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Unity CEO On Current Gen: “Sony Paid Gamers More Respect”

Ben-Dutka 15 Comments

What do you think of the first year of the new generation?

Many are wholly unimpressed, such as Unity CEO John Riccitiello, who calls it "one of the more depressing stories of the last couple years."

Speaking during the recent GamesBeat Summit (as attended by GamesIndustry.biz ), Riccitiello reflected on the different approaches taken by Sony and Microsoft:

"There was a clash of ideas that really separated Sony and Microsoft in this generation… The clash of ideas was simply this. They actually had very similar architectures that they were trying to bring to the table, but Microsoft focused on the entertainment marketplace."

He went on to say that Xbox One was supposed to be "bigger than games," and was designed to be a mainstream cultural force like Google or Apple. But Sony just wanted to make a solid video game system, especially after missing the mark with the PS3 launch. Added Riccitiello:

"I think it was a little bit like a game of pool. Microsoft was focused on the shot after the one they needed to make… but they missed the first shot and they didn't get another shot at it. Sony worried about the shot they needed to make, which was [to] win the hearts and minds of the gamers. They did a better job of execution with that. Frankly, the broad scope of entertainment may be a bigger idea, but not with an unfocused execution… Sony nailed it. They paid respect, more respect, to our community than the other guys."

He also lamented the lack of innovation, saying the console world "desperately needs reinvention in terms of some of the game mechanics." He says we've basically been playing the same game since 1997, around the advent of 3D gaming. He cited Bioshock Infinite as having a "beautiful world" but there still isn't enough innovation.

Well, what do you say to that?

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Former EA CEO: Activision Could End Up A “Sh**** Company”

Ben-Dutka 16 Comments

Former Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has outlined two possible scenarios for the future of Activision, arguably EA's stiffest competition.

Firstly, during a recent GamesIndustry International interview , Riccitiello addressed the ongoing Call of Duty vs. Battlefield war. That war will begin afresh this fall when EA's Battlefield 4 faces off against Activision's Call of Duty: Ghosts . Time to throw down!

Of course, there's no chance BF4 outsells Ghosts but during each face-off, the Battlefield franchise has managed to steal a bit more market share away from CoD. And Riccitiello believes that "EA's got the better cards." As for the future of Activision, he considered the following:

"There’s one scenario where they ship a new MMO, it replaces WoW, Call of Duty stays at the top of the charts, Skylanders goes from strength to strength. They do a couple of things with their licenses, everything goes fine.

Then there’s a scenario where WoW continues to decline, Battlefield takes the mantle from CoD, Skylanders proves to be a flash in the pan and Activision proves to be a shitty company at that point."

I thought Skylanders would be a "flash in the pan," but it seems to have crazy "Pokemon"-like potential at this point. As for CoD, it has been declining and analysts have said Ghosts probably won't shatter all the records set by previous installments. Lastly, with WoW subscriptions declining, will Activision come up with another massive MMO cash cow…?

Things change quickly in this industry. Don't forget that Activision once filed for bankruptcy back in the '90s…

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Temporary EA CEO To Receive A $1.03 Million Salary

Ben-Dutka 3 Comments

That's a nice little chunk of cash for a temporary gig, wouldn't you say? I'd take it.

A few weeks ago, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello resigned his position and at that time, the company temporarily promoted board member Larry Probst to head boss man. EA will be seeking a permanent replacement this year.

But in the meantime, EA will pay Probst an annual salary of $1.03 million , and the Board of Directors may also award the interim CEO with a "one-time discretionary bonus at the end of his term." Probst abstained from the Compensation Committee's salary decision and will not receive further cash retainer fees for his position on the board while he's acting as executive chairman. But I'm sure that won't hurt him any.

Probst was actually CEO of EA from 1991 all the way through 2007, so we're assuming he knows what he's doing. He is also currently the executive chairman of the United States Olympic Committee and serves on the Olympic Committee's International Relations Commission. Furthermore, he has worked for Activision and Clorox so yeah, this guy gets around. As for former CEO Riccitiello, his separation agreement includes a 24-month continued salary and other options that come in at about $4.7 million.

Potential candidates for the permanent CEO role at EA include chief operating officer Peter Moore and EA Labels president Frank Gibeau.

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Electronic Arts CEO Steps Down

Ben-Dutka 8 Comments

It's time to pass the torch over at Electronic Arts.

EA chief executive officer John Riccitiello has formally resigned his post at one of the world's biggest video game publishers. He has been CEO for six years but as of March 30, he will move on. He won't be a member of the board of directors, either.

In his place, EA has promoted veteran EA executive Larry Probst to the position of executive chairman while the company seeks a permanent replacement. Probst has been in a management position at EA since 1991 and was CEO from '91 through 2007. As of now, the company will be considering internal and external candidates and they're doing so with the help of a "leading executive search firm." So yeah, your resume might not cut it. Here's EA's statement from Probst concerning Riccitiello's departure:

"We thank John for his contributions to EA since he was appointed CEO in 2007, especially the passion, dedication and energy he brought to the Company every single day. John has worked hard to lead the Company through challenging transitions in our industry, and was instrumental in driving our very significant growth in digital revenues. We appreciate John's leadership and the many important strategic initiatives he has driven for the Company. We have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition."

Riccitiello also had something to say about his leaving EA:

"EA is an outstanding company with creative and talented employees, and it has been an honor to serve as the Company’s CEO. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and after six years I feel it is the right time for me pass the baton and let new leadership take the Company into its next phase of innovation and growth. I remain very optimistic about EA's future; there is a world class team driving the Company’s transition to the next generation of game consoles."

When you've been CEO of a corporation like EA, what do you do next? What would be considered a step up? Heck, I'd retire.

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