EA: No more "crappy" licensed games

EA's CEO, John Riccitiello, has hit out at poor quality licensed titles, saying that the company is aiming to do different and innovative things with new games, and that while Metacritic might not be the best judge, he knows a good game when he sees it.

"I don't actually believe EA is in the business of exploiting other people's licenses with bad quality games," he told MTV Multiplayer. "We've been there. Most of our competitors are there or have been there. That's not what we do. We're not really after that market.

"Now Metacritic isn't always the best quality measure for some licensed games, but I know a good game when I see it. My team and our developers know a good game when we see it. The products we're putting out this year from Hasbro - I don't know how they're going to do with Metacritic, but they're innovative, they're different.

"We've got the first E-rated shooter with our Nerf game. What we're doing with our Family Game Night, what we're doing with Littlest Pet Shop - really cool stuff - what we’re doing with Sims really cool stuff.

"It feels like it's demographically similar but it's very highly innovative. I think what redeems our industry is quality, and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game. That's not what we're about."

In the past year EA has embarked on a restructuring process that has seen the company divided into several separate labels, including one for casual, and one for The Sims franchise.