EA’s Peter Moore Comments on Zynga’s Downfall

Peter Moore says gamers and industry analysts shouldn't see Zynga's problems as a bellwether for the state of the rest of the social gaming industry.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Moore expressed his belief that the "overheating and overhyping of social gaming" over the past year has hurt the genre, but that the market remains strong–and has the potential to stay that way—in spite of recent events.

“We always feel bad when people lose their jobs,” he said. “Our hope is certainly the locations I’ve read online, those folks can get re-employed pretty quickly.

“The overheating and overhyping of social gaming over the last year-and-a-half has put this thing on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and the Times of London, and has made this an interesting focal point for our industry. I think it just got a little overhyped. And now the demise is being overhyped the opposite way.

“I still think there’s a strong place for social gaming. I think a lot of social gaming is moving mobile. We feel well positioned to take advantage of that. And people shouldn’t read too much into whatever is going on with Zynga.”

Moore believes that EA is well positioned to weather the death of hype and that its success rests in its diverse portfolio across multiple genres and platforms.

“From your Phone to your PC to your 360 or your PS3 back to your tablet, that is the future,” he said. “It’s a service. It’s not a standalone game. It gives a great experience to the gamer, first and foremost, and it also protects us from any downfall in a particular piece of hardware or platform. It spreads our bets a little bit.”