News EA CEO John Riccitiello Steps Down

[Spirit Level]

Electronic Arts' John Riccitiello is stepping down as chief executive officer. He submitted his resignation to EA's board of directors today, and will finish his tenure March 30. Effective immediately, former EA president and CEO Larry Probst will step in as executive chairman while the company searches for a replacement.

http://au.ign.com/articles/2013/03/18/ea-ceo-john-riccitiello-steps-down

A great day for gamers everywhere

Someone please step up and fix this company!

 

[Temploar]

I'll most certainly step in and fix EA

 

[HBK619]

It's not going to change anything Riccitello was the man who actually wanted to bring changes to EA, to bring in new IP and freshen up the brand that was so heavily hated earlier this gen.

But then gamers chose not to buy the new IP, not to invest in the great ideas and innovations they had so EA had to work back into their 'grab money from every avenue' strategy again.

The only way EA change, is if gamer mindsets change.

 

[The Prosecutor]

It's not going to change anything Riccitello was the man who actually wanted to bring changes to EA, to bring in new IP and freshen up the brand that was so heavily hated earlier this gen.

But then gamers chose not to buy the new IP, not to invest in the great ideas and innovations they had so EA had to work back into their 'grab money from every avenue' strategy again.

The only way EA change, is if gamer mindsets change.

Exactly, same with Activision and COD. Why would they change a proven business formula?

 

[Lethal]

 

[NTRabbit]

It's not going to change anything Riccitello was the man who actually wanted to bring changes to EA, to bring in new IP and freshen up the brand that was so heavily hated earlier this gen.

But then gamers chose not to buy the new IP, not to invest in the great ideas and innovations they had so EA had to work back into their 'grab money from every avenue' strategy again.

The only way EA change, is if gamer mindsets change.

Can you list the great new ideas and innovations EA came up with from 2007 onwards? I'm at a loss.

 

[Glenno23]

Can you list the great new ideas and innovations EA came up with from 2007 onwards? I'm at a loss.

New IP published by EA since 2007:

Crysis
Skate
Mass Effect
Spore
Dead Space
Mirrors Edge
Army of Two
Dragon Age
Dante's Inferno

Mass Effect, Dead Space, Skate and Crysis were all huge critical and commercial successes spawning sequels

Dragon Age was good enough to get a sequel

Army of Two has sold well enough to get a third game which is out soon

They may not have developed them, but they have brought new IP to the table, no question

 

[HBK619]

Can you list the great new ideas and innovations EA came up with from 2007 onwards? I'm at a loss.

Riccitello completely turned EA around.

He pushed Mirror's Edge and Dead Space as big new IP. Restructured EA Sports to bring forth innovation and creativity inside the studio (as up until then they were still a middling Sports franchise creator). The whole Ultimate Team concept was a big feature to come from his reign. He also turned Battlefield from a PC focused game into a major console player.

I'm not trying to defend what practices this guy implemented all the way through and I don't agree with what EA are doing NOW. But to think that because he's gone, the new guy will be someone that brings in a bunch of changes and makes EA the most awesome company ever is a ridiculous notion. Riccitello tried to bring innovation and new IP and the gamer shat on his ideas by not buying his games and going on to buy the 15th COD every year. So naturally, EA had to follow that concept otherwise they weren't going to be around for much longer.

 

[NTRabbit]

I'm not trying to defend what practices this guy implemented all the way through and I don't agree with what EA are doing NOW. But to think that because he's gone, the new guy will be someone that brings in a bunch of changes and makes EA the most awesome company ever is a ridiculous notion. Riccitello tried to bring innovation and new IP and the gamer shat on his ideas by not buying his games and going on to buy the 15th COD every year. So naturally, EA had to follow that concept otherwise they weren't going to be around for much longer.

Oh, I don't think anything is going to change at EA just because he's gone.

Gamers did buy those games by the way. The board just set their expectations ridiculously high, and consider any game that doesn't meet the "successful AAA title" gold standard to be a failure, profit or not.

 

[HBK619]

Oh, I don't think anything is going to change at EA just because he's gone.

Gamers did buy those games by the way. The board just set their expectations ridiculously high, and consider any game that doesn't meet the "successful AAA title" gold standard to be a failure, profit or not.

Most of those games didn't make profits.

I mean, Mass Effect is considered a huge franchise by many, but really it's a paltry selling series considering how widely lauded it is.

I think EA would take 'profitable' for these titles, but they barely gave Dead Space another go because it didn't sell all that well to begin with (it was sitting well under a million units for a long time - which isn't really profitable for a AAA invested title).

EA weren't making money through these franchises, that's why they had to change their ideas and focus. Granted the whole cross-media thing they tried was never really going to work, so that was a lot of money wasted on nothing.

(Just FWIW I wasn't specifically referencing you with the change notion, I was more referencing the opening post and what is no doubt also the general consensus with those hearing the news 'Yay, now someone better can change the place up!' - change like that isn't profitable for these companies).

 

[NTRabbit]

It means EA were spending too much money in the wrong places, and causing games that should have been profitable to not be so, much like THQ.

Terrible management is terrible management.

 

[The Big Sauce]

New IP published by EA since 2007:

Crysis
Skate
Mass Effect
Spore
Dead Space
Mirrors Edge
Army of Two
Dragon Age
Dante's Inferno

Boom Blox & Brutal Memory as well from memory.

EA's decision making may have taken a turn for the worse now, but with out Riccitello in the chair I'd say only half of those games get made in the first place.

He had some great interviews from circa 2008 about not wanting to let EA grow stagnant and to allow new franchises to grow.

Mirror's Edge is still one of my favourite experiences of this generation. Dead Space is right up there as well.

But as mentioned before not all the franchise's sold well, which forced them to revert back to a 'safer' model

 

[The Speaker]

It means EA were spending too much money in the wrong places, and causing games that should have been profitable to not be so, much like THQ.

Terrible management is terrible management.

Bloat.

 

[Ant_]

New IP published by EA since 2007:

Crysis
Skate
Mass Effect
Spore
Dead Space
Mirrors Edge
Army of Two
Dragon Age
Dante's Inferno

Mass Effect, Dead Space, Skate and Crysis were all huge critical and commercial successes spawning sequels

Dragon Age was good enough to get a sequel

Army of Two has sold well enough to get a third game which is out soon

They may not have developed them, but they have brought new IP to the table, no question

Mass Effect only joined the EA camp at number 2