This episode has some white noise during it, so please don’t listen to it wearing headphones. The mic that was used is dying, so I purchased a new mic which will be used for Episode 626.
Til then, the news includes:
Let us know what you think.
Halloween is a scary time of year, no less when you’re posting a $310 million net loss. EA CEO John Riccitiello sees “weakness” at retail in October and we’re betting this isn’t the end of the road of sorrow for game publishers around the globe.
Electronic Arts isn’t unfamiliar with bad times and we’re sure to see them make constant adjustments to their headcount, game releases and press as the economy goes into a bit of a slump. Although the game industry won’t see as big a hit as the financial market, everyone is going to watch their spending during slower economic times.
That slowness is a red flag for the mega-publisher, which says it’s “proactively making cost adjustments now.” One of those adjustments is the axing of some 600 EA employees across the globe. (Kotaku)
Last year Electronic Arts lost a “small” $195 million during the same time, not exactly a gold star on the financial records but it sure looks better than this loss. A few games may crumble under the economic pressures, Tiberium for example, but let us not forget the good times! EA posted some nice figures for Spore, Madden NFL 09, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
So, they mixed a few sequels with a few new franchise hits and gave gamers some pretty hot titles for the year. Of course, hot titles in our hand do not always translate to positive revenue in theirs.
This week’s episode is full of rumors, which the crew try to parse.
The news includes:
Let us know what you think as usual at the Facebook page.
Jonah’s heading off to cover PAX Unplugged on Thursday morning, so this week’s podcast has been a quick, sub-40 minute show, even with a Gaming Flashback of Infamous 2, a game that former co-host Jordan Lund is probably far more familiar with.
This week’s news includes:
Let us know what you think.
