No more 'crappy' licensed games, says EA

EA's CEO John Riccitiello has spoken out about "crappy" licensed games and says the company won't be publishing any of its own in the future.

"I don't actually believe EA is in the business of exploiting other people's licenses with bad quality games," he said, talking to MTV Multiplayer. "We've been there. Most of our competitors are there or have been there. That's not what we do. We're not really after that market."

Speaking about the publisher's upcoming games, including DS games NERF N-Strike and Littlest Pet Shop, Riccitiello says: "My team and our developers know a good game when we see it. The products we're putting out this year from Hasbro - I don't know how they're going to do with Metacritic, but they're innovative, they're different.

"We've got the first E-rated shooter with our Nerf game. What we're doing with our Family Game Night, what we're doing with Littlest Pet Shop - really cool stuff - what we're doing with Sims really cool stuff.

"It feels like it's demographically similar but it's very highly innovative. I think what redeems our industry is quality, and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game. That's not what we're about."

EA's first Hasbro titles are due out later this year. Then we'll find out if EA really does stay true to its promise to deliver something innovative from its next licensed titles...