February 25, 2008
EA seeks mature partner for fun and games
One interesting comment from this morning’s Electronic Arts conference call on its proposed take-out of Take-Two was on the subject of games for grown-ups.
“EA is notably underrepresented in M-rated [Mature audience] content, this gives us additional M-rated content, in fact it gives us the world’s best M-rated content,” said John Riccitiello, chief executive.
EA has focused on family fare, from its sports franchises to its Sims division and Harry Potter games, so one wonders whether it might water down and take some of the appeal away from Take-Two’s edgier titles.
In case you need reminding, Take-Two has appeared to actively court controversy at times to hype its games.
Manhunt 2, for example, was banned in Britain last year for its “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone “. It was given an initial Adults Only [18+] rating in the US rather than a Mature [17+] one.
Bully ran into trouble in Florida in 2006 when an anti-video-game-violence attorney Jack Thompson applied for a court ban on the playground bullying game.
Before that, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was taken off store shelves in the US in 2005 after a hidden sex scene was discovered.
Mr Riccitiello seems keen to take EA in this new direction, if not to the same extremes.
At this month’s analyst day, he talked up the merits of Dead Space, an EA entry in the sci-fi horror genre being developed at its Redwood Shores headquarters and due for release later this year.
Before then, he could turn the struggle for Take-Two into an M-rated contest itself if its management continues to resist the so-far friendly overtures.
