EA Swears Off “Licensed Trash”

In today’s edition of “Yeah, We’ll Just See About That,” gaming behemoth EA has decided to wean itself off the licensed crap it’s been known for coughing up. From here on out, it’s all about original titles and hard work says EA CEO John Riccitiello.

Nope, no more quick cash-ins. No more cranking out movie titles that sell on name only…sell so easily…oh, the delicious profits…so quick, so clean…we’re…we’re just going to stash this Beverly Hills Chihuahua license under the matress. Just…just in case of emergencies.

Needless to say, this isn’t the very end of EA’s licensed titles. Throwing away the Harry Potter license would be akin to Charlie Bucket throwing away the key to Mr Wonka’s factory of high-calorie wonders.

John Riccitiello agrees, albeit with more subtle words (from MTV Multiplayer:)

“Frankly I think that a lot of the intellectual property we create are better than the licenses. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for great licenses. We’ve had a 20-year partnership with the NFL. We’re incredibly proud of that. A 15-ish year partnership with the NBA. NHL, etc. But also we partner with J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers in bringing over the Harry Potter games to market and a great partnership with Hasbro — a lot of new stuff this year for the more casual consumer. There’s room for both. I think what you’re noticing is that in years gone by we haven’t had as many great, original intellectual properties. There’s a lot more of that this year from EA and I think from here forward.”

Licensed games aren’t a sin by any means. Some of the greatest games of my childhood were Capcom’s Disney-based titles, including Chip n Dale and Duck Tales. In my experience, today’s licensed games feel unfinished more often than out-and-out crappy. It’s like the development team cooked up great ideas that the programmers didn’t have time to test thoroughly before deadline slapped everyone like a dead fish from 5,000 feet.

With a little more care and a lot less of a frenzy to sell a game while it’s still on the marquee, there might be some licensed games worth buying once more.

(And unicorns bound out of my bum. Sigh…)

Image copyright EA