2008 Was Difficult for EA, 2009 Will Be Better

Electronic Arts has just posted the financial results for the first quarter of the current fiscal year but the publisher is already looking to the lead up to Christmas 2009, the sales period that pretty much can make or break the fortunes of a videogaming company.

John Riccitiello, the Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts, admitted that his firm had played its hand out poorly in 2008, releasing too many titles at the same time and not taking care of giving the space they needed to new franchises Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. But the CEO adds that the same mistakes will not be made in 2009 and particular care is being taken in how Brutal Legend from Double Fine and Dragon Age: Origins from BioWare will be launched.

Riccitiello said that “We're addressing all those issues [...] in particular with Brutal Legend and Dragon Age. […] We have four major releases in Q4 (January-March). We really put together a plan that is designed to take advantage of the fact that there are 12 months in a year, and we think we can actually do better with our key titles by spacing them out.”

Dragon Age: Origins is a role playing game seen as the spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate, and BioWare is saying that the game will mix low and high fantasy to create a new and believable world alongside solid combat mechanics. Brutal Legend is a rock and roll adventure put together by a team headed by Tim Schafer, arriving in October.

Riccitiello is also keen on emphasizing that both Mirror's Edge and Dead Space have posted solid sales numbers, although many perceive them as being failures. At the moment, Dead Space is getting a Nintendo Wii bound sequel and there are rumors that Mirror's Edge 2 is being worked on at DICE.