EA's Schofield sticks to 'quality games' mantra

Glen Schofield looks like the kind of badass who would break your arm for looking at his daughter the wrong way.

That'd be great if he was just roaming the cube farm one day, stops, goes "Yknow what?" and then just announces aloud to everyone: "People who aren't making great games are going to lose their jobs"

Moves on, says to himself "I'm a great manager.'"

It was no fault of my own that those games were commercial flops because I bought both Dead Space and Mirrors Edge and loved both of them. EA made the best multiplatform games last year and some of the best games. Period.

Battlefield Bad Company was another awesome game and it was my favorite multiplatform game last year.

I think EA's push towards new IPs is the right move, but at the same time they can't devote resources away from the main moneymakers - let's face it, they're in business to make money, and a few Madden games is a small price to pay if it means continued support for original titles. It's about finding the right balance. Frankly, I think that they should have done more mainstream advertising of Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge? Honestly, doomed from the start. I call it "Beyond Good & Evil syndrome": make a good game with an original premise and a strong female lead character that is not a sex machine, and you are alienating a huge demographic. It's a sad reality of the industry that most customers are interested in crappy franchise shooters and little else. With that said, though, I would not be surprised if the inevitable sequels sold quite well, due to the established name and reputation. A lot of gamers are wary of new IPs because it means taking a risk, but a sequel is almost like a way of saying, "hey, our game is good enough to keep making, so you know it'll be worth your money".

He's right to a point you know. Mediocrity will only get you so far and then you go bankrupt i.e. Midway games. Any new business venture is a risk. A lot of these developers would have never gotten started or even got off the ground if they hadn't taken any chances to create something they thought would be new, fun and inventive. Deadspace (AWESOME GAME) Mirror's Edge (AWESOME GAME). They both may have been commercially disappointing financially but you also have to remember they came out just at the edge of the beginning of our recession. I think the people who bought those games were those gamers who were looking for quality for their money. This shift in focus for EA can only bode good things for them. Being such a large publisher/developer helps out a lot as well but they're showing that they're evolving with the times and they're trying to offer new experiences and stories to gamers everywhere. It's nice to see that even a big company like EA is starting to wake up and realize "hey we need to come up with something new and exciting if we want to keep people's attention!" They'll be around a long time if they keep that mantra of focusing on new quality titles. Only time will tell what will happen next for the industry.