Last year, EA tried something new: they released a number of titles based off brand new intellectual property. Perhaps, in hindsight, too many.
In an interview with Gamasutra, EA's Frank Gibeau has said:
I think in the spirit of your question, I think we launched too many new IPs all at once in Q3.
I would have spread them out and found better windows for them. I would have had longer marketing for them. The marketing cycles were fairly short. We didn't have enough assets to really build the fanbase, build the community, and get that long lead demand built.
So I probably in hindsight would have picked a couple different windows for Dead Space and Mirror's Edge.
In hindsight, yeah, I bet you would have. But you know, for all the people getting down on both those games...in the 6-9 months since their release, word has spread. Both were, for their quirks, excellent games (probably my two favourite from 2008, even). So when the sequels roll around, things will be different. People will be ready. Ready with money.
A Different Track: Frank Gibeau Talks Strategy [Gamasutra]