AfterDawn: News

EA's sales drop 25%

According to Bloomberg News and Joystiq, Electronic Arts, one of the world's largest video game publishers, had their sales drop 25% in February compared to the same month last year. Around the industry however, sales rose 28%.

EA, just like some of its competitors such as Take Two and Activision, underestimated Nintendo Wii sales and are now paying the price. There are now over 3 million Wii owners in the U.S. and Japan and EA is finally beginning to rush games out for the console.



EA has begun redeploying their resources towards Wii games and in the long run the Wii may be their saving grace. An analyst for game publishers has stated that Wii games cost just $2-5 million to create, while games for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 can cost as much as $30 million.

We hope EA and other publishers take time to make sure these games are done right and not rushed solely for profit.

Source:
Joystiq

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 9 Apr 2007 19:32

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• 8 comments

• oofRome

  I wish Wii games wouldn't cost $50, either.
  
  Though now that I mention it they do drop faster than other consoles. At least it seems that way.
  
  Anyone know more about this?

  9.4.2007 21:13 #1

• Blasph3my

  Maybe if EA put out creative original games they might not drop in sales, all [most] of their games are remakes, rehashed versions especially in the sport game area.

  10.4.2007 01:23 #2

• ZippyDSM

  as one of the dark lords of gaming(pub/dev conglomerate) I wish they would put more polish in their games but I have a feelign they will do the corporate shuffle blame the consumer and raise prices so they can get more moeny from the people that buy new games...
  
  If EA wants to do WII games becuse they are cheaper to do thats all well and fine however if they refuse polish and refine the controls of WII games then whats the point?
  
  
  oofRome
  if you want to save moeny buy used or discount I just got God of war new for 14 with shipping,only a few games are worth full price.
  I have had more issues in my years of buying new from chain stores and their online fronts than buying from ebay,amazon and random online places..

  10.4.2007 03:38 #3

• mark5hs

  I agree with Zippy. I havn't paid $50 for a game in maybe 3 years. Games always drop in price within a few months.

  10.4.2007 04:29 #4

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by mark5hs:I agree with Zippy. I havn't paid $50 for a game in maybe 3 years. Games always drop in price within a few months.
  ======================================================================
  its ridiculous aint it? 3-8 months and boom the game is nearly half price even collector tins they seem to be scrambling in the last year to stop used PC game sales in retail chain stores if they would meet the consumer half half and knock 25% off the over stock new games that wont sale.

  10.4.2007 04:33 #5

• spydah

  I hope this article hits EA and make them put better quality in their games. They focus to much on back round details more then the quality in how the games plays and the characters move and fixing glitches and so forth i could go on for days. I just think they got to big for their self and forgot why people liked their games. All of their sports games have falling off horribly especially Madden and Live. Those 2 used to be my favorite games but not anymore.

  10.4.2007 04:49 #6

• Ragnarok8

  Doubt it, the article says their losing money because they didnt invest in Wii games so they have no new reason to look at the quality of their game.

  10.4.2007 04:51 #7

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by spydah:I hope this article hits EA and make them put better quality in their games. They focus to much on back round details more then the quality in how the games plays and the characters move and fixing glitches and so forth i could go on for days. I just think they got to big for their self and forgot why people liked their games. All of their sports games have falling off horribly especially Madden and Live. Those 2 used to be my favorite games but not anymore.I doubt it, revolution in corporate setting comes top down, if the suits can get by saving a dime to give the CEOs more pay they will.
  
  quality control is more damage control can this game sale enough before word spreads it sucks or the initial rush/MSRP falls off....
  
  All the corporations need to see they need to put more polish in their craftsmanship however I see them not caring abotu overall qaultiy of the product and focus on making the buying consumer pay more.

  10.4.2007 04:56 #8