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[grosvenor_92]

Read the story on Joystiq and was just like WOW !

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I thought Dead Space 3 sold well ?_?

It needed 5m to be viable. It was a dead man walking.

 

[Daedardus]

Cliff Bleszinski to take over. What else has he been doing the past year?

 

[fallagin]

Joakim Mogren should take up the mantle.

Yes, cg people are under represented in the game industry.

 

[Karsticles]

You can say the same of Kotick though. Activision, Ubisoft, and EA are all following the same model.

Ubisoft is doing Rayman Legends and did ZombiU. Those are more diverse than anything in EA and Activision's portfolio.

 

[S0N0S]

I guess SimCity was the last all too public, disastrous straw.

Will this train wreck ever end?

 

[diamount]

Kotick is worse than Riccitiello in almost every way, so I'm sure Derrick doesn't like him, either.



Did we get the numbers on that? Last I saw, DS3 was the best selling game in North America, last month.

Worse in what way? He makes Activision a shitton of cash and that's all that matters as CEO. You can damn well bet once COD and WoW stars losing momentum these shitty practices we got from EA will come out in full force.

 

[Oersted]

heh

Shots fired. Gies finally coming to EA also.

 

[Nirolak]

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.

 

[Nokterian]

Because for a time he was making EA money, you don't get fired as a CEO on anything but losing the company money on a repeated basis.

Like a lot of people all ready said in this topic. Simcity,SWTOR etc are prime examples why the company was doing worse.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I am actually sort of surprised there was no fallout from that Consumerist poll.

Regardless of whether or not you think it was the result of a bunch of whiny internet neckbeards that didn't like Mass Effect 3's ending, the headlines "EA Voted Worst Company in America" for any reasons had to have been making people really nervous.

Might have just been one more straw on the camel's back, though.

It all just adds up. By itself it's nothing, but of course it's not in a vacuum.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Cliff Bleszinski to take over. What else has he been doing the past year?

Winding up GAF?

 

[PaleFolklore]

Amazed it didn't happen sooner. I'm more interested to see if this has any effect at all on EA and Valve's relationship. I'd love to see Mass Effect 3 on Steam.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Cliff Bleszinski to take over. What else has he been doing the past year?

Running his mouth off?

 

[Diddy Kong]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[faridmon]

Mirrors Edge 2 is now a possibility? 0:

 

[megalowho]

Was only a matter of time after SWTOR, right? You can't fail on that big of a gamble and come out unscathed, no matter how your overall bottom line looks.

His tenure will be worth looking back on in the future, they really took a heel turn under his leadership but EA is bigger than any one person. They aren't showing any signs of changing course from a paymium/freemium/always Origin online future, if anything they're doubling down on the current plan and I'm not sure what qualities shareholders are looking for in a replacement that JR lacked. A friendlier face to core gamers, a risk taker? Really doubt that's high on the list.

Big story, though. Need the juicy details!

 

[antitrop]

It needed 5m to be viable. It was a dead man walking.

People hold to this "5 million" thing way too seriously.

 

[Loxley]

Let's not forget that EA had a huge bomb with Medal of Honor: Warfighter as a result of trying to compete with COD's annual release schedule.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

I'm more interested to see if this has any effect at all on EA and Valve's relationship. I'd love to see Mass Effect 3 on Steam.

Sadly, any change like that would probably take months, if not years to see. Big companies move slow. It will be status quo with EA until after this holiday I suspect.

 

[Iacobellis]

Well, the Probst days included both their best and worst years.

What were their best and worst years? I loved everything EA did pretty much from 2000-2006.

 

[Fistwell]

Does this mean no $1 reloads in BF4 MP?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Does anyone feel this will actually bring big changes to the company and its games? :-\

Not good ones.

Their model and business plans for the next few years are already set. They will be following the microtransaction model and, if it fails horribly, will maybe reconsider it by gen 2 or 3 (mostly like 3) of their games for PS4 and 720.

They will probably heavily lean in to mobile stuff, too. Any new CEO is not going to get the job by promising to go back in to the dog-eat-dog world of traditional gaming revenue streams from a decade ago.

 

[alr1ght]

This is what Gies has been auditioning for recently. Maybe he got it.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Don't make popcorn buckets big enough.

 

[sp3000]

Kotick's only crime is whoring their few franchises out. I'm not sure how things stand now but there was a time at least up until very recently where their games were one of the only ones that didn't have ridiculous preorder deals, DRM, or online passes.

You are wrong on every front. They've been doing season passes since Modern Warfare 3. Diablo 3 arguably started the entire online only trend in single player games. Black ops 2 was offering tons of pre order offers from every store.

 

[Dantis]

Disappointing to see Riccitiello go, and the positive response surrounding it on here.

EA does a lot of stupid shit, but it does a lot of good stuff too, which GAF seems to ignore. Riccitiello moved EA away from making crappy licensed games and focused on strong new IPs like Dead Space and Dragon Age.

And before someone says he ruined them, keep in mind that that is thoroughly subjective, and more importantly, they wouldn't have existed in the first place had EA not financed them.

 

[Opiate]

I'm not actually sure people will like what EA may become. It won't be as simple as just taking out their DRM and trimming back some of their more onerous policies such as day 1 DLC; those cannot go without a more fundamental shift in direction. They may also not noticeably change at all.

It could work out, of course. But I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[diamount]

Like a lot of people all ready said in this topic. Simcity,SWTOR etc are prime examples why the company was doing worse.

Investors don't give a shit about the company losing face. If he greenlighted a lot of decisions which caused the company to lose money then those are the reasons why he got the axe.

 

[TalesOfWin]

This is very true. Also Kotick has done well to stay out of the limelight recently. I think it's been quite some time since he said anything really, really stupid. He just doesn't say much at all, anymore, on purpose.

yes there was a time when kotick said a lot of stupid shit. I guess he realized how dumb he was and kept silent.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Someone 'shop Riccitiello as the captain of the TORtanic.

 

[darkside31337]

Leaving the NBA video game market for 2K to completely gobble-up is reason alone for letting him go.

The head of EA Sports during the NBA Live / Elite fiasco was Peter Moore.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Investors don't give a shit about the company losing face. If he greenlighted a lot of decisions which caused the company to lose money then those are the reasons why he got the axe.

SWTOR lost money.

 

[Cromat]

Does a CEO really have that nuch influence over the development process?

I think the fault in EA's games probably lies more with the developers than the upper management. You could say that the atmosphere in EA is toxic to good game development but I'm not sure a new CEO can change that.

 

[ultron87]

Mirrors Edge 2 is now a possibility? 0:

Wasn't Riccitiello the driving force behind the first game getting made in the first place?

CEO change isn't going to suddenly make EA be like "man, fuck profits. Games!"

 

[Foffy]

With one down, who else is left to see go? Kotick? Wada? Reggie?

 

[antitrop]

You are wrong on every front. They've been doing season passes since Modern Warfare 3. Diablo 3 arguably started the entire online only trend in single player games. Black ops 2 was offering tons of pre order offers from every store.

Ya, I feel like if Derrick spent about 30 minutes Google searching 'Robert Kotick' he would change his mind and come back with quite a bit of venom to spew.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

The head of EA Sports during the NBA Live / Elite fiasco was Peter Moore.

And he got promoted!

 

[starmud]

You know there is the other perspective:

What if Riccitiello was the one who was trying to hinder EA's transition into the pay to reload model? He was probably an old school guy who wanted the old school way of paying for games. Therefore, the rest of EA heads and investors wanted him out since they obviously want to embrace their newer direction. With the success with SimCity and its DRM the rest of the heads are probably optimistic of this model.

Halt the celebrations, things will get worse.

I've thought the same and felt John didn't see the "vision" of the future as strongly as others in EA.

I can see someone like Moore jumping all over the point of what the future is and how their support/products will evolve. He likes to spearhead and has a us and them style. (I'd also expect a growing unfriendliness between EA and Nintendo with Moore)

While you never know, I'm taking this news as pretty depressing.

I weep for my PvZ 2 ;____;

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Mirrors Edge 2 is now a possibility? 0:

That would be great.

Bring back the Skate franchise too.

 

[diamount]

SWTOR lost money.

Of course it did.

 

[Lamiafusion]

Bye John!

 

[Meier]

Reggie should be the next big name exec to go.

 

[Quentyn]

Resignation letter

Dear Larry,

I hereby offer my resignation as CEO of Electronic Arts effective with the end of our Fiscal Year 13 on March 30, 2013.

This is a tough decision, but it all comes down to accountability. The progress EA has made on transitioning to digital games and services is something I'm extremely proud of. However, it currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued in January, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. EA's shareholders and employees expect better and I am accountable for the miss.

I have been at the helm as EA's CEO for six years and served as COO for nearly seven years starting in 1997. I know this company well, and I care deeply about its future success. I leave knowing EA is a great company, with an enormously talented group of leaders and the strongest slate of games in the industry. I could not be more proud of our company's games, from Battlefield and FIFA, to The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Real Racing 3. We have built many great franchises that will serve the company well in FY14 and beyond. 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.

In offering my resignation, my goal is to allow the talented leaders at EA a clean start on FY14. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks on an effective leadership transition. I'm extremely honored to have led this company and proud to have worked with all the great people at Electronic Arts.

Sincerely,

/s/ John Riccitiello

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-18-john-riccitiello-out-at-ea

 

[jcm]

Worse in what way? He makes Activision a shitton of cash and that's all that matters as CEO. You can damn well bet once COD and WoW stars losing momentum these shitty practices we got from EA will come out in full force.

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.

 

[Mugatu]

Kotick's only crime is whoring their few franchises out. I'm not sure how things stand now but there was a time at least up until very recently where their games were one of the only ones that didn't have ridiculous preorder deals, DRM, or online passes.

Yeah I never understood the ultimate hate for Kotick and Activision. Yeah they're not saints but he's nowhere near as bad as current EA and Ubisoft at times.

Anyway, this is about EA and I'm really hoping this brings back the awesome EA of my youth - heck change the name back to Electronic Arts and bring the cube, pyramid, sphere logo back.

 

[legend166]

Let's make sure we don't forget how incredibly dodgy the Bioware/Pandemic purchase was. At the time of buying them for $800 million, Riccitiello was a shareholder of Bioware/Pandemic.

Seems like that should be illegal to me.

 

[nekomix]

 

[Necron]

It finally happened - strange it took this long. This could either be a good sign or a very bad one. What will become of EA now, I wonder...

 

[TommyT]

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.

Why do you think that is? Because of his accolades and what he's capable of accomplishing as far as taking games in a better direction?