Fate of New IP at EA

IG: Following the recent earnings announcement and cost reduction plan from EA, the publisher said it would now refocus on its core IP. Do you believe the days of EA introducing new IP like Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Brutal Legend, etc  are now dead?  Isn't that a major problem with today's traditional business model in the industry, that new IP and creativity get stifled?

Pachter: I don’t think that new IP is dead at EA, but think that it will be harder for internal proponents of new IP to get the projects approved.  EA is a business, and needs to behave like one, with rigorous return on investment criteria met before approval of new concepts.  Gone are the days of glory projects done to satisfy the egos of the internal developers.  From here on, I think EA will only release a new IP after careful consideration.  That doesn’t mean that Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge or Brutal Legend would have been killed, but means that they would have had a more difficult time getting approved.