EA boss doesn’t think Treyarch is all that great

Treyarch may be sitting pretty atop yet another Call of Duty success, but Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has dismissed the studio’s ability to craft a breakout FPS title and step out from under Infinity Ward’s shadow. 

“I don’t know that having two guys that probably don’t play the games, in the form of the CEO of Vivendi and the CEO of Activision, come out and say ‘Treyarch is our lead developer,’ like you could anoint that,” says the silver-haired Lothario. “They didn’t make a 90-rated game; I think it’s 86 now. I don’t think review scores are the be-all, end-all, but we all know a mid-90 when we see it, but this was mid-80s. I don’t think you could anoint them by an executive saying, ‘it’s so.’

“The question, I think, really is, ‘what developer is going to put forward the next great FPS that sort of follows [what Infinity Ward did]? It’s wishful thinking, and let’s hope for Activision’s sake they’re right. I think it’s far from proven that the gaming consumer views a product from Treyarch in the same category as a product from what was Infinity Ward.”

EA itself has been trying to kick Activision from its FPS throne for a while, and Riccitiello believes that with Battlefield 3, Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm that it will gain significant ground, adding that he’d be surprised if his company didn’t “take a notch” out of Activision in 2011. Those, in case you couldn’t tell, are fightin’ words. 

EA CEO: Treyarch ‘Far From Proven’ in Eyes of Consumers [Industry Gamers]