EA's End of an ERA

Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the largest and oldest software devlopers and publishers in the world. However, much of EAs gaming franchises over the last five years have not really been about innovative game design as much as it has been to release another Tiger Woods Golf or NHL or NFL addition to their franchise.

In a move which could shake up EA completely their long standing CEO Larry Probst has stepped down. Larry Probst pioneered the concept of creating annual franchises in which to sell their games. Gamers would have to outlay full price for the 2006 version of Tiger Woods Golf which was more an update than a brand new game. This created EA as a power house game developer, but really didn't hold much schtick with the gamers (including this one). EA also brought up some much loved game franchises (such as Command & Conquer and Burnout) and were seen as pushing out inferior versions of these games. However, it could be argued that without EAs financial backing some of these games may not have seen another version.

Whatever your view on EA it will be interesting to see what will happen with a new skipper at the helm. It is reported that John Riccitiello (a former employee of EA) will be taking over . EA have been seen as a large company addicted to the financial success of creating sequels for their games. However, this formula has started to see limited financial returns as gamers have not been willing to pay full price for a game that is seen as being just an upgrade on the previous version. Tiger Woods Golf is a good case in point. As far as I am concerned Tiger Woods 2004 was the best version of this game franchise. Unfortunately EA have not been able to capture the same amount of play ability with successive release of this game. This version was the most playable (as in pick up and play). The current version of the game (2007) is completely unplayable in comparison. The amount of time it takes to master the basic strokes in the current version make it nearly inaccessible. It is even said that it may be virtually impossible to complete a tournament and win it on Xbox 360.

Hopefully, EA will put some of their massive amount of money which they have in the kitty to good use and create some new and original titles which push the boundaries of gaming. Rather than continue to republish the same old/same old which they have built their business model on. Whether you love them or hate them you have to respect the fact that they have been a constant in gaming since the beginning of home gaming. With the risks and financial outlay of current game design and development EA have managed to avoid the pit holes and stay well and truly afloat.