Joystiq

Gibeau: NBA Live coming in fiscal 2014 [Update: Planned for next-gen systems]

Mike Suszek — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:40:00 EST

EA will launch a game in the NBA Live series in the 2014 fiscal year (April 2013 through March 2014), President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau said during EA's fiscal 2013 year-end investor call. Gibeau listed NBA Live among the publisher's core sports titles as one of 11 games the publisher is planning for the fiscal year. The standard launch window for NBA games is in October.

EA canceled NBA Live 13 in September 2012 after opting to "sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year's game great." The series has had a lengthy history of not seeing publication, starting with NBA Elite 11 being canceled in November 2010.

Update: Gibeau listed NBA Live as one of the games that EA has planned for next-generation consoles. He also noted that the publisher has a "brand new engine from EA Sports," that will be seen at E3 in June.

Gibeau: NBA Live coming in fiscal 2014 [Update: Planned for next-gen systems] originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 May 2013 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA recognizes Q3 will be 'soft' due to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, lack of NBA

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EST

A running theme during today's Electronic Arts second quarter investor call was the impact of Medal of Honor: Warfighter's critical failure and the publisher's canceled NBA game. No less than three times the pair of titles were mentioned in a negative manner, particularly when compared to the success of Battlefield 3 Premium and FIFA 13.

"We are managing the ups and downs. Our Q1 and Q2 were better than expected. Our Q3 appears soft, due mostly to Medal of Honor," said EA CEO John Riccitiello. He went on that the company reduced its guidance for the year because of the "weakness in Q3 associated with Medal of Honor."

New CFO Blake Jorgensen also mentioned Medal of Honor's "weaker than expected performance" in his prepared remarks, also mentioning the decision to cancel the company's NBA title would also impact Q3 performance.

"EA Sports is committed to basketball and we will publish a basketball game when we can match the quality of franchises like Madden NFL, NHL Hockey, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and FIFA soccer," remarked EA labels prez Frank Gibeau later. He went on to note that Medal of Honor: Warfighter's critical reception fell below expectations, but that the company feels it's a "good game with a receptive audience."

EA plans to support Medal of Honor: Warfighter with more marketing over the holidays, and, as Gibeau put it, going to school to improve NBA and meet EA Sports' standard of quality.

EA recognizes Q3 will be 'soft' due to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, lack of NBA originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Gibeau: EA planning '3 to 5 new IPs' for next generation of consoles

David Hinkle — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:40:00 EST

President of EA labels Frank Gibeau is confident about the next generation of consoles. He thinks EA is a master of transition, even though he admits the publisher made a few missteps at the start of this generation. This year will see "a big investment" from EA in technologies aimed at the next series of consoles, and the publisher already has a handful of new IPs in the works.

"We've already started three-to-five new intellectual properties that we're going to launch in that first 24 months on the new-gen," Gibeau tells Bloomberg in the video interview above. Gibeau admits that while technology is a big part of it, the process begins with the game and building out from there. "What I think what you have to first do is start with the technology and the hardware that is coming out - what it does really, really well - and understand what's gonna drive innovation there. You start from the game out and you build enough games and enough diversity in your brands to come out with a really strong portfolio that you can sustain for multiple years."

As for EA's strength during transition, Gibeau argues "EA has nailed about four of its five transitions" so far. "We had a bit of a rocky start on 360 and PS3, but we're number one publisher on those consoles. It took us a few years to come back on it, but we learned a lot from that transition and what went wrong, and we're applying that learning to make it right this time." Gibeau concludes that the jump from standard definition to high-definition, and consoles going from being unconnected boxes to online portals for gamers made this last transition tricky, but he's confident EA won't make the same mistakes again.

Gibeau: EA planning '3 to 5 new IPs' for next generation of consoles originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA putting 'a lot of resources' toward preventing another 'FIFA hack' season

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:35:00 EST

Electronic Arts made over $39 million in just three months off FIFA 12's Ultimate Team DLC last year - a 69 percent increase from the same period the year before - but it also created a lot of headaches for consumers (and us) with what came to be known as the "FIFA hack."

"We learned a lot from the experience. A lot of companies are suffering from this right now. There's a lot of sophisticated hacking happening in the gaming industry and it's a continuous battle," EA Games president Frank Gibeau told us during Gamescom. "We take it very seriously, put a lot of resources on it. The learning from the FIFA example last year has been incorporated this year. There's some incremental and additional things. I don't want to get too detailed because I don't want to tip our hand. Rest assured, we take it very seriously."

Gibeau said that EA did hire someone from Microsoft to add layers of security precautions and other anti-hack methods inside the publisher's products.

"You're never going to win this battle," said Gibeau, recognizing the company can only go so far. "The moment you declare victory, somebody will walk in and show you didn't. So you have to continuously stay on top of it and, most importantly, keep account integrity the first and foremost issue."

So, should consumers feel more confident this year that they won't be hacked?

"I hope that they do, and I think our performance will have to make them feel that way." He concluded, "We can promise it, but we have to actually show it."

EA putting 'a lot of resources' toward preventing another 'FIFA hack' season originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2 lead designer David Goldfarb exits DICE

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:20:00 EST

Having worked on mostly Battlefield games for the past five years, the man who lead design on both Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, David Goldfarb, has left EA's DICE studio. "5 years, 4 games. Grateful to have worked with such awesome people on awesome games. Farewell + Onward," he tweeted yesterday afternoon.

Goldfarb told Joystiq of his exit, "I was ready to move onto new things and do something different." He wouldn't tell us where he's headed next.

Goldfarb's not the first high profile DICE dev to leave the company in the past few years. Gordon Van Dyke left back in 2010; he's now with Paradox Interactive working on a Battlefield-flavored third-person action game from developer FatShark, War of the Roses. The other third of Battlefield's recent dev leadership, Patrick Bach, is currently serving as company CEO while Karl Magnus Troedsson takes paternity leave.

Beyond various DLC plans for Battlefield 3, it's unknown what DICE is currently working on. The studio's Frostbite 2.0 game engine is used in several EA properties (including the other first-person shooter from EA, Medal of Honor: Warfighter), and the only other game it has made outside of Battlefield in recent years is Mirror's Edge. Troedsson told us during GDC that DICE has "ongoing plans" to differentiate its game portfolio, but we've yet to see that promise play out. EA Studios president Frank Gibeau has repeatedly noted his interest in a sequel to ME, but we've yet to hear anything more official than that.

EA reps didn't respond to request for comment regarding Goldfarb's exit as of publishing.

[Image credit: 'jontintinjordan']

Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2 lead designer David Goldfarb exits DICE originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Syndicate reboot 'didn't pay off' for EA; SSX reboot 'very successful'

David Hinkle — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:45:00 EST

Clearly a positive review on Joystiq isn't the sales driver we thought it was. Despite having a good time with it ourselves, it would seem EA's Syndicate reboot was not the commercial success the company had hoped for. So says EA Labels president Frank Gibeau.

"Syndicate was something that we took a risk on. It didn't pay off - it didn't work," Gibeau told CVG. "But in general it doesn't change my appetite for wanting to go look in the library and see what we have and maybe bring back some IPs for the next-generation. That's the nature of the business; some stuff works, some stuff doesn't."

EA's other big reboot this year, SSX, apparently fared a bit better. Gibeau called this year's revival "a very successful launch for us," and lauded the game's "online innovation" as a catalyst for bringing the series back. "It's done well and you'll probably see more in the future," Gibeau concluded.

Syndicate reboot 'didn't pay off' for EA; SSX reboot 'very successful' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA, hackers win big off FIFA Ultimate Team

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:40:00 EST

EA's increased revenues from FIFA 12's FIFA Ultimate Team DLC, coupled with our continuing coverage of consumer complaints over the "FIFA hack," stood out as awkward juxtaposition during EA's third quarter financial call yesterday.

"The innovation that makes this franchise so unique is FIFA Ultimate Team," President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau said yesterday on a call with investors. "In just three months, FIFA Ultimate Team generated $39 million in microtransactions. That's 69 percent more than it generated in the same period last year."

Gibeau went on to say that because Ultimate Team is a microtransaction-based system, the company is able to generate a sizable number of big-spender consumer behaviors and it becomes a business that scales much more aggressively than other traditional DLC models.

Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown added, "To put some rough numbers on this, if we compare the total digital revenue from FIFA 11 Ultimate Team to what we expect from FIFA 12 Ultimate Team in this fiscal year, we're looking to see a 25 percent increase franchise to franchise. The overall package goods units sold is not increasing by 25 percent year over year, so we are expanding by a decent margin the microtransaction revenue per user of FIFA."

We continue to receive complaints nearly every day of non-FIFA players having their accounts hacked to purchase Ultimate Team DLC. EA previously responded to this by saying that "a small number" of gamers continue to report being impacted by fraudulent activity related to FIFA Ultimate Team on Xbox Live.

EA, hackers win big off FIFA Ultimate Team originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA 'figuring out' how to continue Mirror's Edge

Andrew Yoon — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST

Like the Gap and cargo shorts, EA is "trying to figure out how to bring Mirror's Edge back."

EA Games label president Frank Gibeau told CVG that the Mirror's Edge franchise is unequivocally not dead. "I greenlight the games. I did not kill it -- as God is my witness," he swore. According to Gibeau, the publisher is looking for ways to bring back the franchise in "a way that fans will be excited," while still reaching a larger audience. "We need to go from version one to version two so that it sells two to three times as many, it finds a much bigger audience."

DICE, developer of the first game, is currently working on Battlefield 3. According to earlier reports, EA requested that the developer focus exclusively on that game, instead of a Mirror's Edge sequel. A EA spokesperson later commented that Mirror's Edge is an "important franchise," but there was "nothing further to announce."

EA 'figuring out' how to continue Mirror's Edge originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA's Gibeau: Single-player game model is 'finished,' online is the future

Griffin McElroy — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:30:00 EST

EA Games president Frank Gibeau's philosophy about the future of the games industry will probably come as a disappointment to everyone waiting on bated breath for Mirror's Edge 2: Even Edgier. Gibeau recently explained to Develop that EA is "very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay - be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services - as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out." He added, "I think that model is finished."

This philosophy is reflected in the multiplayer-equipped Dead Space 2, which still looks great, but ... it's still kind of a bummer, isn't it? Like, that EA-published, big-budget adventure game about tax auditors we've always dreamed about? It feels like we missed our window on that one.

EA's Gibeau: Single-player game model is 'finished,' online is the future originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA: Movie licenses going the 'wrong way' for game publishers

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:45:00 EST

EA Games president Frank Gibeau has told Develop that the licensing deals involved in the development of movie-based games are going the "wrong way" for publishers. He described the movie-game business as "falling apart," with returns on investment often failing to justify the costs involved in securing popular properties for a video game.

According to Gibeau, EA considers itself better off working on its own IP like Dead Space, rather than spending it on something with the creative limitations like the James Bond series (a license now held by rival Activision). "The days of licensed-based, 75-rated games copies are dead like the dinosaur," the executive said.

Well, that's something we can agree on -- the days of 37-rated movie-based games has dawned, as evidenced recently by EA Bright Light's abysmal Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

EA: Movie licenses going the 'wrong way' for game publishers originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA: 'We're going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time'

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

EA's upcoming reboot to the Medal of Honor franchise has a few major contenders, one of which EA itself created, to compete with when it arrives at retail this October. But EA Games prez Frank Gibeau remains confident in MoH, telling Gamasutra in a recent interview that, "With Medal of Honor, we're rebooting the series to get into the top 10." Gibeau lays out plans for an extensive marketing campaign first aimed at "core shooter fans," then branching out to a "true mass-market campaign." Speaking frankly, he claims "It'll be a big launch with a lot of dollars behind it. We're going to go in and we're going to compete." He believes that, between the IP's pedigree and the quality of this reboot, EA's " going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time."

Meanwhile, executive producer Greg Goodrich and senior creative director Rich Farrelly do their best to assuage worries of internal competition between themselves at EA LA and DICE, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer now working on MoH's multiplayer mode, or the ex-Infinity Ward founders' new studio that EA recently inked a deal with. Goodrich says, "Battlefield and Medal of Honor are two very different franchises. They have a certain tone, and we have a certain tone for our game. We think there's room for both, not only in the genre, but within EA."

Also of note, apparently DICE has been working on MoH's multiplayer since "right after Battlefield 1943 came out" (last July), which might help to explain why we've seen such little post-launch support for the downloadable title. That said, with Medal of Honor's development assuredly nearing completion, we're holding out hope that those folks will have some time to invest in the other downloadable title we heard about recently.

EA: 'We're going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 05 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looking to catch MW2-jaded PC gamers on the rebound

Christopher Grant — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

Perhaps detecting a dedicated server-shaped weakness in the competition's defenses, Electronic Arts is beginning to position next year's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a legitimate heir to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare throne. On yesterday's Q2 earnings call, EA Games label prez Frank Gibeau said that, in addition to other things, Bad Company 2's "deep new online play with dedicated server support ... will put Battlefield in head-to-head competition with Call of Duty for quality and online gameplay." EA CEO John Riccitiello later said, "Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ... has every right to see itself as a rival to the #1 FPS game that one of our competitors is releasing next week." (Note: We presume Riccitiello misspoke and meant "this" week and not "next" week ... unless he thinks Left 4 Dead 2 is the #1 FPS game and that EA is its own competition).

Continuing to pour gasoline on the dedicated server fire, Gordon Van Dyke from Bad Company 2's DICE tells IncGamers, "On the PC, it's a PC version, which is getting that same treatment, and then also a little bit more as PC users are generally used to a different type of experience than console users are, and we recognize that and we want to make sure that we give that to the PC market and give the console market more." He was less committal when discussing modding tools, offering, "Once we start getting there and the engine gets to a level where we can release tools that are easy for our own guys to use, and then easy for people publicly, then we'll get into that and we'll really start to focus on it."

Though the first Battlefield: Bad Company never made its way to the PC, with promised support for the platform and a PC beta hitting this December -- just a few weeks after the PS3-exclusive console beta gets underway -- it's clear EA and DICE are making up for lost time.

Source - Electronic Arts Q2 2010 Earnings Conference Call [PDF link]
Source - DICE: Bad Company 2 PC Gets A "Little Bit More" [IncGamers]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looking to catch MW2-jaded PC gamers on the rebound originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Criterion-developed Need for Speed coming 'next year'

Christopher Grant — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:10:00 EST

"In recent years, we failed to put adequate resources behind the franchise and, as a result, quality suffered," EA Games label president Frank Gibeau said of the Need for Speed franchise, currently in the midst of a reboot with the well received Need for Speed: Shift, the recently released Need for Speed: Nitro, and the we're-not-sure-that's-going-to-work Need for Speed: World Online. But there's a fourth post-reboot Need for Speed title in development at Criterion Games, the devs behind the excellent Burnout series.

Removing any doubt that the series will miss an opportunity for annual exploitation (again, the massively multilpayer online racing of World Online doesn't count!) Gibeau said "Next year's Need for Speed has been under development now for some time at our award-winning Criterion Studio." We're not sure what type of Need for Speed Criterion is creating, but we wouldn't be surprised if it was heavy on the crashing.

Criterion-developed Need for Speed coming 'next year' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA: Medal of Honor being revitalized, details 'in the months ahead'

Christopher Grant — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:00 EST

After relaying the company's success in revitalizing the long-abused Need for Speed franchise with this year's well-received Need for Speed: Shift during this afternoon's Q2 conference call, EA Games label president Frank Gibeau revealed, "In the months ahead, you'll hear more about our plans to revitalize core IP, including the Medal of Honor franchise."

The long-established war series - whose Allied Assault team led to the creation of Infinity Ward and the now dominant Call of Duty series at competitor Activision - has been absent since 2007's triple showing of the poorly received Medal of Honor: Airborne, the poorly received Medal of Honor: Hereos 2, and the even more poorly received Medal of Honor: Vanguard. Yeah, a reboot seems in order.

EA: Medal of Honor being revitalized, details 'in the months ahead' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hell is a major draw for Dante's Inferno

JC Fletcher — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:59:00 EST

If you thought the baffling marketing tactics for Dante's Inferno were limited to PR stunts, you may be surprised at this quote from EA Games president Frank Gibeau. "I think when you look at Dante's Inferno you start with something that everybody has some knowledge of, which is Hell," Gibeau told GamesIndustry.biz, "and the idea that you go into Hell as a hero and fight demons ... that's something that resonates with a lot of people."

That's right. One of the most appealing parts of the game ... is Hell. Specifically, "going to Hell and fighting," but Hell nonetheless. We have "some knowledge" of a lot of unpleasant places, like the little closet our water heater occupies, but we aren't necessarily clamoring for games in those settings.

Both the interviewer and Gibeau also refer to Dante's Inferno as "new IP," which seems inaccurate to us, considering that The Divine Comedy's original street date was sometime in the early 1300s.

Gallery: Dante's Inferno (E3 2009)

Hell is a major draw for Dante's Inferno originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

EA, Ubisoft pleased as punch post-PS3 price plummet

Justin McElroy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:33:00 EST

As happy as you might have been to read about the PS3's price being slashed to $299 in the US, trust us: Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot and EA Games president Frank Gibeau were much, much happier. Not only will, theoretically, more systems fly off shelves but buyers will have a little extra cash in their pockets for the companies' games.

"It's exceptional news, actually. I think the machine is a great machine, with the Blu-ray," said Guillemot, who was having kind of a rough day with English it would appear. Gibeau shared his enthusiasm, telling GamesIndustry.biz, "It's an old line, but it still rings true for us: 'We make the ammunition for the hardware wars.' So the lowest priced hardware possible is a good thing for us."

Also, we never noticed how much Gibeau looks like Radar O'Reilly.

EA, Ubisoft pleased as punch post-PS3 price plummet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

BioWare, Pandemic creating 10 new franchises for EA

Jason Dobson — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, First Person Shooters, RPGs, Business, Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Electronic Arts has dropped a cold, emotionless reminder of its late-2007 acquisition of both BioWare and Pandemic Studios, announcing that the pair have now been officially digested by the EA collective. While we remain cynical of the whole affair - it is, after all, what we do - EA has announced that the pair has been tapped to create a whopping ten new franchises for EA, based on six different "wholly-owned" properties. 10? Seriously? BioWare alone hasn't touched that much code in nearly a decade, though to be fair EA hasn't laid out a time line for how often these games will emerge.

Both BioWare and Pandemic will be overseen by EA Games' top cheese Locutus...erm, Frank Gibeau, and according to the executive the acquisition will broaden EA's game portfolio in the RPG, action and adventure genres. A cloud of mystery continues to hang over the bulk of these new projects, though EA has confirmed that BioWare remains hard at work on Dragon Age and the DS Sonic RPG, while Pandemic is chugging along developing Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and Saboteur. At least it seems as though the assimilation hasn't freed the developers of independent thought, though granted it does take some time before the implants take hold.

BioWare, Pandemic creating 10 new franchises for EA originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Godfather 2 in development, it breaks our heart

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:26:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in. In a stockholder meeting yesterday Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, said Godfather 2 is currently in development. Fredo Corleone better watch out. Although, he's still got time to make up his mind if going fishing is a smart idea, the game currently has no official announcement or release date.

We expect Godfather II to have a more expansive San Andreas feel to it compared to the original. Godfather II the film not only had many more locations than The Godfather, but it also had two different time periods. It may actually be cool if the developers allow you to play a character who skips back and forth through time working for Vito and Michael. An official announcement should explain much more in the coming months, but considering The Godfather for Wii was made by using a scaled down version of the PS3 game, it looks like all console owners will be able to enjoy the sequel.

Godfather 2 in development, it breaks our heart originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments