Better Know John RiccitielloIndustryGamers today is happy to present you with our next installment in our ongoing Better Know Q&A series. Our participant this round is EA CEO John Riccitiello, who took the time to reflect on his early career, his gaming habits, the future of the industry and more.
IndustryGamers: Before you joined EA in the late 90s, you worked at companies like Clorox, Pepsi, Sara Lee and Wilson Sporting Goods. What ultimately drew you to the games space, and does any of what you learned at your former non-gaming jobs help you today in guiding EA?
John Riccitiello: Those companies gave me a great education. I learned a lot in marketing, management and operations. I traveled a lot in Asia and lived in London, Paris, Dusseldorf and Nicosia, Cyprus – that gave me a solid understanding of international markets. But I was always a technology freak and I loved games. I also had a fair degree of experience with Sports having served as Wilson's CEO. When EA’s Chairman, Larry Probst offered the President and COO slot, I knew immediately I was going to love the job.
IG: Many executives in the industry don't really play games, but you have a reputation for being someone who does actually 'get' video games. Do you think that makes your job easier, and do you believe other executives should start gaming more?
JR: When I first came to EA, I played a lot of games but, frankly, I knew almost nothing about how they are made. So rather than just moving onto the executive floor, I spent a great deal of my time in the Studios. I spent a year running one of EA's studios -- the Redwood Shores Studio. I learned a huge amount in getting directly involved in the production of Tiger Woods, Madden, Bond, Lord of the Rings, NASCAR and Fight Night. That year – working inside the studio -- was critical. I don’t know how an executive can run a game company without an understanding of studio culture and process. Most important, I fell in love with the games we make.
IG: What would you say the proudest moment of your career is and what's your biggest regret?
JR: I've had the great honor to work with some incredible teams at EA and share in many of their proudest moments. When Visceral shipped Dead Space 2, I was incredibly proud. When our online team launched Origin — this was an amazing step toward an incredible future. When a great idea turned to a great business with FIFA Ultimate Team…that was another source of huge pride for me and the FIFA team. I was incredibly proud when EA Europe pushed through $1B in revenue for the first time. I believe that one of our proudest moments is coming a few months from now, when BioWare and LucasArts launch Star Wars: The Old Republic. Another good moment came in April, when EA reported that we had grown our digital business by 46 percent. When EA took leadership on the Apple platforms, when it was not expected, was another moment for pride for all of the team working in EA Mobile. When a small team in Redwood Shores created a team and launched Dragon Age Legends on Facebook. All incredible moments.
Many of these moments of pride did not come easy. We've had our nay-sayers. Navigating the digital transformation – changing games from a thing you buy to a place you go – that’s been our central mission at EA. It’s taken a lot of time and investment and frankly, it hasn’t been easy. We’ve gotten some grief in the media from people who don’t understand the mission. We’ve also lost a few employees who couldn’t stomach the transition. We’ve still got a long way to go – I’m not putting on a flight suit and declaring ”Mission Accomplished.” But that financial report in April was a good moment and it feels like everyone is starting to get it.
Regrets? Lets save that for another interview .
"Five years ago, I said that the industry had been making the same five games over and over. That pissed some people off – but it was true."
IG: Who is your biggest inspiration in the business world and why?
JR: I’d start with Steve Jobs. He and his team took on a huge challenge, and they too had their nay-sayers. And, look at what they've accomplished. Incredible. But that story has been told many times. Right now, I'd say Jeff Bezos at Amazon is right at the top of my list too. They've done so many innovative and bold things and come out on top. And, like with EA, they've had analysts and press saying it just would not work. Jeff proved that wrong, and his team right. Finally, Netflix’s journey from discs to online tracks closely to our mission at EA. Reed Hastings and his team have inspired us at EA.
IG: EA has a pretty good stable of IP, but if you had free reign and could pick any IP in the industry right now to add to EA, which would it be?
JR: I’ve got a lot of respect for game franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin's Creed, Nintendo's Zelda and Mario franchises, and even Angry Birds. And, it is no secret that I am a huge fan of Valve's Portal game(s) and the great games from Epic. And we have an EA Partners program to help independent developers get their games to large audiences – Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios and Reckoning and American McGee’s new game, Alice: Madness Returns – those are good examples.
But internally, I think we’ve got the IP we need to satisfy our consumers, investors and even our development teams. Our biggest initiative now is to extend our blockbusters onto multiple platforms. The Sims, Dragon Age, FIFA and most of the big franchises are now extending the console fun into new platforms like Facebook, iOS, and Android. That’s a really great career proposition for a game developer. Across this industry, many developers find themselves trapped on a single platform – a console, or just Facebook, just on mobile system. We’re creating a better career proposition for developers – we’re creating studios where you control the franchise – you can work on every platform from Apple's iOS to Facebook and from XBL to the PS3 and online MMOs to FPS. You can do it all at EA.
IG: Tell us something about yourself that most people in the industry don't know.
JR: Contrary to popular opinion, I did NOT spend $5000 in Dragon Age Legends on Facebook. Every time someone repeats that story it goes by a thousand dollars. True, I’m at the top of the leader board but I’ve got skilz -- I didn’t BUY my way up there.
IG: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently said, "Consumers like the current formats, but there is not enough creativity at the end of a cycle to really spark the business.” He thinks the longer console cycle is hurting the industry and he wants new consoles to come out now. Do you agree?
JR: Yves is right, there’s never “enough” innovation and we should always be setting the bar higher. What I don't agree with is the implication that we're waiting for the hardware guys to transition to help us realize the innovation. I think the greatest innovation in the history of gaming is occurring right now. It is happening in the cross-platform arena — where Publishers are linking the best IP from console to PC to mobile to social. This is hard to do, but it will change the way gamers interact with our IP. Five years ago, I said that the industry had been making the same five games over and over. That pissed some people off – but it was true. Since then we’ve seen an explosion of quality and creativity from publishers like Take Two, Ubi and EA. On top of that, we’ve got to acknowledge that platform partners like Nintendo, Facebook and Apple have given us enormous new canvases to work on.
IG: What does your future for the games industry look like?
JR: The future is here, and centers on creating a 24/7/365 experience and community behind the games you love. Big game franchises have evolved from the “one and done” model that released a new 15 hour experience ever 12-24 months. Games have evolved from a thing that you buy, to a place you go. The experience begins when players download a full copy of their game directly from a service like Origin. They register and create a profile to receive updates and track their scores and friend lists across multiple platforms. From that point forward, players will have access to new content and full levels on a regular cadence that takes the traditional 2-3 week game experience and stretches it out months if not years. Best of all, you join a community. Your profile follows you from PC, to mobile, to your tablet and to Facebook. Each platform offers a different experience for the game – but tracks your scores and your friends across the gaming universe. Anytime, anyplace – you can play, track your scores and see what your friends are doing. That’s the future of gaming.
