EA Sees 'Poor Returns' On 3D, Focuses On Social Instead

Electronic Arts has seen poor returns when allocating its resources to displaying its games in 3D, according to CEO John Riccitiello, who says that the company would prefer to use those resources focusing on social features. Speaking to company shareholders in a meeting remotely attended by Gamasutra, Riccitiello said that EA's business responds to the needs of consumers, and from what it has seen, consumers are not asking for 3D. "Frankly, we have not seen a big uptake for 3D gaming," he said. "We haven't seen a big uptake for 3D televisions in the home, at least not yet. And we're not here trying to drive the market, we're here to react to what consumers are looking for." Further, says Riccitiello, 3D games represented on a 2D display "provide the greatest entertainment experience," saying that for "a lot of us," the experience is more satisfying than a 3D display. "Right now we're seeing better growth focusing on a different technology innovation...online and social," he said. "We've seen really high returns here, and very poor returns focusing on 3D. So our allocation of resources have been toward the new innovations that are growing more rapidly." Nintendo this morning announced a dramatic price cut for its recently released 3DS handheld, which to date has had lower-than-expected sales for the company. Nintendo has admitted in the past that it had anticipated a higher demand for the product based purely on its 3D display.