Individual Work Week 4
Nichelle Chandler
Everest University Online
Strategic Planning for Business-2
Chris Caracci
5/10/2013

Although their expertise lies in creating games it is definitely serious business for the video game industry. In this industry when customers are fickle, as well as demanding and the competition is intense, one company Electric Arts. (EA) , has managed to prosper. As one of the world's top three interactive entertainment software companies, EA lives and dies by its innovations. Its product lineup includes over 100 titles, including Battlefield, Madden, FIFA Soccer, and Need for Speed. The company has created over 50 best sellers, each with over 1 million copies sold since 1998. Revenues in 2011 reached almost 3.6 billion dollars. In addition the company was included on Fortunes list of the 100 best companies to work for. It would appear that this was a company that knows its game. With its record of accomplishment you would think that there would not be much anxiety or stress at EA. Yet the reality is that paranoia is a critical part of its success. A top game title takes anywhere from 12 to 36 months to produce, and cost between 5 and 10 million dollars. That is a significant investment risk riding on the company's ability to innovate. John Ricitello, President and Chief Operating Officer, says, "The forgotten aspect of creativity is discipline." The hard part and the part that Ea relentlessly pursues, "is identifying the right idea, assembling the best development team, solving the inevitable technical problems, creating a game that people want to play, getting it to the market at the right time, and knowing how to generate buzz about it in an increasingly crowded market." How Does EA do it?
It starts with the discipline of understanding ideas. Game designers try to identify the creative center of the game, what they call the