Peter Moore: 'I Know I Pissed Off a Lot of People'

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Peter Moore: 'I Know I Pissed Off a Lot of People'
Pulling Madden 09 from the PC has proven to be quite unpopular but EA Sports head Peter Moore says he did what he had to. He also firmly believes in the "PC gaming renaissance" still.
Posted by James Brightman on Tuesday, April 29, 2008


As part of a lengthy interview with GameDaily BIZ, EA Sports President Peter Moore once again addressed the lack of Madden NFL 09 on PC and his general thoughts on the PC gaming market.

Moore made headlines in early April when he revealed on his blog that EA Sports had decided to can the PC version of this year's Madden. At the time, Moore acknowledged that EA was seeing some "serious business challenges" on the PC.

In the interview, Moore clarified, "It's been very challenging for us over the past few years. People took some of what I said out of context – 'serious business challenges on the PC.' Well, the sentence actually [says] 'for the sports category on the PC.' And – rightly or wrongly – we've built sports games to take advantage of the plasma televisions, and the new hi-def experiences that people are having in their homes. We've also built them to be very social. So whether it's playing online, or equally likely, two or four of you in the room together, the PC business has just...waned."

One of those challenges has been piracy. That's something that has unfortunately affected many developers and publishers in the PC games market. "Piracy's a big issue on the PC. I can't turn a blind eye to the fact that it's very difficult for us...and we lose money making a game. At some point, I have an obligation not to bring out products that lose money," Moore noted.

Ultimately Moore said, "I know I pissed off a lot of people, but I made a business decision, and the team's made a business decision that we need to reset what we're thinking about the PC right now, and maybe come back to market with a very different idea and approach next year, but we have do what's right for our dev teams."

Interestingly, Moore also said that he still stands by his "PC gaming renaissance" comments that he made (while at Microsoft) before Vista launched. "But sports is not playing a huge role in that renaissance," he added. "Look at World of Warcraft, look at the great games – Crytek with Crysis – there are a ton of great PC games. But...the PC is always a two-foot lean in experience. And I truly believe that the best way to enjoy a sports game is ten-foot lean back. That's just the way sports should be enjoyed."

Be sure to check out the full interview for much more insight into Moore's views on the sports business and the evolution of EA Sports as a brand.