Riccitiello Talks Business
Speaking with Gamasutra's Leigh Alexander, John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, recently discussed his company's business to explain the 'mess' we are witnessing from the outside.
While NPD numbers have been all over the place--September up, October down--Riccitiello cites that the company sees two types of consumers: those that still purchase media through retail only, and then those that take advantage of digital distribution. What is key in this particular piece of information is that the NPD does not actually track any numbers from digital sales.
Sounding optimistic, as CEOs of publicly shared companies are wont to do, he has forecast that by the end of the year, it will have been a net gain for EA. Compelling factors for this include the lowered console prices, a slate of high quality games (FIFA 10 and L4D2), and points out how many other games have been doing well in retail.
About the 1500 jobs recently cut?
The company's recent acquisition of major social game developer Playfish -- and the simultaneous reduction of 1,500 jobs -- are part of the company's transformation to address the digital era, he says."We felt that the company we want to be had 1,500 fewer jobs dedicated to packaged goods," Riccitiello explains, "and it didn't need two offices in two places in LA where one would do."
Offering a slight prediction for 2010, he mentions that both new motion controllers and the pricing models from first parties will be key to economic growth.
VorpalBunny
Posted to Miscellany on 2 December 2009
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