NotInThere | Cause it’s in here

EA Hit With a $641mill Loss! What is next?

Posted on 05. Feb, 2009 by starg in Gaming News

According to IGN, EA has suffered a financial loss of $641 million over the third quarter of the financial year and will soon be looking shutting down 12 of their operating facilities that will negatively affect over 1,000 jobs.

What will this mean for gaming?

In 2008 EA introduced some new IP’s to the market in such titles
as Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space and Battlefield: Bad Company which have
all sold over a million copies. From industry reviews and my own
personal experience EA has definitely stepped the quality of their
games way up from past years. In fact according to VGChartz, Battlefield: Bad Company is nearing the 2 million sold mark.

Nevertheless, while all this is good news, it has not been nearly
enough to help EA dig out this deep financial hole.

According to IGN;
“Our holiday quarter came in below our expectations and we have significantly reduced our financial outlook for fiscal 2009, a clear
disappointment. We delivered on game quality and innovation in calendar
2008, with 13 titles rated 80 or above – more than any third-party
publisher. We expect to build on this great quality record in the year
ahead while delivering more profitability.” said CEO John Riccitiello
in a recent call up picked by gamesindustry.biz

With this kind loss there is no guess work needed on why EA has
announced that they will be bringing more major titles to Nintendo’s
industry leading Wii platform. The article also states that Dead Space
and Battlefied: Bad Company are also headed to the Wii.
These financial woes are unfortunate for EA, however Wii users will definitely have a lot to look forward to.