Steven Spielberg's name sells movies, it probably sells games too. That explains why his name appeared so prominently on the cover of Boom Blox, but what about less mainstream A-listers? Stephen Totilo of MTV Multiplayer sat down with EA CEO John Riccitiello to talk about crediting on the front of game boxes. Why, he asks, aren't top talent like Will Wright featured on the cover of their creations?
In music it's typically a writer and a band of four. With films it's a couple of lead talent, actors and actresses, a director and maybe a cinematographer. With games it's typically 30, 50 100 people that make these things and they're all integral to the process. So I'm absolutely in favor of bringing forward the teams. But the team dynamic in creation of our product is quite different than other forms of entertainment. ... I've always been of the belief you should give credit where credit's due. And I think in times past major publishers would say "This is an Electronic Arts game" or ‘This is name-the- other-publisher.' It's from them and it's all about them. And the truth is, it never was. It's really about the teams that create this stuff and we're big believers in that. And I'm personally all about that. Again I don't think there are any creator in the industry that would say it's them individually making that happen.
The short answer, Riccitiello doesn't ever see Wright's name appearing on a box. Then he goes on to explain why Spielberg's name did appear there, back-peddling all the way. EA: Why Will Wright's Name Shouldn't Be On A Game's Box (Or: How To Give Proper Credit) [MTV]