EA trims its 2010 lineup, focuses on high-profit games -- Joystiq

EA trims its 2010 lineup, focuses on high-profit games

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 10th 2009 at 10:05AM }

As the mushroom cloud still hangs in the air after Electronic Arts' devastating quarterly report, which also brought with it 1,500 layoffs, the publisher plans to focus on games that are sure bets. MCV notes EA CEO John Riccitiello's statement, made during an investor conference call yesterday, that the company will release approximately 30 titles in its 2010 fiscal year, a 50 percent cut from fiscal year 2008.

Develop picked up on the executive going on to say that EA has a "core slate" that it will "iterate on an either annual or bi-annual basis ... all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition two million units or more." He continued that any game that can't be expected to be a "very high profit contributor and high unit seller" is out from "this point going forward." What a difference a year makes.

It sounds like the "old EA" might be making an unwelcome, albeit economically enforced, return. We can hate it as much as we want, but EA's accountants, stockholders and surviving employees probably prefer the security.

Source -- EA slashes release slate in half [MCV]
Source -- EA going cold on new IP [Develop]

Tags: business, ea, john-riccitiello, old-ea

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Dance Mofo @ Nov 10th 2009 10:07AM

I want a blu-ray DVD of this movie.

GONE BY FRIDAY @ Nov 10th 2009 11:45AM

great movie

Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) @ Nov 10th 2009 12:07PM

*Nothing like your wife getting gangbanged by your clones and you being left out.

(This never happened in the movie)

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Nov 10th 2009 10:08AM

Could I get a backwards compatible Rock Band 3, please?
The old RB2 interface and look is starting to look very tired. And Activision is catching up with the features and even going beyond that.

baby sea tuna @ Nov 10th 2009 11:02AM

Really? What's it not already doing that you want it to do? Aside from an official jukebox mode.

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Nov 10th 2009 2:37PM

I'd really like a Party Mode with music shuffle. I use RB2 for parties a lot and a non-punishing way to drop in and out would be great. And that's pretty much all I want updated... Maybe, better star rating support AKA Rock Band 1 way... and updated, some new venues, clothes and sharper visuals because looking at the ones in RB2 everyday for the last 2 years got quite old.

Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 10th 2009 10:11AM

Here comes all the people trying to defend EA. I'm sure we'll hear "It's all Activision's fault!"

Companies exist to make money. It's just good business.

Duke @ Nov 10th 2009 11:16AM

You're right, but I think it's understandable for people to be mad that more new IP's won't make it to market and the company that said they were going to bring us those new IP's has pulled back.

Jose [Steam & PSN: Assmar] @ Nov 10th 2009 12:11PM

Especially when said company sells a record number of FIFA units, as well as other established franchises.

Freak Mojo @ Nov 10th 2009 10:13AM

I get it, but it sucks.

It was fun while it lasted though. Some new IPs to give us gamers hope that there was some fresh games out there. Kiss it goodbye.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 10th 2009 10:21AM

Sunnuvabitch...

sargonas @ Nov 10th 2009 10:15AM

That's the downside to being a Publicly Traded Company :( No matter the best of intentions of the company itself, you have to do what the shareholders want you to do that, in their mind, is profitable. If you don't, they just vote out your executive team and put in place a new one who will. Sadly you spend more time trying to keep other people happy, who might not know what is best for the company as you, than doing what is truly right.

chris @ Nov 10th 2009 10:20AM

can't blame EA too much. They have to remain profitable to survive, but it sucks for new IP's , and all the people that lost their jobs.

McBrick @ Nov 10th 2009 10:19AM

This is the death knell for Mirror's Edge and Dead Space then, I suppose? That's sad, but then again I'm part of the problem since I bought neither.

chris @ Nov 10th 2009 10:22AM

Dead Space is awesome. buy it now. It's cheap.

EvoHelix @ Nov 10th 2009 10:27AM

I'm pretty sure that both Mirror's Edge and Dead Space are considered to be established IP since they already have games out. Dead Space 2 had better come out. I want some more boot-stomping goodness.

What was the name of that game where you were supposed to survive in a city just after a huge earthquake or meteor shower or something? Was that EA?

Petebot330 @ Nov 10th 2009 10:36AM

@EvoHelix: I think that was by Ubisoft. I remember being really excited about it. Mostly because I have yet to see an in-game version of Chicago.

McBrick @ Nov 10th 2009 10:49AM

evohelix: I don't believe either sold over 2M, despite good critical reception. I suspect they're both on the wrong side of EA's analysis. I hope I'm wrong.

Orion @ Nov 10th 2009 10:56AM

Every time I read your posts in my head, I do it in Fat Bastard's voice.. damn your avatar! haha

The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 10th 2009 11:43AM

you dont have to sell 2M to be considered a success you know, anything past 500,000 is great, and im sure Dead Space did at least a single M

The Good Soldier Svejk @ Nov 10th 2009 12:11PM

"you dont have to sell 2M to be considered a success you know..."

Maybe you don't have to sell 2M. EA currently thinks you have to though:

"all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition two million units or more."

According to VGchartz Dead Space sold around 1.5 million copies. (Note that i do not entirely trust VGchartz, but it's a ballpark figure)

DrunkMiffy @ Nov 11th 2009 10:59AM

Whats this survival game called?

Desecron @ Nov 10th 2009 10:30AM

So long 'likable-EA', we hardly knew ye.

RIP Mirror's Edge 2 and Dead Space 2 :(

baby sea tuna @ Nov 10th 2009 11:05AM

Dead Space did pretty well. I expect a sequel.

Mirror's Edge, on the other hand, was not so great and sold accordingly.

Mr Khan @ Nov 10th 2009 12:07PM

Yeah, i'm pretty sure that they kicked Mirror's Edge to the curb, while they continued to cultivate Dead Space

2's status is in doubt, i should say, since i think their studio was one of the harder hit by the layoffs. Not sure though.

Christ-ian @ Nov 10th 2009 12:17PM

Mirror's Edge sold over 1M, and they did confirm that they're working on the next one here: http://www.videogamer.com/news/ea_confirms_small_team_working_on_mirror_s_edge_2.html

Now whether or not they continue production is up in the air. I really hope they do... ME was an amazing concept, had an invigorating visual style, and if they could work out some of the kinks it could become a solid franchise.

Warlock @ Nov 10th 2009 10:35AM

It's a shame, EA was finally starting to not suck. Maybe they can still keep it up? That's probably wishful thinking.

Also, great picture. I loved that movie.

time @ Nov 10th 2009 10:44AM

I blame Activision >_>

Slaziman (PSN ID: Slaziman) @ Nov 10th 2009 10:54AM

Bummer.

Orion @ Nov 10th 2009 10:55AM

Wow, that didn't last long. Oh well, so much for EA being the good guys...

At the very least, it's horrible 1500 had to lose their jobs.

ducttapeBigSexy (PSN&XBL: ducttape12) @ Nov 10th 2009 11:06AM

Excellent! I was so hoping for Madden TO_CHAR(SYSDATE, 'YYYY') instead of Mirror's Edge 2!

Oh wait, no I wasn't...

Erik S. @ Nov 10th 2009 11:21AM

Well I'm sure EA North with the swell NHL franchise will still rock.

Kevin @ Nov 10th 2009 11:20AM

If this lets them move towards a profitable state, I'm ok with it, as long as they're willing to experiment here and there.

sk4r @ Nov 10th 2009 11:23AM

So sad.... It never pays to be good (except in movies, books n games)

mietha CAG @ Nov 10th 2009 11:29AM

The only thing I give a crap about that they publish is Rock Band. Please God let that be in the continue camp, and not the cut camp. If they want to make a decent NHL game again, that would be nice too.

halfwayjames @ Nov 10th 2009 11:33AM

They have been making great NHL games for the past two years. Where have you been?

The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 10th 2009 11:42AM

I dont think it's such a bad thing. Look at it this way, last year we got a bunch of great new IPs that sold successfully. Battlefield Bad Company, Dead Space, Spore, Skate, Burnout, and some others that didnt sell quite as well, and we got some new onest his year too that could be turned into "exploitable" franchises like Dragon Age which probably wont have a sequel in 2010 but they do have Mass Effect.

dantebk @ Nov 10th 2009 11:44AM

That's sad. But I think that saying this is a return to the old "evil" EA is a bit of a jump. If the 30 games they publish in 2010 are really good, and they continue to treat their employees well, then they can still be a "not evil" company even if they're not creating as many new IPs.

knor @ Nov 10th 2009 11:58AM

"the old EA" here refers to a company that rarely made original IPs only reiterations of last year's games.

Look at Activision and how they are handling their business, the only games they seems to publish anymore are games that sacrifice quality in an effort to make more money. Guitar Hero rings a bell, whereas games like Dead Space, Brütal Legend, and Mirrors Edge could get cut because (while good) they didn't make enough money.

It's a shame because I ha finally started liking the way EA was being run, publishing games they thought were good, now we will see a shift upwards
games that will sell millions but probably lack quality or originality

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 10th 2009 12:06PM

Tim Schafer shies away from sequels anyway, so Brutal Legend is probably a non-issue.

knor @ Nov 10th 2009 12:20PM

@dark_inchworm the point I'm making is that because of the lukewarm response
to Brütal Legend, EA and it's shareholders will use that as an example as to why they'll stick to "established" franchises like their sports games, instead of taking the risk on new IPs

Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Nov 10th 2009 1:25PM

Did you play Brutal Legend dark_inchworm? It totally leaves it open for a sequel....

And I loved the game.The best part was, had I known that it was going to be an RTS, I wouldn't have bought it. I'm glad I did.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 10th 2009 4:57PM

Oh, I understood the point that was coming across. I decided to single that out because, well... just for the sake of typing I suppose.

And I've barely touched BL by virtue of my 360's DVD skimming contraption going kaput... months ago (oops). Perhaps Tim is aiming for a bankable franchise now, but I know in the past he tried to shy away from developing sequels.

McBrick @ Nov 10th 2009 11:54AM

I didn't just pull that number out of the air arbitrarily. EA will iterate on a list of games, ".. all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition two million units or more."

Mr Khan @ Nov 10th 2009 12:09PM

It is too early, i suppose, for them to factor either Brutal Legend (if it isn't selling that well. Haven't been checking up on it) or Extraction into those losses, i assume

Interested to see if those are the kind of games they *would* have passed on in this bold new era.