Pachter "kidding" about EA's Riccitiello being worried about job security
The Wedbush analyst talked with the EA CEO about the company's falling stock price
In a talk at the Develop Conference today, CVG and other outlets quoted Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter as saying that EA boss John Riccitiello is worried about getting fired. Pachter has since clarified to GamesIndustry International that he was "quoted 'accurately' but was kidding."
Pachter had told the Develop audience that he recently met with Riccitiello, and Pachter noted, "He's worried about being fired and worried why his stock has hit such a low point."
"I told him, 'John, the reason why this is happening is because you are in the fifth year of a three-year turnaround'," Pachter continued.
Apparently, Riccitiello and other major publishers had been anticipating new consoles to come out by 2011, but as it turns out, this console generation is already in its seventh year and the folks at Sony and Microsoft aren't even ready to talk about new hardware yet. Some believe that this prolonged console generation is a big mistake.
It's certainly not helped out publishers like EA. Riccitiello thought that new consoles by 2011 would stimulate the market and EA's business. Instead, EA's stock is near its lowest point in a decade.