In a press release, Spike TV announces that they will air an exclusive broadcast of EA’s 2011 E3 showcase event in an exclusive “Game Changers: EA 2011 Preview”. This one-hour special will premiere on Monday, June 6 at 3:30PM ET/ 12:30PM PT on SPIKE TV. Spike TV is the number one network for video game programming and today announced the exciting news that they would be teaming up with Electronic Arts for this exclusive, live commercial-free broadcast of the 2011 showcase event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 is the gaming industry’s leading trade show and it’s not open to the public. But now you can see everything that happens at E3 from your TV set at the comfort of your own home. Broadcasting from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, Gamechangers: EA 2011 Preview, so be sure to book it on your calendar and be ready to catch… 3a372s
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Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
The next 12 months will prove to be very important to Electronic Arts (EA). While they had many things to be happy about in their recent company earnings call, they will also be held able over the next year to many predictions and investments. Gamasutra reports that the next 12 months could make or break EA. There are a lot of things working in the favor of EA but it’s too soon to start celebrating victories. While their revenues and earnings per share were higher than expected, and they reported a shift to a more aggressive stance at several fronts, there is still room for things to go wrong over the next fiscal year. CEO John Riccitiello said, “We’re shifting to offense and running plays no other company can,” which is a big promise they have to hope they can hold up to. They are going in…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Could a Mass Effect MMO beat out TOR when it comes to profits? In a recent investor’s note, Mike Hickey predicted that a hypothetical Mass Effect MMO could make more money for Electronic Arts than Star Wars: The Old Republic will. But is this really shocking news? First, the ME franchise has done really well for EA and there is a historical weakness surrounding Star Wars games, which is part of what Hickey made his predictions based on. This is due in part to the fact that royalties have to be paid on all Lucas Arts titles and themes. Hickey said, “Looking forward, we believe BioWare could develop an MMO based on their highly successful Mass Effect franchise, which should have a considerably better (relative Star Wars MMO) margin profile, given the dilutive nature of the LucasArts royalty.” But of course, there is more that goes into making a great…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
According to Wedbush Securities analyst – Michael Pachter, the development costs of Star Wars: The Old Republic, could exceed $80 million, especially if you factor in all the marketing and distribution costs. “The contribution from the Star Wars MMO is significant. Under the of its deal with LucasArts, EA is required to pay a royalty, but was required to front all of the development, marketing and distribution costs, as well as the costs of building out servers for the game. We estimate that LucasArts’ share is 33% of revenues, AFTER EA recoups its investment in game development. Given that the game was in development for over four years, with an estimated 200 full-time developers working on it, we estimate that EA’s investment exceeds $80 million,” EA has mentioned that it doesn’t need a whole lot of subscribes to make all that profit back and by having about 500,000 subscribers…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Electronic Arts Q4 Earnings Live Blog. At 2:00PM PDT (5:00PM EDT) today, Electronics Arts gave their quarterly call for investors to report results. I ed the call as a member of the media and got the inside scoop on what’s happening with EA. There was a lot of great info in this call so I’m bringing you the highlights right here. First, they reaffirmed that Star Wars: The Old Republic will ship in CY 2011. Additionally: Star Wars: The Old Republic will be launched as a Digital Service. Subscription revenue expected to rise with the launch of SWTOR. SWTOR was mentioned as a Subscription based MMO Over 1 million testers (signed up) Server infrastructure for Star Wars: The Old Republic is a significant FY12 cost investment. There was also an interesting Q&A involving SWTOR: Question: On the beta test for SWTOR, how long can a test like that last before…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
BioWare is working on a new secret project that might now be slightly less secret, at least according to some reports that say an entry on Microsoft’s PartnerNet service has leaked details about the game. “BioWare presents an adventure beyond your wildest imaginings – fantasy role playing action adventure in space!” The mysterious title reportedly appears on debug Xbox Live with an image and the above description. BioWare fans are all abuzz about what this new “project Zulu” might be. It appears to be episodic and does not appear to have multiplayer or co-op modes. The first episode is referred to as “Episode One: Too Many Cooks: Spoil the Broth” and there is a teaser to the second episode as well- “Episode 2: Another fun adventure to and play.” Various sources are reporting that a new BioWare title, ‘Project Zulu’ has appeared on the development version of Xbox Live…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Electronic Arts Inc. will release its financial results for the fourth quarter fiscal year 2011 after the close of market on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. In conjunction with this release, Electronic Arts will host a conference call to review its financial results for the fourth quarter, discuss its outlook for the future and may disclose other material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Listeners may access the conference call live via a dial-in number or audio webcast. Hopefully investors will ask many questions regarding Star Wars: The old republic, and if we are really lucky, we might get one step closer a release day – One can dream! The conference call will be hold Wednesday, May 4, 20112:00 pm Pacific Time (5:00 pm Eastern Time) Webcast: http://ir.ea.com Press release: Electronic Arts’ financial results release will be available after the close of market on May 4, 2011, on Electronic Arts’…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
While EA’s Bioware is hard at work preparing Star Wars: The Old Republic, Electronic Arts might announce new MMORPG plans in near future. According to a job listing on industry website Gamasutra, Electronic Arts’ Redwood Shores suite of studios is working on an unannounced massively multiplayer online game, making me guess that a game will be Command & Conquer-based. Information regarding the position is a bit unclear at the moment. The Gamasutra Posting refers to an MMO Web Architect position, but the EA Jobs link at the bottom of the page redirects to you a Java Engineer position related something to their The Sims Universe. No further details about the project itself were given.
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
So it turns out Blizzard can not only produce a masterclass in MMOs, but also a masterclass in… class. Narrowly following comments by EA that World of Warcraft was in some respects like a shopping list, the Blizzard riposte was to wish their rivals well and remark on how a bigger pie means bigger slices for everyone, or something to that effect. Blizzard’s co-founder and Executive Vice President, Frank Pearce, tells MCV in an interview that, “This is a game that has an opportunity to grow the MMO market if done right and therefore is very important to the industry as a whole, not just EA. “We’ve talked about this internally and from our perspective we hope they make an enjoyable game because they’re going to bring in a lot of new players to the MMO genre, and those players’ idea of whether or not they like this type of…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
As we reported yesterday Chief financial officer Eric Brown reviled that around 1.5 million gamers have ed their interest in being part of a Star Wars: The Old Republic beta. … We’ve got well north of a million, million and a half ready to test for free,” he said of Star Wars the Old Republic beta. “We’re not that concerned about generating initial demand. For us it’s about creating the right experience, expanded beyond the tier one and the tier two s. You’ve got people that have never played an MMO before but are interested in Star Wars, to engage and give it a try. What’s really important to us is striking the right balance so that we serve the needs and demands, requirements of the core, pre-existing MMO subscribers. “They demand a lot of content, a lot of community, guilds are very important, special group activities, raids and things…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
During today’s Lazard Capital Markets Technology and Media Conference, EA CFO Eric Brown said that the firm would not release Star Wars: The Old Republic during the firm’s FY11. At the same time, he reconfirmed that it will be released sometime during calender 2011. “So we said it’s going to launch sometime in calendar, but not within Fiscal 11. So that basically pens down between you know, April 1st and December 31st of this calendar year. It’s also reasonable to infer that it’s not in our Q1 guidance. We gave Q1 Fiscal 11, Fiscal 12 non gap revenue guidance, minus 39 minus 44 cents and I think it’s not unreasonable to infer that it’s not included in that 90 day period.” So it looks like March-June is likely out, leaving a release date of July 1 at the earliest. Personally I belive it will be out some time this fall….
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
When it comes to “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” the folks at EA who are publishing the massively multiplayer online game clearly have their eyes on a very particular prize: “World of Warcraft” and its 12 million subscribers. EA wants those players to leave their online universe of orcs and elves for a new online universe filled with Sith and Jedi. And they seem to feel confident players are going to do so. And as “The Old Republic” launch nears, the game publisher seems to be stepping up the “WoW” vs. “Star” Wars” trash talk. In an interview with Industry Gamers this week, Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, suggested that “WoW” is an aging game and that playing it can feel like tending to a “shopping list.” “When I play ‘World of Warcraft,’ you go and get your quests, and you go and do your quests, but it feels…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Electronic Arts has retracted the Bioware Social Network ban on a who questioned if Bioware had ‘sold their souls to the EA devil’. As we wrote on Friday, the forum ban then rippled through Electronic Arts’ DRM system and blocked v_ware from being able to play Dragon Age 2 at all. ‘Now I’ve got a dead game for 50 euros,’ said v_ware at the time. Despite the fact that s repeatedly told v_ware that the ban was not a mistake and that the Dragon Age 2 block was in accordance with the of service, EA now claims that the extent of the block was a mistake. ”’Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended your entire EA .’ EA’s Senior Director of Customer , Boyd Beasley, wrote. ‘Immediately upon learning of the glitch, we have restored the entire and apologize for the inconvenience…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Yesterday a post appeared on the official BioWare forums containing a complaint from a gamer who says he was unable to play his recently purchased copy of the Signature Edition of Dragon Age II (from the EA Store) because his main forum (which is tied to his EA ) was suspended for 72 hours: So. My other got suspended yesterday for 72 hours. My suspended v_ware has all my Bioware games ed to it. My other games are Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening. I have played every game off Bioware since KOTOR, which is my favourite game of all time. Since I have these other games and off course have played the DA2 demo, my previously unlocked DA2 content is assigned to this . When I got the mail I was curieus. I wanted to know what I did that was offensive. The mail…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
In a presentation at an investment conference Tuesday afternoon, EA chief executive John Riccitiello noted some of the company’s up-coming releases for the year that he expects will boost the company’s share in two key areas of the video game market–first-person shooters and massive multi-player online, or MMO, games. EA has high hopes for Star Wars: The old republic expecting the game to come out sometime late in the calendar year 2011. Riccitiello compared the Star Wars: The old republic to “World of Warcraft,” the most successful MMO game in the market that is produced by Activision’s Blizzard unit. He praised “Warcraft” as one of the “greatest entertainment properties ever built,” but believes the “Star Wars” universe could topple it. “We want to take share,” he said of the MMO category. He added that SWTOR is being built on an improved technology platform that is going to look better than…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
This properly doesn’t meen anything for Star Wars: The old republic, but if you are an invester like me, monitoring insider trades is a very important component to successful investing. We think you should be aware of these insider sales from the first week of February: Kenneth A Barker, SVP & Chief ing Officer, sold $99,704 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 Stephen G. Bene, SVP & General Counsel, sold $707,087 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 Peter Moore, President, EA Sports Label, sold $264,152 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011 and Gabrielle B. Toledano, EVP, HR, Corporate Services, sold $89,408 worth of stock on February 3rd, 2011. Shares of (NASDAQ:ERTS) have increased by 10.26% year-to-date.
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
At last weeks conference call, we learned that Star Wars: The old republic needs 500.000 subscribers to be profitable. Apart from that, only small amount of new information came out. Now we get a new chance to gather information about the game, as John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts will present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in San Francisco. Here is the press release I found in my mail box this morning: Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in San Francisco, CA. During the course of this event, Electronic Arts may disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Listeners may access the presentation via a live audio webcast. Tuesday, February 15, 2010Presentation at 2:40 PM PT / 5:40…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
World of Warcraft may have more than 12 million subscribers, but that doesn’t mean Star Wars: The Old Republic needs to sur or even approach those sorts of numbers in order to be profitable. During a conference call yesterday EA CFO Scott Brown talked about the number of subscribers BioWare’s MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic need to be profitable – and according to his comments on a recent conference call: it’s 500,000. “”At half a million subscribers, the game is substantially profitable, but it’s not the kind of thing we would write home about,” he said. “”Anything north of a million subscribers, it’s a very profitable business.”” Tackling World of Warcraft is certainly a daunting task. Achieving one million subscribers, though? That’s not in any way a given, but it’s most definitely an achievable number for a quality MMO — especially one carrying the Star Wars name. Brown…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Electronic Arts has been named the leading games publisher for the second year in a row. The firm took the biggest share of the UK games market in 2010 in of revenue generated from games and units sold – as it did in 2009. Data from GfK Chart-Track revealed that Activision Blizzard and Nintendo took the second and third biggest share of the market in of value, while Ubisoft and Nintendo were the No.2 and No.3 publishers in of games sold. 2010 was also a bumper year for Microsoft as Xbox 360 took the biggest console market share. It took 35.2 per cent of the market in of value and 28.9 per cent of total retail game sales. To see the full charts and analysis, read the top publishers of 2010 list.
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello has announced that he thinks cloud-gaming is not necessarily the future, and that games issued on disc are still the best way for consumers to enjoy gaming. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Riccitello claimed that discs will be around for a long time to come as they are still the most practical and reliable way of accessing games quickly. “I think the consumer…doesn’t care what the technology is, what lives behind the veiled curtain; they just want it to work,” Riccitello said. He explained that streaming a game is often not the most efficient way of processing the experience. He pointed out that relying on an internet connection means that s would be unable to access games if their broadband was down and that there are lag issues with slower connections. “The point, though, that I’m making is that sometimes you’re not going to…
Soeren Kamper 6z1i23
In what amounts to a bit of publisher houscleaning, Electronic Arts has announced that it has entered into a new agreement with LucasArts that basically has EA taking over most of the publishing and marketing duties for the MMO Star Wars The Old Republic. Under the new agreement, LucasArts will continue to collaborate with EA and the game’s developer BioWare on the “design and marketing” for the game in addition to LucasArts’ basic role as the licensor of the Star Wars property itself. Financial of this new deal were not disclosed. BioWare and LucasArts first entered into an agreement to collaborate on Star Wars The Old Republic back in 2007 before the game itself was announced and just before BioWare was acquired by EA. The game itself was announced in October 2008. EA and Lucasfilm Ltd, announced today an updated global publishing agreement for the highly anticipated massively multiplayer…
Soeren Kamper 5g657
fear leads to anger. anger leads to hate. hate leads to suffering A soon to be former employee of EA Bioware/Mythic has written a very lengthy post on why he/she believes Warhammer Online has failed. I don’t really care much about the Warhammer stuff, as I left that game soon after it was released. But for us the most relevant bits are where the poster talks about Star Wars: The Old Republic. And, according to the poster, it isn’t pretty: And Bioware? Don’t make me laugh. They’ve spent more money making the Old Republic than James Cameron spent on Avatar. Shit you not. More than $ 300 million! Can you believe that? And you know what they’re most proud of? This is the kicker. They are most proud of the sound. No seriously. Something like a 20Gig installation, and most of it is voiceover work. That’s the best they have….