“Working with EA has been phenomenal. They have offered their resources, which is a great approach to have from a pair of companies. We have really good communication, with a great staff in Redwood Shore, as well as Europe.”
TheGameReviews.com later discussed that fact that many CEOs of companies are somewhat disconnected from what’s happening on the ground and don’t truly play games. Therefore, they don’t really have a great understanding of development and are primarily concerned with what could make a profit. Matt responded to this by saying:
“What’s cool about Bioware, is that Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games level, and John Ricatello, all play games and you can actually tell they do. For instance, Ray and Greg will talk to Rick and I about our gamer score and actually razz us. They are constantly busy. I actually think you find that the most successful executives understand the product, no matter what the field. In fact, it is more important because there are a lot of nuances to understand. They understand the product and that’s where you get respect with your development teams, as well.”
He went on to say “If you walk in a room blindly and they feel you don’t understand games, you might as well just walk out. These guys live and breathe it and they want their staff to understand what they are talking about and not just be glomming it all over. It is just not a formula for success.”
Regarldless of what the press may say about EA, the company is not all doom and gloom. It seems from speaking to Matt that EA have learned from their mistakes and are letting the creative juices flow at ease in Bioware. With limitless resources and CEOs that actually play games this can only be a good thing. Also, more resources to help on developing games means better games for us, the consumers. Be sure to check back and read the full interview soon exclusively at TheGameReviews.com.
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