14 DAY TRIAL // A lot of people have wondered why Electronic Arts, as besieged by poor financial performance and by eminent layoffs as it is, would buy Playfish, the second biggest player on the market of social gaming, for the price tag of about 300 million dollars. But John Riccitiello, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, is saying that focusing on social experiences and on the Nintendo Wii home gaming console is something that all publishers need to do in order to prepare for the future.
Speaking at the UBS-powered Global Media and Communications Conference, the CEO talked about how Playfish would turn out to be “a very profitable business,” probably bringing in no less than 1 billion dollars in revenue. He added that EA was trying to also develop premium, subscription-based online videogames, like Need for Speed Online and The Old Republic, the Star Wars-themed BioWare MMO.
Both titles are set to arrive in 2010 just as the company reduces the number of titles it releases and focuses on creating more quality products, which can attract and sustain the attention of gamers for a longer period of time.
Electronic Arts is also looking to consolidate its position on the Nintendo Wii market, just as the motion tracking console is seeing a drop in sales. Riccitiello believes the recent price drop is an important move that will help the Wii stay ahead of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in terms of installed base and even suggests that the price of the Nintendo device might soon reach 149 dollars, enabling it to become the successor to the mass market phenomenon which was the PlayStation 2.
The publisher is set to deliver more EA Sports Active products for the Wii and is also striving to make the Madden NFL franchise interesting on the platform, by tweaking the appearance and the rules of the game.