Electronic Arts has a forward looking attitude that includes not just retail products, but social, mobile and online games. As EA CEO John Riccitiello outlined during a recent conference call he sees digital integration increasing for the company going forward.
When we established objectives around reducing title count, cutting costs and starting a digital business, we did so recognizing that we needed to execute a turn-around and the major part of what needed to change was to reduce titles and cost, said Riccitiello. Our strategies could be defined as fundamentally ‘defensive’. Today, we are announcing a big shift to ‘offense’. Over the coming years, we will transform EA from a packaged goods company to a fully integrated digital entertainment company.
Right now, EA is a publisher of games on several, disparate platforms. Going forward Riccitiello sees EA as the platform in and of itself.
Increasingly, we see ourselves as a software platform every bit as much as we see ourselves as a content maker for other companies platforms. We have a great start with 112 million consumers in our Nucleus registration system, up from 61 million a year ago, he continued. And, while we will continue to be a great partner to our best retail customers and first party partners, you will see the beginnings of a consumer game platform emerge at EA that complements and extends the console ecosystem and addresses the wider opportunity on other devices.
