EA laments the new IPs gamers begged for aren't selling that well.

[LordTheNightKnight]

scottie said:
I did read the article, and would like to explain consumer loyalty inertia

Ok, lets look at it like this

EA was just starting to suffer the effects of making shit games, as their sales started to fall, so they did something about it. But because it takes a while for consumers to realise this, their sales continued to fall. However, people are starting to realise that EA actually makes good games now, so their sales should pick up soon if they stick to their guns.

Activision is a 180 degree phase difference from here, they made some really cool games, and people started liking them, so they decided that sequels to really cool games are automatically cool. It hasn't bitten them yet because consumers take a while to realise things, but soon their sales will start dropping.

In summary, the quality of games by developers varies sinusoidally, as they get complacent, then lose sales, then put effort in to improve the situation. Sales also vary sinusoidally, but lag quality by a year or two because it takes a while for people to realise the shift.

 

That's assuming their financial problems stated before they did this, and not after they started the switch.