Among other interesting tidbits is the pronouncement of the Sims Online as a failure – it only has 10,000 subscribers! Given the enormous development costs associated with it, it may wind up being perhaps the most costly project in EA history.
I don’t think the author knows what he’s talking about. That article struck me as the piece of someone who’s pulled together 20-30 other articles and lifted facts and ideas from them.
The guy says EQ has 250,000 players, which would be a dramatic drop in numbers since last we heard, says Sims Online has only 10,000, another dramatic drop (but more believeable to me). He says the game industry is poised to rival Hollywood revenues, but then says “…in game-happy Japan and Korea there are reports of declining software sales”, spells Infogrames as Infogrammes, etc.
Not to mention the quoting of John Riccotello, the bastard who drove EA.com (as well as my job) into the ground harder than a ballistic missile falling back to earth. I really, really hate that guy.