Game Industry Not Sheltered From Economic Downturn Afterall

Game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is laying off about 6 per cent of its work force to cut costs after posting a wider than expected quarterly net loss on Thursday. “Considering the slowdown at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said John Riccitiello, chief executive, in a statement. “Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular.” The company said it expects about $50 million in annual pretax cost savings as a result of the layoffs, which will amount to about 500 - 600 positions across all functional areas. Wow, if you use the 600 number that puts the average salary + benefits for these positions at $83,333! Globe and Mail story.

EA's Games For Dummies

G4's The Feed is reporting that Electronic Arts (EA) is making a series of videogames based on the "For Dummies" series of books. "Through an easy to navigate interface, the For Dummies titles teach players the skills to master a variety of activities, from Poker and Solitaire to brain training and Sudoku." The first title, Poker for Dummies, is apparently available now with more titles being rolled out in the coming months and in November the For Dummies series goes mobile with Travel Games For Dummies for the Nintendo DS. I wonder when the A+ Certification for Dummies will be complete?

Spore Creature Creator

If you are anxiously awaiting the release of Spore, as I am, you may be interested to know that you can get a bit of a leg up on your would be competitors. Electronic Arts has just released the trial version of the Spore Creature Creator tool, it's downloadable on both Mac and PC and enables you to create creatures for use within the game - when it's released in September. Check out this tutorial...

EA is also allowing you to pre-order at a number of retailers or at the EA store.

The Sims Tops 100 Million Units Sold

Electronic Arts, Inc. announced in a press release yesterday that The Sims have sold 100 million units globally since the games inception. "At this milestone, we want to thank players of The Sims everywhere for making The Sims such a worldwide phenomenon," said Rod Humble, Head of Studio for The Sims Label. Since 2000, The Sims has sold in 22 languages and 60 countries around the world and the milestone makes it the best-selling PC game franchise of all time, according to EA. Good on ya EA! but forget The Sims we want to see Spore!

EA Exploring Ad-based Games and Micro Payments

The BBC is reporting that Electronic Arts (EA) will release a free online version of it's Battlefield title later this year. In a statement, EA's Gerhard Florin said ""People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to North America and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play." Battlefield Heroes is geared for the masses with a more cartoon like feel and requires less horse power to play. Ben Cousins a senior producer with Dice the games developer told the BBC that ""We're removing all barriers to entry and we hope there is broader audience for the title. You will be able to play this game on grandma's laptop." For the gamers the Ads will not be intrusive, appearing not in game but on the website and on the front-end of the game. Players will be able to purchase items to customize their characters but will not be able to gain any advantage over other players through these purchases. It's a model that EA has been exploring in Asia and hopes to find success with in the North American and European markets. Seems to me that it's sort of the Wii philosophy of appealing to more players by making the games easier to play, according to the article "EA expected 95% of people who played the game never to spend any money."