Gamertell

After the year Electronic Arts has had, the question of EA’s longevity bears asking and Ben Fritz is on the case at Variety’s Cut Scene blog.

Fritz reports on EA’s plans to cut $500 million from its operating expenses in fiscal year 2010, beginning in April 2009. Three high-profile games, Godfather II, The Sims 3 and Dragon Age: Origins are getting postponed even though they’re apparently just about finished. The publishing giant is concerned about marketing after a year in which Madden NFL 09 was the only title to crack the Top 10 in software sales. The Godfather game isn’t coming until sometime after the start of the 2010 fiscal year, The Sims sequel is moving from February 20 to a June 2, 2009, release date, and Dragon Age:Origins has received a “latter half of the year” designation.

EA’s new plan is reported to be fewer games, better marketing and an about face on its decision to largely ignore the Nintendo Wii. EA’s far from alone where that’s concerned, as numerous publishers figured that either Sony or Microsoft would win this round of the console wars. EA’s announcement that it will bring critically acclaimed but low-selling Dead Space to the Nintendo Wii is one of the first moves in that new direction.

The company hopes to kill two alien monsters with one stone here. EA’s initial lack of interest in the Wii hurt the company badly but so did new IPs Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge which failed to find audiences.

There are many Wii gamers clamoring for more “hardcore” fare so this new survival horror stunner fits that bill. Even if this trick works, EA will need to have a few more in its bag to turn things around.

Read [Variety] Also Read [Gamertell]