EA Exposes “Cult” of Game Reviewers

Or at least that’s what Electronic Arts’ CEO John Riccitiello would have us believe. In an interview on gameindustry.biz, Riccitiello expressed concerns about the Metacritic scores of some of EA’s upcoming games. Who’s to blame? Cults, apparently.

In his own words: “EA doesn’t usually get the benefit of the cult - ‘everybody has to rate it a hundred’ thing going on - that happens sometimes even when they may not, based on the review, have played more than the first fifteen minutes of the game. But that’s a separate issue.” I’m assuming the “cult” that Mr. Riccitiello is referring to is some fictional group of elite game reviewers out to spread the message of successful games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, and Resident Evil 4, regardless of their actual quality. Never mind the fact that games that seem to be getting these high scores are genuinely well made and fun to play.

In all fairness though, sequels to successful games, such as the 4’s mentioned above, do usually receive high marks–sometimes even higher marks than the written review would have you believe. A logical reason for this is that reviewers were impressed with previous titles in the series and have a positive opinion prior to playing the game. Sadly, in EA’s case, the inverse is also true. If a reviewer had to sit through the crap-sandwich that was Madden ‘06 for the Xbox 360, then they probably won’t be too forgiving when Madden ‘08 has a couple of flaws, even if the overall game is significantly better.

Reviewers are human, and as such they have their own opinions and preconceived notions. But what makes reviewers different from your average Joe-gamer is that they are in a position to stick it to the man. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that, in the eyes of many gamers, EA has become a monolith of corporate America whose thirst for power is so well known that it has become regular water cooler talk; essentially, they are “the man” to whom “it must be stuck.”

But the games will speak for themselves. Mr. Riccitiello, if you and your company want to get rid of your nasty reputation, simply produce better games. We all know you have the resources, so put all that money to good use. You’re already on the right track with Spore, Boom Blox and Dead Space. Produce games that are fun to play, and the review ratings will reflect your efforts. Trust me on this one, as an amateur reviewer myself I can tell you that a game’s fun factor means infinitely more than who funded it.