EA Chief Says Low Metacritic Scores 'Unacceptable'

Anyone who has listened to an Electronic Arts conference call lately knows that EA CEO John Riccitiello is not shy about throwing Metacritic scores around.

Noting a drop in his company's average Metacritic score from 77 to 72 last year, Riccitiello is now telling investors that he's not happy.

"There is nothing acceptable about that," Riccitiello said according to Reuters. "Our core game titles are accurately measured and summarized by these assessments, and that is a very big deal.. We need to recover here."

Riccitiello's emphasis on aggregate review scores is seen as part of an overall shift in his company's philosophy, driven by a "quality over quantity" mantra.

"[Riccitiello] knows the future of EA's success is in empowering the really talented creative people and giving them what they need to stretch their wings," said Josh Resnick, president of recent EA acquisition Pandemic Studios, in an interview with Next-Gen.

Of course, a focus on aggregate sites and review scores can be a distraction, and often a burden on both critics and publishers.

"The process often gets in the way more than it helps," Riccitiello acknowledged, speaking of review score tracking and the courting of critics. "That sort of circus has unfortunately sort of defined our company for too long. And it's not a good process."

And at the end of the day, there is the hard reality of business.

"You don't cash Metacritic, you cash checks," concludes Riccitiello.