La Cosa Nostra costs EA $800 mil
by Ken Weeks 
{ Mar 19th 2006 at 11:00PM }
The
Financial Times reports that delays to The Godfather have cost EA a cool $800 million in stock value. Meanwhile,
pricing pressures due to the launch of our beloved console have resulted in a $10 price cut for the Xbox and PS2 discs
releasing this Tuesday. I appreciate EA taking forever and a day to spruce up the 360 edition if that's what it
takes (even if Coppola thinks it's crap). But by the time we see a next-gen version of Vito late this year, this thing
of their's will have been played more times than an FBI wire tap. If it's not the...uh...Godfather of video games, the
corporate dons at EA could wake up with the financial equivalent of a bloody horse head.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mack Hill @ Mar 19th 2006 11:39PM
EA did not take a hit in in of itself, its stockholders took a hit...that means investment banks, hedge funds, individual holders, some of the top execs, etc. Now EA will have to create more shares for any needed future financings Via stock, as the value is not as high...the article is simplistically misleading.
Chris Graber @ Mar 20th 2006 6:16AM
Shareholders own EA, therefore EA took a hit we can be talking about Shareholders. Most employees also own EA stock (not just execs) because of 401K plans, etc. . .
Thats not the point though. . the point is that Coppola is right. This game will, most likely, be total crap. Wired has an interesting article this month, and it hits right at home here. Movies and Games are different and when people try to make games that feel like movies, you get bored players. . .
Crazyglues @ Mar 20th 2006 9:26AM
Ok first off let me say - this thing of their's will have been played more times than an FBI wire tap. - That is a nice line... this is what i'm talking about, I don't know who wrote this but this is the kind of writing I want to see.
All I would add to this is the stock ticker (ERTS) for those of us who like to buy stocks, and may see this as an opportunity to buy.
However before you rush out and call your broker... keep in mind game stocks are not always a good thing... Acclaim comes to mind - bought that sucka at $2 dollars a share then the latest turok came out, worst game in history (well almost) and the stock and the company went under.
So on that note, the problems with turok where huge but the problem with Godfather and games like it (movie games) is, the movie companies only see the money so when it's time to make the game it usually sucks.
And when they do take the time to make a good game based off the movie they forget it's surpose to be a game. (you know fun to play, they seem to forget that fact)
EA makes some great games so I hope they have found a way to make this a good movie version that remembers it's a game. Only time will tell.
Mack Hill @ Mar 20th 2006 10:31AM
No that IS the point, this article makes it sound like EA is 800 million dollars poorer now, which is not true, their cash reserves are not affected by stock price....
graf1k @ Mar 20th 2006 9:27PM
To say that The Godfather game is the single reason that EA's stock is down almost $800M total is really stupid. How about EA spending like $400M to the ESPN and NFL exclusivity rights. Or maybe that their latest batch of sports games have been ass. Or the under supply of Xbox 360s at launch (if you don't have the console, why would you buy the game). Not to mention almost every game publisher's stock went down over the last fiscal year.
But no, it's all The Godfather's fault.... *rolls eyes*