Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello expressed some rather frank views about the social gaming sector at the Global Mobile Internet Conference Silicon Valley in California last week, including the blunt – if accurate – assessment that “consumers won’t pay for crap”.
“Bad entertainment ultimately will not prevail,” he added (via VentureBeat). “Be suspicious of entertainment companies — I lead an entertainment company — that start to talk about themselves on the basis of the terabytes of data they are moving around on the internet or on the basis of data-driven marketing analytics. I love data-driven marketing analytics. But great gaming starts with a great gaming experience and if you lose sight of that, you ultimately will not have a business.”
He also had what sounded like a pop at Zynga, saying, “It’s not a great game mechanic to grind for a half hour and then spam 500 of your best friends to get a shovel. That’s not entertaining.”
While all this may sound quite downbeat, Riccitiello nevertheless explained that he sees some light for the gaming sector, with consumers enthusiastic about quality gaming on mobile platforms. “The companies that are suffering will have another day,” he predicted.
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