Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is shaking things up. Big time. In an interview with BusinessWeek, Riccitiello talked extensively about EA’s abysmal income, their new focus on DLC, free games with for-pay accessories, nontraditional platforms like mobile devices and social media sites, and their war with the used-game market.
The gist is this: Brick-and-mortar gamestores are dying. As a result, they’ve shifted their focus from the sale of new games to the resale of used games. Where EA can sell a game once, GameStop can sell, buy back, and resell a game over and over without kicking any earnings back to the publisher. Understandably, Riccitello believes that EA can’t survive indefinitely in this kind of a market. The solution? Digital distribution. Continue reading ‘EA and the New Era of DLC’
