EA Motive VP: EA Feels Like a Different Company That is Focused on Quality - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 17 December 2019 / 1,918 Views

Ubisoft Quebec managing director Patrick Klaus was hired earlier this year as VP and general manager at Electronic Arts Motive. This is the second time Klaus has worked at EA. He worked at EA for about a decade before leaving for Ubisoft in 2012.

Klaus speaking with GamesIndustry says the company he returned to is different from the one he left. He said there is more focus on quality than there used to be.

"It feels like a different company, a company that's very much focused on quality," Klaus said.

"That's part of the reason that got me excited about coming back, really the number one priority is that we want to make great games, and EA execs are really empowering Montreal with the amount of talent we have in the studio to play a big part in making some awesome games for EA.

"It's different times, a different leadership, a different message. And it's reinforced every day in the messages and discussions we have. It really feels like that's the absolute priority."

"I have a strong belief that quality trumps all," he added. "We have to have the faith that if we focus on quality, on player experience, test and prove our hypothesis regularly -- move away from the mindset of one creative genius having a vision for the game and the whole team executing -- it's working as a team, trying out different things and then testing it and iterating based on that. We're doing a lot more than that, and success will come if we focus on team and focus on quality."

"Ultimately it's about making the right decisions for the company, for the studio, for the project," Klaus says. "No individual will be more important than the team or the product. That's a lot of the mindset we try to put in place, no rock star attitude or person working with their own agenda. Those kind of things are not values we want in the studio."

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

5 Comments

SanAndreasX (on 17 December 2019)

I really wish we could post laughing gifs on the news articles, because I can think of a few that are appropriate fort this story. If you have to have your PR people make multiple statements asserting that your products and/or services are high-quality... they aren't.