Gamers everywhere have learned from experience to be very wary of Electronic Arts (EA). Here at SG we refer to the video game publishing giant as the “Darth Vader” of the gaming industry. We do so for good reason, as EA continues to gobble up development studios and promptly grind them into dust. To say that EA has a bad rep is as much of an understatement as saying Britney Spears is just “a little” crazy.

Find out what EA CEO John Riccitiello said at this years D.I.C.E. Summit about improving EA’s public image and its business practices after the jump!

Remember fantastic development studios like Origin and Westwood? EA purchased them for their amazingly talented staff, many of whom promptly abandoned ship, and quickly proceeded to destroy them with EA’s patented oppressive bureaucracy and micro-management. Even internal EA studios like EA Chicago have felt the corporate knife in their backs over the years. With the recent acquisition of Pandemic/BioWare by EA, gamers everywhere (SG included) are already preparing to attend another once-glorious developers funeral.

Well, Mr. Riccitiello plans to change all that and bring EA’s reputation out of the gutter. Riccitiello left EA in ‘04 to co-found the venture capital firm Elevation Partners. He then presided over the union of Pandemic and BioWare. He then returned to his previous position at EA and promptly acquired Pandemic/BioWare, leaving many wondering if the whole thing was some sort of EA conspiracy. The truth, if you believe Johnny boy, is that he learned a lot from his work with Pandemic/BioWare and that the acquisition was about bringing even more talent under the EA umbrella, plain and simple. Maybe.

Riccitiello told D.I.C.E. attendees that working with BioWare and Pandemic founders opened his eyes to the importance of independence and how that correlates to creativity. Apparently, all the other great independent (EA devoured) studios did not scream loud enough on their death beds for Johnny boy to hear them, but I digress. This new found wisdom has led the CEO to promise more autonomy for EA’s many development studios.

The CEO told attendees: “We’re like the NFL, with specialized teams with specialized cultures. Culture makes a difference. The studio model allows them to keep their own individual culture, like city-states responsible for their own houses.”

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