John Riccitiello Calls Recession a 'Blessing'

Layoffs hitting one developer after another have conclusively proven that the videogames industry isn't as recession-proof as analysts theorized it'd be, but according to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Speaking at the DICE summit earlier this week, Riccitiello made the curious comment that the recession is actually a "blessing," and also gave developers his advice on how to survive the economic downturn. "I actually think that the economic crisis the game industry moved into in 2008 is a blessing," Riccitiello said during the question-and-answer session after his address ( via GameSpot). His reasoning: It'll force "the riffraff" to go out of business, reducing the number of poor quality games on store shelves, and allowing developers who "act decisively" to set themselves up more securely for the future. Of course, this reasoning assumes only those developers who make poor games ... (link)