Social Games Winning, 3D Games Failing, says EA

One of the world’s largest games companies says 3D games are not catching on, and that it is focusing on social gaming for big profits.
In a shareholder meeting, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello expressed his disappointment in 3D gaming sales. “Frankly, we have not seen a big uptake for 3D gaming. We haven’t seen a big uptake for 3D televisions in the home, at least not yet. And we’re not here trying to drive the market, we’re here to react to what customers are looking for.”
Instead, Riccitiello is getting the biggest bang for his buck by directing his developers to create 3D games on a 2D display, which he says “provide the greatest entertainment experience.” Beyond that, he said he’s “seen really high returns” with online and social games, with more on the way, such as The Sims Social on Facebook.
“Right now we’re seeing better growth focusing on a different technology innovation — online and social,” Riccitiello said. “So our allocation of resources have been toward the new innovations that are growing more rapidly.”
This is not good news for the 3D gaming world, which is reeling from poor sales of the Nintendo 3DS, a glasses-free 3D handheld gaming device on which the industry pinned high hopes. In fact, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced he’s cutting his paycheck in half, taking responsibility for slow sales of the 3DS that resulted in Nintendo’s first-ever quarterly loss. At the same time, Nintendo slashed the price of the 3DS, from $249 to $169.
The picture isn’t much better for 3D in the movie world. As a large number of theaters have upgraded to digital projectors capable of displaying 3D movies, audiences don’t seem as interested in paying more for 3D, according to analyst Richard Greenfield of Wall Street’s BTIG. There are complaints of dim screens displaying both 3D and 2D movies. And on the home front, we just reviewed a Sony 3D HDTV. Notwithstanding the paucity of 3D content available, it gave us headaches and seemed a lame gimmick.
It’s starting to look like the entire 3D craze was designed to benefit those who sell electronics and movie tickets a lot more than those who would view movies and play games using the technology.
Is 3D doomed? Let us know what you think in the comments.
[Via Gamasutra and DVICE]