EA CEO on Westwood, Bullfrog and Origin purchases: we "blew it"

BrynS

Mr Kat says...
Just caught this on Firingsquad; the original Wired article is here.

Wired said:
""We at EA blew it, and to a degree I was involved in these things, so I blew it."
[...]
Riccitiello said that the company's "one-management-size-fits-all" mentality with its acquisitions in the past only stifled creative freedom. "When I talked to the creators that populated these companies at the time, they felt like they were buried and stifled," he said.
[...]
"Creative teams can be thought of as flowers in a hothouse -- you move the temperature up or down a few degrees and the flowers will die," he said.
Anyway, I think it's interesting that EA have fronted up to this now and together with the way Riccitiello was reported to have championed the Bioware purchase against some internal EA resistance seems to point to a changing corporate focus. Although the Bioware purchase occurred before the Vivendi/Activision merger, that too must now be affecting EA corporate steer, I suspect. In the face of ongoing consolidation, the upside of the Activision merger as far as I can see, is there now being two (more evenly matched) publishing behemoths rather than just one (EA) and a bunch of smaller players (Ubisoft, THQ, Codemasters, etc) -- hopefully this will keep them both honest! :p

Regarding EA's Origin et al acknowledgment, following the Point of Origin releases has certainly provided some insight into the evolving impact EA had on Origin. I believe Wing Commander and Origin definitely had a good run under EA stewardship, but it was a great pity to see Origin -- the home of so many great gaming creations -- close and I'm sure the former OSI employees must appreciate this acceptance that EA got things wrong.
 
I'm sure the former OSI employees must appreciate this acceptance that EA got things wrong.

I've seen this on almost all the gaming sites actually. And it's interesting to see this take on their past aquisitions, yet at the same time I was also recently reading a few articles from ex origin employees that candidly pointed out that all the EA money made them go a little crazy , trying to take on too many projects with untested staff. There are a multitude of things that went wrong, but they can't all be blamed squarly on EA.

Interestingly though, even though origin may be gone Ultima online is still running. It was revamped a little a while ago and is being run by EA Mythic, the guys who are working on Warhammer Online. Strangely enough, EA recently shipped all kinds of WC props there for some reason. At the very least they got a Kilrathi flight helmet and Thrakhath from WC3, as well as all kinds of boxed new WC games from back in the day... along with some other Ultima memorabilia. I don't think it's connected to any of the WC game rumors though as I doubt it will be an online game, but it's interesting...
 
this may be a little silly but the only thing that I REALLY remember EA for is the cool looking Sega Genesis Cartridges for "Road Rash" and the like, does anyone remember these in the early days of EA. What about sports games when the "E...A it's in the game!" slogan was put to use!! those I think were the glory days for me.
 
For those wondering why this hasn't been on the front page news yet -- we're following up on it in an interesting way that will be revealed in the near future.
 
There are a multitude of things that went wrong, but they can't all be blamed squarly on EA.
Sure, but as the one holding the purse strings, EA seemed to have ultimate sanction of individual projects and in reigning in overspend/etc. I still think the admission is pretty significant, even if it's only part of the spin of EA's current turn-around strategy.

Strangely enough, EA recently shipped all kinds of WC props there for some reason. At the very least they got a Kilrathi flight helmet and Thrakhath from WC3, as well as all kinds of boxed new WC games from back in the day... along with some other Ultima memorabilia. I don't think it's connected to any of the WC game rumors though as I doubt it will be an online game, but it's interesting...
Nice. Good to know that these items aren't disappearing.

Slightly OT, but some more info from EA's Analyst Day: they have announced some specific titles under development -- see this list on VE3D. No Wing Commander announcement per se, but if one of the hopes is that Bioware is a possible (most likely/preferred?) developer for a new Wing Commander, then the New MMO (Bioware) could maybe be telling. I'm pretty chuffed about Red Alert 3. I only hope that the resurgence of the C&C franchise lately (C&C3; C&C3 Exp; Tiberium, RA3) bodes well for Wing Commander. :)
 
This all reminds me of my friends that are Red Sox fans...after going for so long not making it, we're now facing a possibility of another championship - another WC game! From famine to feast...

of course, we still don't have anything confirmed yet. Still, these periods of uncertainty are often looked upon as the most exciting.
 
Just as soon as people stop using stupid made-up pseudo-vulgarity used in overhyped and overrated TV series. :p
 
I would also caution against taking too much away from this -- if it sounds "too good to be true," it's because it is. It's EA's CEO telling people exactly what they wanted to hear rather than some genuine case of remorse. It's all a PR campaign, and we'll probably hear the same sentiment repeated a bunch of times in the next few months.

... but I think we can find a way to at least try and throw this back at them. :) Stay tuned!
 
I would also caution against taking too much away from this -- if it sounds "too good to be true," it's because it is. It's EA's CEO telling people exactly what they wanted to hear rather than some genuine case of remorse. It's all a PR campaign, and we'll probably hear the same sentiment repeated a bunch of times in the next few months.

... but I think we can find a way to at least try and throw this back at them. :) Stay tuned!

Yeah, they're definitely playing this up... After all they name westwood there and then turn around and announce red alert 3. From their official press release: "It’s been too long.” said Chris Corry, Executive Producer at EALA. “Fans have been waiting for a new Red Alert game for seven years, and we’re working hard to ensure its well worth the wait."
 
Yeah -- I see so many we're-so-cool gaming websites repeating the story about the DICE keynote as if it were some incredible victory in which Electronic Arts accidentally exposed their secret feelings... and all they're doing is repeating the exact story that EA has specifically calculated for that purpose.
 
Yeah -- I see so many we're-so-cool gaming websites repeating the story about the DICE keynote as if it were some incredible victory in which Electronic Arts accidentally exposed their secret feelings... and all they're doing is repeating the exact story that EA has specifically calculated for that purpose.

Well, hopefully they'll play this out into Wing Commander's court soon... I can't see them waiting *that* long to announce something if they want to take advantage of this.
 
Back
Top