by Medeor on Oct 31, 2008
EA putting a lot of eggs in their online basket.
EA's CEO John Riccitiello delivered their financial results in a conference call today amid discussions of the future. The future does look bright, but the current situation is one of layoffs (600 people being let go) and lagging revenues. In addition to the current nasty exchange rate for us in the states, the reasoning for some of the revenue shortfalls are investments in the future according to Mr. Riccitiello. Luckily Gamasutra endured the call and provided EA's discussion about their online investment:
Riccitiello says that without the $150 million slated for digital delivery initiatives, online games and EAP relationships, EA's profits would appear much better today -- but "although this would help in the short term, cutting these investments is not the right answer for the long term."
The future for EA includes a game we're all (or almost all) salivating over, BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. Apparently Wall Street doesn't believe in the future, the shares of EA tumbled 13% on the news.