Analyst: Upcoming Star Wars MMO will save EA

There's been a lot of unpleasant news surrounding EA lately, starting with lower-than-expected sales of big titles like RockBand 2, Mirror's Edge and Need for Speed Undercover, followed by cost reduction measures that resulted in quite a few layoffs and general unpleasantries.

Cue the analysts and industry experts inserting their two cents.  Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz looks at EA's current state and is suggesting that their upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, developed by BioWare, may be their "best change" at improving profitability.  That is, unless Blizzard's World of Warcraft continues dominating the charts.

Creutz believes EA simply isn't producing any "hit core-gamer console titles," which he blames on poor management for not letting new hit franchises "incubate" while not properly supporting older ones.  He explains, "Instead, dollars were spent on what were largely low-return projects."

With growing competition, things aren't going to be getting any easier for the company either, Creutz says.

"Aside from EA Sports and The Sims, EA really has a stable full of modestly-performing titles, with none offering the type of mega-hit R&D leverage offered by competing titles such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or Assassin’s Creed," he concludes.