Tag Archives: John Riccitiello

Train2Game News Former CEO of EA takes over at Unity

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unity-logoUnity Technologies announced today that Co-founder David Helgason has stepped back from his role as CEO and welcomed John Riccitiello, former CEO of Electronic Arts, into the position. Helgason will continue at Unity as Executive Vice President in charge of strategy and communications.

John Riccitiello steps into the role of CEO of Unity Technologies having served on the Board of Directors from November 2013. Previous to his work with Unity, Riccitiello served as the CEO of Electronic Arts and co-founded investment firm Elevation Partners. He has also served as advisor to, and invested in, several startups including Oculus VR and Synertainment.

“I’m so proud of everything Unity accomplished in the last decade but now it’s time to look forward to an excellent future. Our mission is an important one, so I’m incredibly happy that John has agreed to lend his formidable experience to the role of CEO at Unity,” said David Helgason. “We’ve had the chance to work together over the last year-and-a-bit and come to recognize how similar our views are on the importance of the democratization of development to a thriving developer ecosystem and healthy games industry. We’re in great hands.”

“Unity has been a hugely positive force in the games industry for years. Now it’s my incredible fortune to have the opportunity to help guide Unity going forward.” said John Riccitiello. “Unity is more than a great engine or packages of services, it’s an amazing and diverse community of developers, many of which are changing the way we think about game design and production. Unity’s mission – to democratize development – is an important one that I’m very happy to help drive forward.”

Train2Game news: Star Wars: The Old Republic gains 1.7 million subscribers in first month

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Star Wars The Old Republic Train2Game blog imageTrain2Game Blog readers will have seen plenty of recent posts about MMO’s going free-to-play, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for subscription based titles.

The Evidence? BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained 1.7 million paying subscribers in the little over a month since the game launched.

The figures were revealed during an EA investors meeting, with other data including Star Wars: The Old Republic sees over one million unique log ins per day, with the average play session around the four hour mark.

“This great launch makes Star Wars: The Old Republic the fastest growing subscription MMO in history” EA CEO John Riccitiello is quoted by Develop in telling investors.

“We’re incredibly pleased to see this great game from BioWare off to a very strong start,” he added.

The Train2Game Blog spoke with BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka & Dr. Greg Zeschuk about the history of their studio  and how to get into the games industry towards the end of last year.

We also spoke in-depth to Star Wars: The Old Republic Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi during our trip to Gamescom last August. Train2Game students can find out the design process behind the MMO in this huge Train2Game Blog interview.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news on Star Wars: The Old Republic and BioWare.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the initial success of SWTOR? Are you a paying subscriber? Will the success last?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Develop/Gamasutra]

Train2Game students entering a “fundamentally changed” games industry

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Many Train2Game students are waiting in anticipating to hear news of the next generation of games consoles, but EA’s John Riccitiello believes the traditional console cycle is over.

While speaking to investors, the EA CEO argued that the games industry has “fundamentally changed” in recent years.

“Most of us recognize that the industry has radically changed and the pace of change has accelerated dramatically,” he said “Gone forever is the four-to-five year console cadence that gave developers ample time to invest and retool for the next big wave.

“Consider that just 18 months ago, there was no iPad, Google was just experimenting with Android and most big games were limited to a single revenue opportunity at launch. Consider that each of the major consoles now has a controller that encourages users to get off the couch and get into the action.

“On smartphones and tablets like the iPhone and iPad, the top paid apps are all games. Recognize that the fastest-growing revenue streams for console, PC, smartphones and tablets are all digital, and that EA is partnering with its retail and platform partners to help jointly grow these digital revenue streams.

“While the game industry has fundamentally changed, games are reaching a far larger audience base than ever before.

The Train2Game blog has previously reported that EA are committed to digital games, with John Riccitiello stating at the start of the year that digital distribution is set to overtake traditional retail this year.

Last month, the Train2Game blog also reported that Riccitiello believes the future of the games industry is already here

Train2Game students will surely agree with the EA CEO in that the games industry has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years, but has the traditional console development cycle come to an end?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: MCV]