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Analyst: Tiberium Cancellation Damages EA's Credibility

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey is concerned at Electronic Arts' recent Tiberium cancellation, noting that signs of ongoing quality issues at EA's studio "damages new management’s credibility and dampens our excitement for the company’s shares."

Leigh Alexander, Contributor

October 8, 2008

1 Min Read
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While Electronic Arts says it recently canceled Command & Conquer FPS Tiberium because its quality just wasn't up to snuff, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey suggests such moves may be cause for concern. "Continued lack of management execution and/or product quality, damages new management’s credibility and dampens our excitement for the company’s shares," says Hickey. At the time EA canceled the title, which had been in development at its EA Los Angeles studio, the company declined to disclose how much money it had invested and said it had no plans to specify its losses from the aborted project. Hickey expects EA to lower its expectations for its fiscal year performance -- nonetheless, the analyst says he's still "cautiously positive" on the company's prospects, expecting strong performance from Warhammer Online and encouraged by new IP like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter adds a different opinion on what the cancellation might mean for EA -- he says canceling Tiberium actually adds credibility for the publisher as far as concern for game quality. "Canceling a bad game goes a long way toward preserving the quality of the overall lineup," says Pachter.

About the Author

Leigh Alexander

Contributor

Leigh Alexander is Editor At Large for Gamasutra and the site's former News Director. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Slate, Paste, Kill Screen, GamePro and numerous other publications. She also blogs regularly about gaming and internet culture at her Sexy Videogameland site. [NOTE: Edited 10/02/2014, this feature-linked bio was outdated.]

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