John Riccitiello, the outspoken and (doubtlessly) charming CEO of Electronic Arts, has been talking quality, and boasted of the “best title plan of any company in the industry.” He also promised that the exploitation of “crappy” licenses is not the EA way. He means it this time!
“Frankly I think that a lot of the intellectual property we create are better than the licenses. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for great licenses. There’s room for both,” stated the ever-frank CEO. “I think what you’re noticing is that in years gone by we haven’t had as many great, original intellectual properties. There’s a lot more of that this year from EA and I think from here forward.
“I think what redeems our industry is quality, and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game. That’s not what we’re about.”
Once again, Riccitiello touches on what many people say of EA on message boards around the Internet. He’s done a lot to humanize EA over the past year, and with a strong E3 showing bolstered by titles like Dead Space and Rock Band 2, there’s quite a few good things to be said for Electronic Arts lately. I’ll wait for Riccitiello’s words to be backed up with action, however, before I write EA any love letters.
