GameSpasm

EA's chief operating officer John Schappert had a fireside chat with Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times about "mythbusting" at GDC today. Unfortunately, not many myths were actually busted -- other than the one we heard that everything at GDC is exciting! But Schappert did speak briefly about DLC, talking up the fact that Dragon Age: Origins DLC has made over a million dollars (and that was by November's count!). He went on to explain that digital distribution, in all its forms, earned $575 million dollars for EA last year, and the publisher placed its expectations for this year at $750 million.

"The fastest growing area of digital distribution -- and that includes subscriptions and microtransactions -- is downloadable content," Schappert said. "It's the extension of your current game through expansion packs and downloadable content."

GDC: EA's Schappert touts DLC as most profitable form of digital distribution originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: DLC, dragon-age-origins, Ea, gdc-2010, John Schappert

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EA's chief operating officer John Schappert had a fireside chat with Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times about "mythbusting" at GDC today. Unfortunately, not many myths were actually busted -- other than the one we heard that everything at GDC is exciting! But Schappert did speak briefly about DLC, talking up the fact that Dragon Age: Origins DLC has made over a million dollars (and that was by November's count!). He went on to explain that digital distribution, in all its forms, earned $575 million dollars for EA last year, and the publisher placed its expectations for this year at $750 million.

"The fastest growing area of digital distribution -- and that includes subscriptions and microtransactions -- is downloadable content," Schappert said. "It's the extension of your current game through expansion packs and downloadable content."

GDC: EA's Schappert touts DLC as most profitable form of digital distribution originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: DLC, dragon-age-origins, Ea, gdc-2010, John Schappert

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EA's John Schappert spoke on the sticky situation regarding Activision and Infinity Ward at GDC today, and rather than put a spin on what he said, we'll let the man speak for himself:

"I'm sure there's two sides to that story, I'm certainly not passing judgement," Schappert said. "On the human side, they're two great guys. I'm disappointed on a couple of fronts. I'm disappointed because I think Jason and Vince, on the human side, are two great guys. I know them personally, and they've done great things. And I think they're two of the best creative leaders in our space, and to think that they're going to be spending their future dealing with litigation and lawyers rather than crafting the next great experience."

"I don't think that's good for them," Schappert continued. "I don't think that's good for our industry. I think that's disappointing. I hope that they find a way to make games and focus on that during this period."

"I think the other disappointing thing is that, rivalries aside, Modern Warfare 2 is a great game," Schappert concluded. "It's the biggest launch our industry has seen, it's a great franchise. I'm putting my consumer industry fan-hat on to think that there could be some challenges -- what's the future of that franchise? I don't know what's going to pan out. I feel bad for Jason and Vince and the franchise itself because they're great leaders and it's a great franchise for our industry."

EA's John Schappert comments on Activision & Infinity Ward situation originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: activision, call-of-duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, Ea, gdc-2010, Infinity Ward, Jason-West, John Schappert, Lawsuit, Modern warfare 2, Vince-Zampella

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The shitcanning of Infinity Ward leads Jason West and Vince Zampella and the ensuing litigation that followed isn't just disappointing to Activision and Call of Duty fans, it's also a total bum out for high level Electronic Arts execs. More »
Tags: activision, Ea, Electronic Arts, game-developers-conference, gdc, Gdc10, Infinity Ward, John Schappert, Original

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EA Chief Operating Officer John Schappert dropped five tips for making money in the industry over the next three years on the D.I.C.E. audience today. Before getting to those, though, Schappert acknowledged that EA didn't give Dead Space or Mirror's Edge the marketing support those titles deserved. He confessed, "We could have done better and these titles deserved more." He referenced the Dante's Inferno Superbowl ad and the marketing deluge for Mass Effect 2 as examples of the kind of marketing the publisher should be doing for more of its games.

As for Schapper's tips:

1. Commit yourself to quality. (Okay, that's fairly self explanatory and definitely a motto all publishers should practice.)
2. Get more from your marketing. (In other words, don't do what EA did to Dead Space and Mirror's Edge.)
3. Invest in the future. (EA's pushing this one with its sweeping DLC and online strategy.)
4. Don't abandon your consumer base. (Digital distribution is important, but Schappert believes that discs aren't going the way of the dodo anytime soon. He warns, "Don't jump off that shiny disc too soon.")
5. Illegitimi non carborundum. (A polite translation might be: "Don't let the cynics get you down," even when things look really bad. A more colloquial expression of this phrase: "Don't worry, be happy.")

EA's Schappert shares five money-making tips originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: business, dice, dice-2010, Ea, Electronic Arts, John Schappert, Tips

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During this week's quarterly earning's report, EA COO John Schappert answered an investor question with a somewhat vague but potentially far-reaching comment regarding the publisher's future strategy for implementing online functionality into its games. "In fiscal 2011 [from April 31, 2010 to March 31, 2011], every one of EA's releases will have an online component, both downloadable content and online play," Schappert said, according to a VG247 report. CFO Eric Brown then cited Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network as the company's "most recent example" of how this plan might manifest.

The obvious question: Does the plan apply to all platforms, including Wii, DS, PSP, and mobile? Schappert clarified to Joystiq today: "My statement wasn't in reference to any specific platform as most of our titles are multiplatform and have different features per platform. Though you can expect our PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 titles to have very robust online features. Of course, depending on the title, this may extend to other platforms as well."

While this clarification is not exactly the firestarter statement one might interpret from Schappert's original comment, the plan still raises concerns -- based on recent experiences -- that EA games' online components could continue to induce headaches so long as they are tied to EA.com accounts and the issues that have arisen as EA has increased its DLC efforts. If the plan is to include online components in all EA games in the future, then the wrinkles need to be ironed out of Project Ten Dollar now.

Schappert clarifies EA's sweeping DLC and online strategy originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: business-strategy, cerberus-network, DLC, Ea, eric-brown, fy2011, John Schappert, mass effect 2, online, Project ten dollar

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Publisher Electronic Arts is a big, big fan of downloadable content. So much so that it's committing to featuring paid DLC and online play in every single title it releases during the company's fiscal 2011.

EA COO John Schappert said during the company's Q3 financial earnings call Monday that "every one of EA's releases will have an online component—both downloadable content and online play." That goes for Dead Space 2, the two Need For Speed titles, and Crysis 2, as well as Fighting Title and Action Title. Everything.

Looking at the publisher's FY 2011 line-up and its ability to sell all manner of post release content, that's not going to be a difficult fit for EA.

Don't be shocked if much of that digital distribution happens on EA's terms, on par with the Cerberus Network integrated into the recently released Mass Effect 2. Gotta keep those used copies off the shelf!

Tags: Downloadables, Ea, Electronic Arts, John Schappert

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Developer BioWare has a busy 2011 ahead of them, with a new Dragon Age title, Star Wars: The Old Republic and, according to EA execs "something far-reaching coming from Mass Effect" in early 2011.

Electronic Arts COO John Schappert added that "something far-reaching" from the Mass Effect franchise to the list of upcoming titles due in the fourth quarter of the company's 2011 fiscal year. That means something Mass Effect related arriving between January 1 and March 31 of next calendar year.

Could BioWare have Mass Effect 3 wrapped up by then? The developer's project manager Casey Hudson noted that they "definitely want to make 'Mass Effect 3' a fairly short turnaround." And, well, that would be fairly short.

BioWare could also have much more planned for owners of the recently released Mass Effect 2 or maybe even something for PlayStation 3 owners hungry for some Mass Effect. Whatever Mass Effect "something" EA has penciled in for next year, it won't be the end for the franchise.

Tags: Bioware, Ea, Electronic Arts, John Schappert, Mass Effect, Mass effect 3, Original, Top

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EA may be hurting, but there are still some bright spots, like when it announced Madden NFL 10's sales figures during its quarterly conference call with investors. The publisher revealed that the company "sold" 3.9 million copies globally, which isn't entirely accurate, as we've learned those are "sell-in" figures -- a fancy way of saying "shipped."

EA's John Schappert stated that Madden had a rough start in August, with sales down 19 percent from the prior year, but that it rallied up eight percent year-over-year in September, thanks to the PS3 price drop. The company claims that Madden 10 has sold five percent more than last year's iteration on PS3 and Xbox 360 combined, as of the end of September. Not shabby for a down economy!

Madden 10 has shipped 3.9 million copies originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Ea, Electronic Arts, John Schappert, Madden nfl 10, madden-10, Sales

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During a conference call regarding the company's 2nd quarter financial results, EA's John Schappert revealed that more than a dozen unannounced EA titles had been cut from production as part of its cost reduction plan.

Schappert called the move a "targeted cost reduction which will allow a greater investment in our hit titles and digital businesses." The reduction in titles, which Schappert later revealed to number more than a dozen, goes hand in hand with the closing of facilities and layoffs as part of the company's restructuring plan.

Schappert could not comment on which titles were cut, citing the difficulties inherit in announcing the cancellation of titles they had never announced in the first place. He mentioned reoccurring yearly titles, The Sims, and Hasbro titles as being the company's best-sellers, going on to say that anything that looks like it wouldn't measure up to the profitability of those titles had been cut.

"In a way, if you could array our title slate up...we've cut the bottom third of it."

Tags: Cancellations, Ea, financial-results, John Schappert, layoffs

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