Former Exec Says Electronic Arts "Is In the Wrong Business" [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

Mitch Lasky was the executive vice president of Mobile and Online at Electronic Arts until leaving the publisher to work at an investment firm. He now has some harsh things to say about how EA has been run over the past several years, in particular criticizing the decisions of CEO John Riccitiello. Quoting: "EA is in the wrong business, with the wrong cost structure and the wrong team, but somehow they seem to think that it is going to be a smooth, two-year transition from packaged goods to digital. Think again. ... by far the greatest failure of Riccitiello's strategy has been the EA Games division. JR bet his tenure on EA's ability to 'grow their way through the transition' to digital/online with hit packaged goods titles. They honestly believed that they had a decade to make this transition (I think it's more like 2-3 years). Since the recurring-revenue sports titles were already 'booked' (i.e., fully accounted for in the Wall Street estimates) it fell to EA Games to make hits that could move the needle. It's been a very ugly scene, indeed. From Spore, to Dead Space, to Mirror's Edge, to Need for Speed: Undercover, it's been one expensive commercial disappointment for EA Games after another. Not to mention the shut-down of Pandemic, half of the justification for EA's $850MM acquisition of Bioware-Pandemic. And don't think that Dante's Inferno, or Knights of the Old Republic, is going to make it all better. It's a bankrupt strategy."http://games.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=10/01/15/0755220 (http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/01/15/0755220/Former-Exec-Says-Electronic-Arts-Is-In-the-Wrong-Business?from=rss)
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[LaughingMAN.S9]

lmfao did anyone else read those comments? lol omg epic

[calthaer]

Those comments / jokes were pretty hilarious.

Not sure what to think about this one. I gave up on EA as a place to get quality, innovative titles back when they killed the Ultima franchise. Now their focus on tired IPs is coming back to haunt them. How's that news?

[kupomogli]

How is EA even losing money. Most of the games are the exact same game as it was last year. EA and other companies need to stop giving their CEOs billion dollar bonus' and then they won't go bankrupt. Way to go, funnel the money to people in your shitty company and then go bankrupt for billions of dollars. Way to screw everyone who works for a living over.

*edit*

I know may be off on this, but everyone knows it happens. EA is most likely losing money for the same reason.

[skaar]

Actually the guy is pretty well spot on.

[ScourDX]

EA should blame themselves. They are trying to do too many things. Sports, RPG, MMO, Racing, FPS, RTS, Sims and so on. Perhaps EA should stop going big and focus on few titles. May they should stop hording the game license to themselves. Also adding DRM to PC games won't help you sell. I hold off buying any EA game until I know the product I purchased will work 10 years later.

[kedawa]

All of the big publishers are going to take a hit when digital distribution becomes the standard, simply because their entire corporate structure is based on, and necessitated by, the realities of physical publishing.

[skaar]

All of the big publishers are going to take a hit when digital distribution becomes the standard, simply because their entire corporate structure is based on, and necessitated by, the realities of physical publishing.

Actually the pubs will be fine - margins will actually increase. It's the retailers that'll get boned ;)

[Jorpho]

I hold off buying any EA game until I know the product I purchased will work 10 years later.Come now, over a time span of 10 years, hardware and OS changes are likely to have a far greater influence on whether or not a game will run than DRM.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

How is EA even losing money. Most of the games are the exact same game as it was last year. EA and other companies need to stop giving their CEOs billion dollar bonus' and then they won't go bankrupt. Way to go, funnel the money to people in your shitty company and then go bankrupt for billions of dollars. Way to screw everyone who works for a living over.

*edit*

I know may be off on this, but everyone knows it happens. EA is most likely losing money for the same reason.


EA should blame themselves. They are trying to do too many things. Sports, RPG, MMO, Racing, FPS, RTS, Sims and so on. Perhaps EA should stop going big and focus on few titles. May they should stop hording the game license to themselves. Also adding DRM to PC games won't help you sell. I hold off buying any EA game until I know the product I purchased will work 10 years later.


All of the big publishers are going to take a hit when digital distribution becomes the standard, simply because their entire corporate structure is based on, and necessitated by, the realities of physical publishing.

I really shouldn't be answering this, but...

1) This was last year's bonuses for JR and Peter Moore. Take note of the update on the bottom of the page:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/29/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it-ea039s-riccitiello-moore-earn-big-bucks-bad-year

The bonuses themselves are miniscule in comparison to what they bring to the company.

2) "Same game as last year" - honestly guys? I challenge you to play Madden 08, Madden 09, and Madden 10. Please, please let me know how it's the same game except for "It's an NFL Football game". Of course it's an NFL Football game - that's why everyone buys it. They want to recreate the experience, an experience that doesn't change much at the core. I watch football every year, and that's the same thing every year. It's the new features and improvements like Online Franchise that keep people coming back.

3) EA is focusing their energy on cutting down unnecessary SKUs to reduce cost, while at the same time attempting to create new IPs in order to find new revenue streams. Would you prefer the same tired old sequels, or new things like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space?

4) As mentioned, hardware and OS changes will affect the playability of games more than DRM. Also, EA released a tool to strip out the SecuROM DRM from all of their games:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/31/1917254

5) EA is currently restructuring from packaged goods to digital distribution. Of course it's going to take some growing pains to move to a completely separate distribution model, but at least EA's moving there now before the market turns. I haven't heard of Activision or Ubisoft making an attempt yet.

[SegaAges]

I guess I can hop into this as well.

1) This was last year's bonuses for JR and Peter Moore. Take note of the update on the bottom of the page:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/29/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it-ea039s-riccitiello-moore-earn-big-bucks-bad-year

The bonuses themselves are miniscule in comparison to what they bring to the company.

Please explain this one more in saying what they bring to the company. I honestly want to know. I make 40k a year, and if I was on a team of 10, it would be 400k. You are telling me the higher ups can't take a pay cut to keep some of the good teams around?



2) "Same game as last year" - honestly guys? I challenge you to play Madden 08, Madden 09, and Madden 10. Please, please let me know how it's the same game except for "It's an NFL Football game". Of course it's an NFL Football game - that's why everyone buys it. They want to recreate the experience, an experience that doesn't change much at the core. I watch football every year, and that's the same thing every year. It's the new features and improvements like Online Franchise that keep people coming back.

I won't say same game as last year, I will say add-on pack that should just be dlc instead of an entire new $60 game. Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the assumption that for Madden 05, they redid a bunch of the game engine, which is awesome. Since then, have they done anything like that, or just simply added new features (yes, better graphiocs totally counts as an added feature in my book since it is possible to use an old, played out game engine and pump badass graphics into it)?



3) EA is focusing their energy on cutting down unnecessary SKUs to reduce cost, while at the same time attempting to create new IPs in order to find new revenue streams. Would you prefer the same tired old sequels, or new things like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space?

Unnesessary?
Pandemic?
Maxis?
I hate to say it, but those ones seem pretty important.



4) As mentioned, hardware and OS changes will affect the playability of games more than DRM. Also, EA released a tool to strip out the SecuROM DRM from all of their games:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/31/1917254

I own Spore and I will even say that the DRM should have never been an issue in the first place. We should not have to download a tool to get rid of some forms of DRM that a company put on a game. It is a little ridiculous.



5) EA is currently restructuring from packaged goods to digital distribution. Of course it's going to take some growing pains to move to a completely separate distribution model, but at least EA's moving there now before the market turns. I haven't heard of Activision or Ubisoft making an attempt yet.
Right on. Yeah, EA has been doing it slowly, and it is also true that many other companies are doing it slower.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I guess I can hop into this as well.

Please explain this one more in saying what they bring to the company. I honestly want to know. I make 40k a year, and if I was on a team of 10, it would be 400k. You are telling me the higher ups can't take a pay cut to keep some of the good teams around?


I won't say same game as last year, I will say add-on pack that should just be dlc instead of an entire new $60 game. Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the assumption that for Madden 05, they redid a bunch of the game engine, which is awesome. Since then, have they done anything like that, or just simply added new features (yes, better graphiocs totally counts as an added feature in my book since it is possible to use an old, played out game engine and pump badass graphics into it)?


Unnesessary?
Pandemic?
Maxis?
I hate to say it, but those ones seem pretty important.


I own Spore and I will even say that the DRM should have never been an issue in the first place. We should not have to download a tool to get rid of some forms of DRM that a company put on a game. It is a little ridiculous.


Right on. Yeah, EA has been doing it slowly, and it is also true that many other companies are doing it slower.

Okay, the higher ups take a pay cut to keep Pandemic around. That's like putting a bandage on a severed limb - it's not doing anything to stop the bleeding. The bonuses have nothing to do with shutting down unprofitable or low-profit locations and projects. Maxis and Pandemic, AS STUDIO LOCATIONS, were shut down. EA retains the rights to their IPs and is even publishing new Mercenaries and Sims games.

...also, in the last layoff series, a lot of execs and higher-ups were let go. I think they know where their money is going.

Don't you think that the whole "$60 per game" deal will fly out the window once the middleman is cut out for digitial distribution? Publishers make a profit selling to middlemen, middlemen make a profit selling to consumers. Strip the middlemen out and the market will determine value. Companies can also run specials, slash prices, &c as seen on Steam.

There were big improvements to gameplay last year for Madden.
http://gamesblog.ugo.com/games/madden-10s-pro-tak-what-madden-09-didn-t-have

I'm staying out of the ramifications of DRM discussion. It's there, it can be removed, and EA said "We're sorry".

[SegaAges]

Okay, the higher ups take a pay cut to keep Pandemic around. That's like putting a bandage on a severed limb - it's not doing anything to stop the bleeding. The bonuses have nothing to do with shutting down unprofitable or low-profit locations and projects. Maxis and Pandemic, AS STUDIO LOCATIONS, were shut down. EA retains the rights to their IPs and is even publishing new Mercenaries and Sims games.

...also, in the last layoff series, a lot of execs and higher-ups were let go. I think they know where their money is going.

Don't you think that the whole "$60 per game" deal will fly out the window once the middleman is cut out for digitial distribution? Publishers make a profit selling to middlemen, middlemen make a profit selling to consumers. Strip the middlemen out and the market will determine value. Companies can also run specials, slash prices, &c as seen on Steam.

There were big improvements to gameplay last year for Madden.
http://gamesblog.ugo.com/games/madden-10s-pro-tak-what-madden-09-didn-t-have

I'm staying out of the ramifications of DRM discussion. It's there, it can be removed, and EA said "We're sorry".

Dude, all that article talks about is the rag doll type tackling and multiple person tackling. $60 for that? See, I did a little research into the good improvments in Madden 10. The 2 big ones I found were the new tackling and the stuff for updated rosters. Basically, if a player gets injured in real life, you can't use them in your season in Madden 10 because they got injured.

So, since these games have come out back in the last gen, I would see numerous memory cards on sale on eBay that sold the updated rosters (this seemed to be a growing trend especially in the ncaa games). You can't seriously sit there and tell me that they never thought of the idea. 360 and ps3 come out and online play is even bigger now. DLC is easily becoming the norm for no matter what game you play (and has been now for awhile). So the roster updates could have easily been implemented many, many years ago, and since it is really just a "nice feature", it could easily be implemented through dlc.

The tackling system, while not as simple to implement into dlc as something like roster updates, is still very, very possible to push out as dlc as it is just another "nice feature". Do we really need extras added on to the tackling system to enjoy the game? Of course not, but then again, we don't need to customize the color of Ezio's outfit in Assassin's Creed 2, but we can do that as well.

Adding some "nice to haves" will never equate to a $60 price tag. Of course, I do understand that if people will pay for it, it will sell. It is as simple as that. I do not personally buy Madden games unless I find them from $1 or less, but people pre-order that game like crazy.

I do think that we just need to somehow get that NFL License stuff away from EA so that they can share with other companies.

When you are the top dog with no competition, you do what you want, and people will still buy it. If you are the top dog and have competition, you will continually push to just make an insane game.

I would love to see the 2K sports series come back and give Madden a run for its money.

When it comes to franchises, even though this contradicts the whole entire EA thing, Activision was like this with Tony Hawk. Year after year the games felt like they were just meshing together. Competition comes along in the form of the game Skate, and then Activision releases Tony Hawk Ride. Regardless of what you think of the game, franchises will change as much as the Tony Hawk series did if you push them a little with competition.

No competition = dlc content packed into a pretty $60 package

[Greg2600]

EA what a joke. They went around buying up smaller companies for years, and in the process alienating loyal fans of those games by firing the people who knew best.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I don't think it helped that they were buying out/up anything that they could in the industry right on the cusp of an economic downturn...

[mr obscure]

sad ,maybe they should launch there own console,with exclusive madden and fifa games the might stand a chance.