Riccitiello: EA Needs To Ensure 2K's All-Pro Football Is 'Not Repeatable'

During the same Electronic Arts shareholder call which produced confirmation of The Godfather 2 and honest remarks on the Wii, EA's CEO John Riccitiello commented pointedly on the rivalry between the Peter Moore-helmed EA Sports and 2K Sports. Specifically, when asked what competitors Electronic Arts was particularly looking to - a request Riccitiello echoed as which companies "keep them awake at night", one of the firms singled out by the EA exec was Take-Two. Take-Two's 2K Sports division has just released All-Pro Football 2K8, the first football title from the company after Electronic Arts purchased exclusive rights to NFL teams and current players in 2005. All-Pro Football 2K8 has attempted to make itself attractive, despite the lack of license, by negotiating many individual deals with former NFL stars such as Troy Aikman and Jerry Rice, and Riccitiello commented of the move: "When you've got a competitor like Take-Two on the sports side, and they launch a football title using some of the industry legends, you want to make sure that ends up being a blip and is not repeatable, because we like to defend our franchises aggressively." It's unclear how Riccitiello intends to stop further titles in 2K's series - the implication may be that he just intends EA Sports football titles to be so relatively successful, compared to All-Pro Football 2K8, that it will not be profitable for Take-Two to produce the game in subsequent years.