Moore: Focus on innovation is paying off for EA Sports

Electronic Arts has said that its focus on innovation has begun to pay off, evidenced by critics awarding its latest titles the highest ratings of any sports games for the current generation of consoles.

Using Metacritic ratings, NHL 09, FIFA 09, PGA Tour 09, NCAA Football 09 and Madden NFL 09 have all scored over 81 on the site.

"Our laser-focus on innovation is paying off and we've gained a great deal of momentum over the past 12 months," said Peter Moore, president of the EA Sports.

"EA Sports has delivered the top two highest-rated sports games of the current console generation in the past month - NHL 09 and FIFA 09. Critics are taking notice of the innovation we're delivering to capture our core audience and captivate the masses with more approachable gameplay."

However, the first title in the recently unveiled EA Sports Freestyle sub-brand hasn't gone down so well with critics.

FaceBreaker, a boxing game aimed at a more casual audience developed by EA Canada, managed to only rate just above 50 on Metacritic.