Electronic Arts just announced the details of their deal to acquire developers Bioware and Pandemic and held a conference call for investors. Here's some of what EA's John Riccitiello and Frank Gibeau said:
* EA said "We are not in the open-world, Action Adventure or RPG World, where [Pandemic and Bioware] are leaders...We're throwing a little bit of a party over the opportunity to work with these companies."
* The two companies are "extremely strong studios with rich cultures, they will maintain autonomy and cultural independence." Ea's Label structure "allows us to 'Plug and Play' and maximize what they're good at while they reap the benefits of EA's organization."
* Ten original IPs are in the works to be released "4-5 a year through 2009, 2010, 2011."
* An unnamed Bioware MMO will be released "toward the end of that schedule."
* Several Wii and DS games are in development.
* EA used their acquisition of Maxis as an example of how they treat the developers they acquire. Pointed out that The Sims series paid for the purchase of Maxis many times over.
* "This is a good deal for us relative to timing... A lot of companies have difficulty with next-gen: Many indie developers did not succeed through the transition. So we're getting them after the [next-gen] transition." They are "post-risk."
* This is an "important part of their ongoing strategy. this was an opportunity that presented itself now."
* EA said "We are not in the open-world, Action Adventure or RPG World, where [Pandemic and Bioware] are leaders...We're throwing a little bit of a party over the opportunity to work with these companies."
* The two companies are "extremely strong studios with rich cultures, they will maintain autonomy and cultural independence." Ea's Label structure "allows us to 'Plug and Play' and maximize what they're good at while they reap the benefits of EA's organization."
* Ten original IPs are in the works to be released "4-5 a year through 2009, 2010, 2011."
* An unnamed Bioware MMO will be released "toward the end of that schedule."
* Several Wii and DS games are in development.
* EA used their acquisition of Maxis as an example of how they treat the developers they acquire. Pointed out that The Sims series paid for the purchase of Maxis many times over.
* "This is a good deal for us relative to timing... A lot of companies have difficulty with next-gen: Many indie developers did not succeed through the transition. So we're getting them after the [next-gen] transition." They are "post-risk."
* This is an "important part of their ongoing strategy. this was an opportunity that presented itself now."