EA’s not exactly having the best of times – the recent departure of CEO John Riccitiello is evidence of that. But while the publisher’s managed to badly bungle the launch of SimCity and produce some below-par games, we can probably all agree that it doesn’t deserve the ‘Worst Company in America’ moniker that it’s almost certainly about to achieve for the second time in succession.
“This is the same poll that last year judged us as worse than companies responsible for the biggest oil spill in history, the mortgage crisis, and bank bailouts that cost millions of taxpayer dollars,” COO Peter Moore wrote in a candid blog post. “The complaints against us last year were our support of SOPA (not true), and that they didn’t like the ending to Mass Effect 3.”
Moore added that EA is a lot like the “Yankees, Lakers, and Manchester United” – in short, a firm that has a long legacy of success, making it a target for misplaced ire. But while the executive was understandably defensive, he also refused to shy away from the company's errors, and promised significant improvements in the future.
“I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve made plenty of mistakes,” he continued. “These include server shut downs too early, games that didn’t meet expectations, missteps on new pricing models, and, most recently, severely fumbling the launch of SimCity. We owe gamers better performance than this.”
And that's what Moore promises moving forward. “We can do better. We will do better,” he concluded. “But I am damn proud of this company, the people around the globe who work at EA, the games we create, and the people that play them.”
We're guessing that this is an innovative new job interview method that EA's trialling, but we think that Moore's passed the test. Seriously, this is the most human thing that's come out of the firm in years, and that makes the former Microsoft executive the perfect candidate to fill the company's currently vacant CEO position. So, now that you've secured your promotion, Peter – what are your thoughts on Mirror’s Edge 2?
[source ea.com]
Comments 7
Hopefully EA can come to terms with its mistakes and improve in the near future. People are quick to forget they own a lot of great franchises and development studios - with the right backing, EA could really push them forward from what we've come to expect.
And for what it's worth, I don't believe EA deserve the title of 'Worst company in America' either.
@ShogunRok Agree with all of that. I also think people are quick to dismiss the areas that EA's improved in. For example, FIFA was an absolute mess at one point, but they completely turned the corner on that franchise. I know it's not good news for Konami, but it's absolutely incredible how far that series has come over the past five years.
@get2sammyb Very true, I remember FIFA's dark days, and it really is quite incredible how much it improved in such a short period or time.
Another good example of them doing something right is giving BioWare another chance with the Dragon Age franchise. After the second game pretty much flopped critically and commercially, they've at least granted the developer the time and resources to make a title that could follow the success of the original, rather than canning the series there and then.
To be honest, I think this is largely another case of jumping on the hate bandwagon. Sure, EA aren't the perfect publisher by any stretch of the imagination - but they're not somehow beyond redemption like some would have you believe. I like to think they'll shrug off this reputation soon.
Speaking as an American, i assure you there are many American companies way worse than EA. They are just recognizable because they are a media company. Last time i checked, Electronic Arts never raped a bunch of third world countries for their natural resources.
I'll admit that I've not bought a game from EA in a long time due to a lot of their practices. I understand that publishing games is a business and that as consumers, we aren't entitled to anything, but lying to and false advertising to consumers isn't the way to go. They aren't the only ones doing it, but they seem to be the biggest.
It's nice to read these statements and at least know they are either trying to save face or really care. Either way, it should be a benefit to the market.
I think Peter Moore said these same words just before SEGA arose from the ashes and conquered the gaming industry with the DC...uh, oh right, forget I mentioned it, sorry...aaawkwaaard!
Do better by ditching always on drm and microtransitions. And stop requiring that god awful origin for games.
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