and external candidates will be considered for the CEO position.

I hired John in 1997 as our COO and, after leaving to start a private equity firm, he rejoined in 2007 as our CEO. In 12 years of service, he compiled a history of great leadership. John’s tenure at EA has been marked by bold decisions, a big vision for online games, a passion for product quality and an enduring respect for the people who work here.

John made an indelible mark on our culture and shaped many of our most successful leaders. We wish him the very best in whatever he decides to do next.

Looking ahead, EA’s strategy and future are rock solid. Our business is built on more than a dozen powerful, globally recognized brands. We are clear leaders in the fastest growing category in games – mobile – and we are positioned to lead on the next generation of consoles. Most importantly we have deep reserves of talent – new faces and industry veterans who form the core of EA’s leadership. We have an important year ahead of us and I look forward to working with all of you as we navigate the path to future success!

Source: http://www.ea.com/news/from-larry-probst-ea-leadership-transition

Or as expected... pretty much the same.

 

[Calidor]

SimCity'd

EDIT: Forgot about the TORtanic. Damn I bought both games at launch, shame on me

 

[Aquamarine]

Their Executive Chairman on their forward going strategy.

From Larry Probst: EA Leadership Transition

Today John Riccitiello submitted his resignation to EA’s Board of Directors. In a letter to the Board, John outlined that while the company has made enormous progress in improving product quality and transitioning to digital games and services, our financial performance is tracking below the expectations set at the beginning of our fiscal year. This was disclosed in our last earnings call.

John’s final day will be March 30. I will serve as executive chairman and work with John and the management team to ensure a smooth and orderly transition. The Board will immediately initiate a search and both internal and external candidates will be considered for the CEO position.

I hired John in 1997 as our COO and, after leaving to start a private equity firm, he rejoined in 2007 as our CEO. In 12 years of service, he compiled a history of great leadership. John’s tenure at EA has been marked by bold decisions, a big vision for online games, a passion for product quality and an enduring respect for the people who work here.

John made an indelible mark on our culture and shaped many of our most successful leaders. We wish him the very best in whatever he decides to do next.

Looking ahead, EA’s strategy and future are rock solid. Our business is built on more than a dozen powerful, globally recognized brands. We are clear leaders in the fastest growing category in games – mobile – and we are positioned to lead on the next generation of consoles. Most importantly we have deep reserves of talent – new faces and industry veterans who form the core of EA’s leadership. We have an important year ahead of us and I look forward to working with all of you as we navigate the path to future success!

Or as expected... pretty much the same.

For perspective, Larry Probst was the guy who served as EA CEO from 1991 until April 2007 (when Riccitiello took over). I can't believe he outlasted Riccitiello at the company.

I don't like this renewed focus in mobile titles. :-(

 

[Tuck]

Under his leadership, EA has made some very sketchy, anti-consumer decisions. I can't say I'm unhappy to see him go.

 

[Zen]

He also made some very pro consumer decisions, those just don't get highlighted.

While that's true, I wouldn't imagine it would take too much to screw up Eidos' current output outside of what Wada is already doing. And everything else being terrible gets to the point where someone just needs to tell him "hey, stop it."

I'm not saying that it's nearly as bad as John's tenure under EA, but I'm just bitter.

Ricitello has been a blessing for EA and has done fantastic things during his tenure, bitching about SimCity DRM doesn't change that.

 

[Nirolak]

For perspective, Larry Probst was the guy who served as EA CEO from 1991 until April 2007 (when Riccitiello took over). I can't believe he outlasted Riccitiello at the company.

I don't like this renewed focus in mobile titles. :-(

EA always had a pretty big focus on mobile titles since they bought JamDat, but we didn't hear about it much since people didn't really talk about feature phone games much since they were seen as like the ultra ghetto of gaming.

 

[HK-47]

Under Riccitiello we got:

+ Mass Effect 2 + 3
+ Dead Space 1 + 2 + 3
+ The Sims 3
+ Crysis 2 + 3
+ Dragon Age Origins
+ The Saboteur
+ Mirror's Edge
+ Battlefield: Bad Company 2 + Battlefield 3
+ Rock Band 1 + 2 + 3
+ Skate 1 + 2 + 3
+ Need For Speed Shift + Hot Pursuit + Shift 2
+ Kingdoms of Amalur
+ DeathSpank 1 + 2
+ Bulletstorm
+ Shadows of the Damned
+ Brutal Legend

Etc.

That's pretty darn good, despite all the times Ricitiello fucked up (Spore DRM, online passes, day-one DLC, etc.) goodwill with the consumer.

Wow a game publisher publishes game. Who knew?