EA Learned from Previous Acquisitions

The purchase of BioWare by EA has brought up some fears that EA will manhandle this acquisition as it has done others in the past. Never fear, says CEO John Riccitiello, speaking at DICE.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is very sorry about what happened to Bullfrog. And Westwood. And Origin Systems.

“”We at EA blew it, and to a degree I was involved in these things, so I blew it.”
(…)
The fear that talent will flee a studio, leaving no value left in the business, is “well-founded… it’s exactly right,” said Riccitiello.

“The command and conquer model,” he said, “doesn’t work. If you think you’re going to buy a developer and put your name on the label… you’re making a profound mistake.”

The EA top executive’s speech focused on “the new economics of game development,” telling the audience that he would put forth a “new model” of “how publishers and developers can work together in the future” to solve issues like rising development costs, consolidation of the industry, and creative failure like EA experiences.

See additional Gamasutra coverage here.