EA: Digital Market One Year from Dominance
CEO John Riccitiello says casual digital market earned EA $138m in last quarter alone.
Riccitiello, preparing to kick your ass.
Beware digital download naysayers - the business model is to swiftly overtake traditional game consoles next year and grab the biggest slice of the games market.
Those are the words of Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, who spoke to Reuters about the future of the company and the focus on game content. In the interview, Riccitiello said that EA’s digital initiative earned $138 million in the last quarter alone, which would have made it “the darling of Wall Street” had it been a standalone company.
He told Reuters that consumers tend to forget about online browser games such as those found on Facebook, WarHammer Online, subscriptions and micro-transactions, claiming that “it’s almost half the industry now. It’s about 40-45 per cent. Next year it’s likely to have a larger share in the entire industry, bigger than all the console games put together.”
The amount of revenue EA has pulled in is impressive given that the company only commands 4-5% of the digital market, a far cry from its position in packaged goods. “It’s not tough to compete, it’s just new to compete in that sector,” Riccitiello declared.
“We're building it very quickly and our goal at Electronic Arts is to have a very profitable packaged goods business, but also to have a digital business of a similar scale over time.”
Following its acquisition of Playfish recently, EA could be poised to bring more casual online game studios under its wing, but Riccitiello said the traditional games market isn’t in their vision for future takeovers. “We're constantly trying to conquer new territory in particular on the digital side, so when you ask about deals, we're mostly looking at the digital side.”
Those are the words of Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, who spoke to Reuters about the future of the company and the focus on game content. In the interview, Riccitiello said that EA’s digital initiative earned $138 million in the last quarter alone, which would have made it “the darling of Wall Street” had it been a standalone company.
He told Reuters that consumers tend to forget about online browser games such as those found on Facebook, WarHammer Online, subscriptions and micro-transactions, claiming that “it’s almost half the industry now. It’s about 40-45 per cent. Next year it’s likely to have a larger share in the entire industry, bigger than all the console games put together.”
The amount of revenue EA has pulled in is impressive given that the company only commands 4-5% of the digital market, a far cry from its position in packaged goods. “It’s not tough to compete, it’s just new to compete in that sector,” Riccitiello declared.
“We're building it very quickly and our goal at Electronic Arts is to have a very profitable packaged goods business, but also to have a digital business of a similar scale over time.”
Following its acquisition of Playfish recently, EA could be poised to bring more casual online game studios under its wing, but Riccitiello said the traditional games market isn’t in their vision for future takeovers. “We're constantly trying to conquer new territory in particular on the digital side, so when you ask about deals, we're mostly looking at the digital side.”
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