Last year was pretty bittersweet for Electronic Arts. The publisher and developer released a number of highly praised new IPs, and had 13 of its titles achieve an aggregate Metacritic score of at least 80. In the previous year, the Redwood City-based company only had seven games reach that plateau. Unfortunately, those accolades didn’t translate into financial success. During a December conference call to investors, CEO John Riccitiello reported disappointing sales for the company’s holiday titles, which included Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space. EA recorded a net loss of $641 million in its 2009 third fiscal quarter, compared to just $33 million during the same period in 2007 (Q3 2008).
The good news is that the company has learned from its mistakes, and plans to use that knowledge to better position its future new IPs.
“I think that we launched too many new IPs all at once in Q3,” EA Games President Frank Gibeau told Gamasutra writer Kris Graft during an E3 interview. “I would have spread them out and found better windows for them. I would have had longer marketing for them.”
Gibeau specifically mentioned Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge as games that should have been released outside of Q3. Both titles were initially deemed retail disappointments, but, in early May, Visceral Games general manager Glen Schofield revealed to GameSpot that the deep space thriller had sold 1.4 million copies worldwide. Visceral – formerly known as EA Redwood Shores – was the development team for Dead Space. Mirror’s Edge, on the other hand, reportedly did not meet company expectations. This despite the fact that the first-person action game received positive scores from most critics.
Most games never even whiff the million mark, so the Dead Space total seems pretty solid. I am not privy to the title’s budget – an important consideration when evaluating a game – but EA seems pretty happy with its performance.
Despite EA’s economic woes, the publisher and developer will continue to invest in new IPs. Gibeau estimated two or three per year in the future. It is unclear if he was referring to the company as a whole or just the EA Games label.
Before the end of 2009, EA plans to publish a number of new IPs, including Double Fine’s Brutal Legend, Dante’s Inferno and Dragon Age: Origins. All three are currently slated to release during the company’s third financial quarter.
Many analysts have suggested that EA got a little too ambitious last year. Based on Gibeau’s comments, it seems that the company’s executives came to the same conclusion. However, they clearly recognize the importance of providing gamers with fresh, novel experiences. After all, those games could potentially evolve into franchises. EA recently released Boom Blox Bash Party, the sequel to the 2008 Wii exclusive, Boom Blox. The Steven Spielberg-EA collaboration only shifted 60,000 copies during its debut month, but sold much better in the ensuing months. Army of Two: The 40th Day is currently in the works, there are numerous Spore titles on the horizon, and it is rumored that Dead Space 2 is a go. Not hard to believe, especially after Riccitiello called the original game “a long-term big winner” for the company.
Plus, Dead Space is a cross-media IP. Last year, EA partnered with Starz Media to produce “Dead Space: Downfall,” an animated film that chronicled the events prior to Isaac Clarke’s romp aboard the Ishimura. Image Comics also released a six-part Dead Space comic, which, like “Downfall,” served as a prequel to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC game. Clearly, EA was positioning Dead Space as a franchise.
EA will release Dead Space Extraction for the Wii on Sept. 29.
As far as the future is concerned, I am really excited to see what EA has in store for gamers. I am not a big fan of mixed martial arts, so EA Sports MMA isn’t even on my radar. However, I am quite excited about the upcoming project from Grasshopper Manufacture’s Suda51 (No More Heroes, Killer 7) and Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil. Very little is currently known about the game, except that it will fall under the horror genre and will be published by EA.
Also, expect to see some additional content for EA Sports Active, the publisher and developer’s answer to Wii Fit. On June 1, IGN reported that the exercise-focused game had sold 600,000 since its May 19 launch, and that a 30-exercise expansion was being developed. Personally, I prefer sitting on my sofa eating Doritos, but I am sure there are 600,000 soccer moms who will be happy to hear the news.
EA seems to have something for everyone, which is great news for the industry. I was a little worried that EA might revert to its former self, but, based on its upcoming lineup, it appears that the company has truly turned over a new leaf. I hope you are taking notes Bobby Kotick.
Sources: EA, Gamasutra, GameSpot, Joystiq, Gamasutra, Primotech, IGN
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EA is a company and so I understand that they need to remain financially sound. That said, I was really impressed at its lineup last year and hope that, even if they release fewer new IPs this year, then at least their attitude will remain the same.
When I buy a sequel I know more or less that it will be good, but original titles that innovate are usually the only ones that become great in my eyes.