Peter Moore unconcerned about retail disappointments
EA exec predicts rash of underperforming launches for new packaged games will be followed by upbeat news of Black Friday sales
There hasn't been much good news coming out of the retail games industry in the UK and US lately, but Peter Moore isn't worried. Speaking at the Credit Suisse 20th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference today, Electronic Arts' chief competition officer brushed aside concerns when asked if the release of new hardware like the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S was sapping dollars from the holiday software lineup.
"I take a long-term view," Moore said. "If there are dollars being invested in hardware, that is great for the industry long term. I don't worry as a video game executive about what's happening this week, or this month, or this quarter. I'm actually enthused if this mid-cycle refresh, which is unique and exciting to us in the publishing business, allows this generation to continue much longer and at a much higher rate than maybe it previously [did].
He added, "The numbers we have seen reported publicly obviously don't take into account digital, and we're seeing continued strength in digital. And we're going to see in the next few days I'm sure, some of the results of Black Friday... And I think, without giving the game away, I think we're going to be comforted, if not pleasantly surprised. But I'm optimistic, and certainly at EA we're not changing our guidance whatsoever."
When asked about the steep level of discounting on some AAA releases around Black Friday, Moore noted that such promotions are planned out months in advance, oftentimes before the games in question have even launched. He also added that given the current games-as-a-service model embraced by the industry, every copy of a game sold brings with it the opportunity to generate plenty of extra income down the line, which could be used to justify deeper cuts than the industry might have seen for successful games in the past.
As for EA launching Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 just a week apart, Moore downplayed the suggestion that one title cannibalized the other, again emphasizing a long-term view over the results of any given sales period, even the game's launch week.
"One thing we do incredibly well is take a great title like this and leverage it for many years to come," Moore said after pointing to the positive critical response to Titanfall 2. "We're going to be selling Titanfall 2 on a global basis for many, many years."