In a move that is sure to have disgruntled gamers everywhere celebrating the CEO of Electronic Arts John Riccitiello is resigning both from his position as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the company's Board of Directors.
For many in the gaming community, this does not come as a complete shock. Electronic Arts (EA) has drawn a large amount of criticism in the past few weeks for its poor handling of the beloved SimCity franchise. Though EA did not specifically reference the SimCity debacle in its statement to investors, the timing would indicate that this was the decisive factor in Riccitiello's resignation.
EA is the developer for SimCity, a franchise that for the longest time was a single-player game wherein players are able to design and run their own cities. For their latest release, SimCity5, EA tried to create a more interactive experience that would have all players build their cities online. The move was promoted as an attempt to make the game more social.
Many people among SimCity's fanbase simply didn't buy that line. Immediately there was a large backlash as people claimed that all EA was trying to do was ensure that illegally pirating the game would be next to impossible. EA denied these allegations by saying that there was no way for the game to run offline because the required calculations were too great.
Upon SimCity's release, online servers immediately experienced severe problems with hosting everyone who had bought the game. Many people were unable to play the game for long stretches of time, and others were never able to play it for any meaningful amount of time. EA soon offered an apology for the poor performance, even offering credits towards future purchases.
Then the situation got worse. A modder by the name of UKAzzer was able to successful get the game to run offline, only having to go online to save the game. EA's claim that offline play was impossible was proven to be a lie, and what little trust was left among their consumer base quickly dissipated. Since the game's debut, many people have taken to a boycott of all games from Electronic Arts.
Riccitiello will step down from his position on the last day of the fiscal year, March 30. It is not yet known who will replace him, but in the meantime the Board has approved Larry Probst to take over on an interim basis. Whoever the next man in charge is, he would do well to be honest and straightforward with his customer base. If this backlash is any indication, video gamers are a perceptive bunch who do not take kindly to being lied to.
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