EA "not satisfied" with 2007 performance

By Robert Purchese Published 4 February, 2008

New LOTR, Dragon Age to make 08 exciting.

Electronic Arts is unhappy it did not produce enough highly-rated new games in 2007, despite having managed to line its pockets with record amounts of money.

"While we are the third-party quality leader, we are not satisfied with where we are; we did not have any internally developed breakaway titles, and no one of EA's internally developed titles hit a Metacritic rating of 90 or greater," said boss John Riccitello in an earnings conference call.

However, he believes 2008 (or fiscal year 2009, which ends next April) will be a different story, with a fresh RPG from BioWare and new LOTR game among the stand out titles.

"The FY 09 or, if you will, the calendar 08 title plan feels very good to me. Titles out of our partners at BioWare like Dragon Age feel very strong," said Riccitello.

"People are very keen on a title we're developing through our DiCE group in Sweden called Mirror's Edge. Anything with Sims written on it feels always feels good, and we're coming up with a very innovative new title called Sim Animals - that's very strong," he added.

He went on to tell analysts that a fresh take on Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings was on the way, although it was not clear whether this was existing game White Council or a new one altogether.

We also heard that Rock Band will now not ship in Europe until Q1 2009 (which begins in April), and EA confirmed delays for Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2.

Fresh boxing title FaceBreaker was another picked out as having lots of "breakaway" potential.

Star performers for EA to date are FIFA 08, Need For Speed ProStreet, The Simpsons, Madden 08 and NBA Live. Riccitello believed the publisher was sitting on top of another big seller with Burnout Paradise, too.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZeroAX #1 4 years ago

    "While we are the third-party quality leader"

    lol.

  • Dizzy #2 4 years ago

    Pfff.. they just bought Dragon Age. That doesn't count. All their "own" titles have been a bit meh for years. But hey.. they sell shitloads!

  • Kazzahdrane #3 4 years ago

    Phew, thought that actually meant Q1 2009 calendar year for Rock Band! Was about to go ballistic!

  • Milbe #4 4 years ago

    Raping LOTR twice a year is on schedule...

  • crozon #5 4 years ago

    errr, eurogamer whats going on why haven't you mentioned the news that Crysis broke a million already?

  • McBradders #6 4 years ago

    Skate didn't metacritic over 90?

    What the fuck are reviewers smoking these days?!

  • Johnson #7 4 years ago

    >> Anything with Sims written on it feels always feels good, and we're coming up with a very innovative new title called Sim Animals - that's very strong

    I feel that is particularly worth mocking.

    Mock, mock, mock.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #8 4 years ago

    How are the sales stacking up for Burnout Paradise at the moment? I've been recommending it to everyone I know. Love it!

  • McBradders #9 4 years ago

    @Darren

    There was news on this last week with suitable outrage. Please join us, perhaps EA might pull their finger out.


    I CAN DREAM

  • Darren #10 4 years ago

    Surely Q1 2009 should actually be written as Q2 2008 otherwise it reads as if Rock Band isn't out in Europe while April 2009!!! LOL

  • Eighthours #11 4 years ago

    no one of EA's internally developed titles hit a Metacritic rating of 90 or greater,

    Have they ever had an internal title that averages over 90? :)

  • Zomoniac #12 4 years ago

    They had the best footy game ever, Skate, Orange Box, Mass Effect, the first decent MOH game since Allied Assault, Crysis, C&C3, and Burnout only just missed the cut. I'd say that by their standards it's been a phenomenally good year for quality output.

  • NthSimulachum #13 4 years ago

    Zomoniac: Only two of those were internally developed by EA's development arm, and Mass Effect was published by Microsoft.

  • Eighthours #14 4 years ago

    Zomoniac: Only two of those were internally developed by EA's development arm, and Mass Effect was published by Microsoft.

    Yep, EA's internal offerings are often mediocre. Good to see that the top brass wants to do something about this, though.

  • The_Aardvark #15 4 years ago

    DRAGON AGE! DRAGON AGE! DRAGON AGE! I demand more information at once!

  • Triggerhappytel #16 4 years ago

    Does anyone really give a shit about the LotR games-of-movies any more? It's been, what, coming up six years since the last film was released.

    Anyway, I'd really like to see a new Black this year, although it probably won't happen so soon after Paradise.

  • hjarg #17 4 years ago

    What? Is Dragon Age ready? Finally? Can't be? Give us details, now!

    EG, send someone to Bioware and get details out of it. Torture them if needed, but don't come back without any info!

  • BBIAJ #18 4 years ago

    @ Darren:

    Can we have that in English please?

    LOL!

    ;o)

  • swisstony #19 4 years ago

    Erm, Burnout is made by Criterion and that is as internal a development team as it gets. It was bought up around Burnout 3, since then it has been internal.

    The fact is, EA have internal studios, some are bought others have been there a while. It doesn't make business sense to go re-organising successful teams, but unless EA is only the publisher of a title, any studio it buys is basically an internal studio. These studios are allowed to have their own internal cultures, but of course have business goals oriented to their new situation. As such, these studios, particularly Criterion Games, have retained a strong sense of the culture, as well as the leadership, that made them so purchasable.

  • Royal Fool #20 4 years ago

    "Sim Animals"

    Oh man.

    As for the LOTR game, I hope it's the White Council project resurrected.

  • Freek #21 4 years ago

    Orange Box is by Valve, Crytek is still independent and Mass Effect was made while Bioware was also still independant and published by MS.

    So Burnout and Skate, yeah it's understandable to see it as a "meh" year.

  • bad #22 4 years ago

    I've been no great fan of EA's practices in the past, but aiming to increase quality above and beyond "adequate" should certainly be applauded. Here's hoping they can actually make that plan work.

  • kangarootoo #23 4 years ago

    @swisstony

    "As such, these studios, particularly Criterion Games, have retained a strong sense of the culture, as well as the leadership, that made them so purchasable."

    I agree with your general points, but the reason EA bought Criterion was Renderware rather than Burnout. A good game series is no bad thing to be buying into mind, but it wasn't the core reason for the purchase.

  • ange| #24 4 years ago

    what muppet wrote q1 2009 then


    oh and sim animals...wow theres a fresh angle.

  • Iora #25 4 years ago

    EA "not satisfied" with 2007 performance.

    Agrees to increase baby consumption by 125% in 2008
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/08 @ 14:37

  • dudefella #26 4 years ago

    Fuck me, another 4 months for Rock Band? Lost interest.

  • boyscout #27 4 years ago

    MOAR DRAGON AGE INFO

  • J.C #28 4 years ago

    I hate this company. for reasons to many to mention here.

  • NegativeZero #29 4 years ago

    I thought that all signs were pointing to Dragon Age not appearing until 2009?

    Not that I'll complain if it appears earlier than that, mind you, Been looking forward to it for a long time.