The Alphaville Herald

Jeff Brown: Let the weeds burn!

by Alphaville Herald on 29/08/04 at 11:25 pm

I don?t even bother with the ?Jeff Brown spouts off again!? headlines, because, well what else *would* he do. *This* time the Vice President for Corporate Communications for The Borg gave an interview to the BBC wherein, in the words of Clickable Culture, he ?simultaneously begs for pity and declares an apocalypse upon smaller publishers.? In one classic passage, the Borg spokesman said “We look at the transition [to new consoles] like a forest fire. It makes the healthy trees stronger, but burns away the weeds”. Translation offered by Clickable Culture: “We own the gaming industry, so don’t fuck with us.”

The BBC article is especially interesting in what it reveals about the EA business plan. In effect: stay with established games and film tie-ins, borg smaller game companies and suck them dry.

Here is a quote from the article, which I strong recommend reading it its entirety:

There is some debate as to whether innovation and creativity is suffering as game publishers become increasingly unwilling to back any project that lacks a built-in audience. A glance at the games charts in the UK shows that most of the titles in the top 10 are either sequels or tied to a film. Many have come from the EA stable, but it makes no apologies for sticking to a successful formula. “The franchise strategy is good for the company, investors and consumers as this is a hit-driven business,” said Mr Brown.