In speaking with Gamasutra earlier this week, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello discussed the company's increased focus on the Wii and working towards the company's turnaround from the financial troubles EA saw last holiday season in an overcrowded HD console market.

In an announcement made by Peter Moore at their E3 press conference last week, EA Sports Active had sold 600,000 units worldwide in its first two weeks. According to Riccitiello, "The number one platform is expanding the market and growing. Having a lead position there seems like an obvious thing to do." The company also believes it has found what is needed to succeed on the Wii, in trying to optimize games with the Wii's control system. That idealogy is on display with games such as the upcoming Harry Potter title and the Wii MotionPlus-enabled Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. Riccitiello believes that Nintendo is not failing to support the third party, by also noting that if Nintendo were a third party, they would become more of a direct rival to EA, and that "Nintendo isn't trying to dominate the platform -- they're trying to have their platform dominate the world. It's a different objective."

Also discussed was how this was key to EA's turnaround by focusing on three aspects: the quality, the Wii, and direct-to-consumer business models. As noted by Riccitiello: "When we hit the wall last year, in a weird sort of way I think it was an opportunity to right the cost structure all at once." He also goes on to state that the current economy would have a permanent effect on the consumer for the games industry, and that developers need to start focusing on business models that were previously either minority or emergent. He predicts that only 50% of total revenue will come from software, with the rest coming from subscription/microtransaction models, mobile downloads, and PC and casual gaming.

Despite Nintendo's overwhelming success, questions often linger over whether the proliferation of Wii has benefited third parties nearly as much as it should, as publishers appear challenged to make regular hits on the platform.

Like many publishers who felt the sting of an overcrowded holiday 2008 on the next-gen platforms, Electronic Arts has made an increased focus on Wii a core component of its product strategy for 2009. EA's efforts have already begun to bear fruit, with the 600,000-unit launch of EA Sports Active on Wii.

"That's our best launch so far on the Wii," EA CEO John Riccitiello tells Gamasutra. "It's the first time a third party has been number one on the Wii platform two weeks in a row."

It's clear why this is an important success: "The number one platform is expanding the market, and growing," says Riccitiello. "Having a lead position there seems like an obvious thing for us to do."

Akira_EX via gamasutra.com »