So, EA are like the good guys now?

So I'm probably the last one to know that EA picked up Brutal Legend and did a heavy PR thing at the Spike videogame awards.  Wow - Spore, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Brutal Legend.  EA is betting big bucks on new IP!  Unlike certain play-it-safe #1 publishers who elected not to pick up Brutal Legend and don't spend money on a franchise unless it is nigh-guaranteed to make money.  Frankly, EA may be nuts, throwing all this money at new games.  But you've got to love them for it.  Their loss is our gain. 

Comments

[Mike Wilson]

Frankly I don't know what all the hubub has been about. When I look down at my shelves of current games, most of my favorites are EAs.

I've been doing this for more than 30 years and they've consistently been bringing engaging creative top quality product to market.

[Max Battcher]

It does seem a little weird that Activision and EA seem to have had some sort of meeting in the late 80s where they both agreed that at any given time there would be only one of them actually taking risks... Just imagine if gaming publishers had real competition... :P

[gman]

If you analyze the TRST data you'll see that while using licenses is the safest bet (more likely to make money than original ip), all the big money is in original IP or sequels to original IP (you can't make sequels unless you have original IP to make them from)

I guess you could say with big risks some big rewards.

[Adam]

Also, they're probably one of the more able publishers to do such a thing. I mean, they're fairly stable by being so big so it only makes sense to put some more money into riskier projects with possibly bigger rewards.

I say it makes financial sense to be more risky the bigger you are.

And also, to not put all your eggs in the same basket.

[Jeffool]

Indeed they have become the good guys, and I, like most people, have been lauding John Riccitiello for the leadership here.

Of course, gamers require a target for their rage, and that role was quickly filled by another insanely huge company that will remain nameless. Though, Max is on to something.