EA, Returning To Form
February 19, from Wired:LAS VEGAS -- Is the economic crisis that began last year actually a "blessing" for the videogame industry?
That's what John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, said Thursday at the DICE summit.
Riccitiello said that while big players like EA will be able to ride out the recession, others will not -- which will help to keep "junk" off shelves, he said.
"A lot of the riff-raff is going to go bankrupt," he said.
I think we may have reached a high-water mark in terms of a violation of the "don't be a dick in interviews" rule. Actually, since this wasn't technically an interview, maybe we should just change the rule to read "don't be a dick," period.
What I find most offensive about Riccitiello's dickery is that he never designed or programmed a game in his life. He's just a business suit.
In a creative endeavor, the market (for consumers) is best served by having as many creative people as possible involved. There are going to be significantly fewer creative people employed in the process of making games than there were two years ago. For us, that's a disaster.
There's nothing more infuriating to me than an asshat executive being smug. That's why the Sony execs drive me crazy, because almost all of them are constantly smug.
Oh, and there's this: when Riccitiello was rehired on April 2, 2007, EA's stock was at $51.42 a share. Today, it's trading at $15.60.
Hey John, does that riff-raff comment apply to CEO's, too?
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