In a very clear announcement of evil intent, EA’s John Riccitiello announced, in an investor conference call yesterday, that EA would be releasing only thirty titles next year, as oppose to this year’s sixty.  While this in and of itself isn’t necessarily evil, the selection process for determining which games get published is worthy of much sinister cackling; only games with "very high profit contributor and high unit seller" status will be published next year.  EVIL!

Presumably, this shift comes as a result of EA’s recent disastrous quarterly report, which showed a net loss of $391 million for the publishing giant, as well as the announcement of 1,500 layoffs company-wide.  Riccitielo also spoke of EA’s “core slate” of games that the plan to "iterate on an either annual or bi-annual basis ... all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition two million units or more."

After all the progress that EA has made in recent years towards gaining the respect and loyalty of the hardcore gaming world, it’s a shame to see them abandoning the culture of innovation that peacefully co-existed with their annual titles.  Games like Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and Skate all came out of EA’s new mindset, and with the exception of Skate, which sells very well, I wonder if we’ve seen the last of these franchises.  At least many of the annual games they produce have been consistently excellent.  Still, though….EVIL!

EA’s brief reprieve from internet hatred is now over.  Haters; resume your positions, making sure to not consider EA's stockholders, employees, or financial stability.

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