EA CEO Is Out, WC Back In? (March 18, 2013)

ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator


Electronic Arts announced today that its CEO, John Riccitiello, has resigned amid recent financial shortfalls. His tenures with the company have coincided with extended absences of the Wing Commander franchise.


Mr. Riccitiello was first hired after the development of Wing Commander Prophecy in 1997 and held the role of President & COO as the Maverick Team was eventually disbanded at Origin in March 2000. He was still in charge when Origin was officially shut down in February 2004, and he resigned from the company almost immediately thereafter.


Wing Commander Arena was developed during his absence, but he was rehired as CEO just before its launch in 2007. The follow-up to Arena and several other attempts to restart the franchise in recent years have languished during the time that John has led the company.


CEOs are often portrayed as out-of-touch with the daily operations of large companies, but Mr. Riccitiello described himself as a gamer with insight into the series that were green lit (or not!). Here's looking forward to some fresh blood that will invigorate the classic franchises that make up EA's legacy!

--
Original update published on March 18, 2013
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Whats that old saying? "By their fruits you will know them"?

This guy being in charge of EA and there only being a WC property after he bows out for a while speaks to something. In the words of Mr Horse, "No sir, I don't like him."

(I've seen several write-ups about this guy since the announcement and no one seems to be pointing out that he's probably leaving after the recent SimCity debacle and the over-estimation of sales on Dead Space 3, which they estimated to go for 5 million copies((??!)))
 
Maybe now EA will start to realize how much they neglect their own IP. As the Chinese say, "When dynasties fall the heads will roll."

I won't hold my breath.
 
He is being replaced by Larry Probst, who was CEO of EA from 1991 - 2007 (so basically the guy who oversaw EA as it swallowed and killed Origin Systems and then proceeded to sit on all of the IP of the franchises we love until they are now dead and nearly forgotten). So no, I don't think there's much hope of WC (or Ultima) making any significant comeback.

And don't even talk to me about Ultima Forever. It may or may not be a 'fun' game, but it is not Ultima.
 
Isn't it the opposite ? That would mean it's the same guy who bought Origin to make WC3, WC4, Privateer, and Prophecy ?
 
Pretty sure Privateer was already far along in development when EA bought Origin. As for WC3, WC4, and Prophecy, all great games - but what happened after that? EA killed the franchise (and shortly thereafter, Origin Systems) - and this happened with Mr. Probst at the helm.
 
https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/7039

The first WC game that was published by EA was the Deluxe Edition of WC2. Privateer, WC3, WC4 - basically almost everything but WC1 and the initial development of WC2 was done under EA's umbrella. Origin was teetering financially in 1991, and EA really was the hero in 1992. Not only would games like WC3 and WC4 not be anything like we know them without EA's money, they may not have even been made. It really wasn't until 2000 thing things turned poor. It's fair to say that WC's current problems are EA's fault, but simply stating they "killed the franchise" doesn't give them credit for driving 80-90% of the entire series' creation.

Larry Probst is just the guy keeping the place running while they look to hire a new guy. I wouldn't actually mind promotion of their current COO, Peter Moore. He seems like a decent guy. Here's a photo of Larry that I snapped in 2004: https://www.wcnews.com/articles/e32004/e32004daytwo08.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
LeHah said:
Whats that old saying? "By their fruits you will know them"?

This guy being in charge of EA and there only being a WC property after he bows out for a while speaks to something. In the words of Mr Horse, "No sir, I don't like him."

(I've seen several write-ups about this guy since the announcement and no one seems to be pointing out that he's probably leaving after the recent SimCity debacle and the over-estimation of sales on Dead Space 3, which they estimated to go for 5 million copies((??!)))
Click to expand...

EA has had a lot of high-profile flops lately... the numbers probably aren't even in for SimCity yet. And I'm not convinced it's an actual disaster: it probably wasn't an especially expensive game (no one puts THAT much money into a PC-only game today...) and the internet being mad at something isn't the same thing as sales being poor. But they did run several promising franchises into the ground (Dead Space, Mass Effect) and Star Wars Old Republic wasn't something they were ever going to come out of on top...
 
Bandit LOAF said:
and the internet being mad at something isn't the same thing as sales being poor.
Click to expand...

Very true - but when Amazon halts all sales on the product after 48 hours, thats not a good sign of the product.
 
That's not even a thing; Amazon automatically halts sales of any product when people "report" it. Internet douchebags complaining about DRM know this and intentionally set off their system. It happens constantly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top