indiegames
February 10th, 2010, 04:40
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/02/340x_custom_1265766699362_ea-logo.420.jpgTop-flight titles like Rock Band and Left 4 Dead are distributed by Electronic Arts but the association doesn't mean as much to the company's bottom line. The publisher will be moving away from distributing third-party titles in the coming year.
"While we have great relationships with our partners we are modeling a reduction in our distribution business as we concentrate on higher margin EA owned titles and digital initiatives," EA chief operating officer John Schappert said in yesterday's conference call.
Short-term, that takes $450 million of revenue off of EA's books. Long-term, it means they won't paying the freight on titles they didn't make.
No Rock Band games were listed in EA's upcoming key releases; in fact, all were in-house projects.
EA: Distribution Business To Be Pared Down, Headcount Stable In 2010 (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27157/EA_Distribution_Business_To_Be_Pared_Down_Headcoun t_Stable_In_2010.php)[Gamasutra]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/C0DCeIhn5s8
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/C0DCeIhn5s8/electronic-arts-scaling-back-third-party-distribution-plans)
"While we have great relationships with our partners we are modeling a reduction in our distribution business as we concentrate on higher margin EA owned titles and digital initiatives," EA chief operating officer John Schappert said in yesterday's conference call.
Short-term, that takes $450 million of revenue off of EA's books. Long-term, it means they won't paying the freight on titles they didn't make.
No Rock Band games were listed in EA's upcoming key releases; in fact, all were in-house projects.
EA: Distribution Business To Be Pared Down, Headcount Stable In 2010 (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27157/EA_Distribution_Business_To_Be_Pared_Down_Headcoun t_Stable_In_2010.php)[Gamasutra]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=C0DCeIhn5s8:XuBc22nLz7U:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/C0DCeIhn5s8
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/C0DCeIhn5s8/electronic-arts-scaling-back-third-party-distribution-plans)