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According to Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian EA is likely to cut franchise titles and staff as part of ongoing cost-cutting measures, Gamasutra reports.
“Specifically, we believe several EA titles are tracking below plan at retail this holiday, including Need for Speed Undercover (with disappointing reviews), new franchise Mirror’s Edge, and Rock Band 2,” said Sebastian who lowered his estimates for the company’s third fiscal quarter revenue from $2.14 billion to $2.07 billion.
Sebastian added that the poor performance by the aforementioned titles was somewhat made up for by “solid sales” of Dead Space, FIFA 09 and Left 4 Dead.
All this means that Sebastian feels “greater uncertainty” in EA’s product slate for 2009, including the Rock Band franchise and the publisher’s EA Casual label.
“We believe further cost and franchise reductions are likely,” said Sebastian. “Importantly, we believe EA is continuing to review its cost structure and franchise base, and it is possible that management will announce further cuts in headcount and the development pipeline (including existing franchises) over the coming quarters.”
All this means that we’re much more likely to see a new entry in the Dead Space franchise than a new instalment of first-person platforming.
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