DEC. 1, 2009 • At the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York City, EA chief executive John Riccitiello stated that the publisher is releasing too many titles a year at 50, that the number releases would be cut back to 40 during the next fiscal year, and that publishing 30 games a year would not be out of the question.
Impact: Insiders say EA decided several years ago to solve its revenue issues by betting on more AAA retail releases. That wager, and those titles, haven’t paid off as expected, and now the company has to drastically cut back everywhere possible. Whatever the number of titles released, the publisher’s number one task is getting better at nurturing new franchises that actually resonate with consumers – like Activision-Blizzard’s Call of Duty.
