Skate outsells Tony Hawk 2 to 1; PS3 hiccups remain (News)

GamePro staff, GamePro (online)

01/02/2008 00:43:46

Electronic Arts had plenty to chirp about on Thursday, despite posting a third quarter loss after Activision surpassed the publisher as the world's largest game maker.

"Despite the fact we launched on three fewer platforms, Skate outsold Tony Hawk 2 to 1," boasted CFO Warren Jensen on an EA conference call transcribed by .

Additionally, Rock Band, Orange Box, and Crysis all "exceeded expectations" the company said amid posting a net loss on Thursday due to restructuring.

"We close calendar 2007 as the #1 publisher across all platforms, with an 18 per cent share in North America and 19 per cent share in Europe," said CEO John Riccitiello. "We were very pleased with our European results. Titles like FIFA, Need for Speed, and The Simpson's all charted in the top 10 in Europe."

It's possible that EA is the largest publisher "across all platforms," but by numbers alone, Activision overtook EA in 2007 as the world's largest game maker.

Riccitiello added that while PS3 development challenges remain, the issue has improved greatly, only affecting an estimated 33 per cent of games.