Thankfully, Electronic Arts took the repeat win to heart, and has set out to do better in the eyes of the gamer. As newly appointed CEO Andrew Wilson explains, EA has to put a focus on quality over quantity, so that gamers feel like they are “stealing” content from EA rather than them stealing money from the consumer.

In a recent interview with Kotaku, Wilson and Head of PC and Console Game Development, Patrick Soderlund, talked about “winning” Worst Company in America, and what sort of impact that has had on the publisher. Specifically, it was an eye-opening moment for EA and an opportunity for them to evaluate why exactly gamers perceive the company that way.

Willing to prove their commitment to reinventing their image, Electronic Arts spearheaded a movement to remove the Online Pass requirement for multiplayer games, a policy that Sony and later Ubisoft adopted as well. Although they may not have been the first, EA was certainly one of the strongest proponents of the online pass, and therefore their willingness to do away with it spoke volumes.

Of course, a policy like the online pass is only one of the reasons EA was voted worst in America, and it’s likely not the major reason. EA is, after all, a game publisher, so the quality of the games they put out is presumably in correlation with their public perception (i.e. the better the games, the better the publisher is perceived). Although EA doesn’t necessarily make the worst games, they might not strive for the type of innovation or quality that other publishers do, but Wilson would like to change that.

It might not be as obvious at the moment, but we’d suspect EA’s decision to bring back the Mirror’s Edge franchise for Mirror’s Edge 2 is one of the earliest signs of this new dedication to quality. The first Mirror’s Edge was certainly a critical success, but it struggled to find an audience.

Whether it’s cancelling the online pass program or setting out to make better quality games, Electronic Arts clearly took winning Worst Company in America for the second year to heart. They certainly have the potential to re-enter gamers’ good graces now that the Star Wars franchise is under their banner, but we’ll have to see how steadfastly they stick to their new credo when sales don’t meet expectations.

Do you think that EA is making strides to change their public perception? How could they ensure they won’t win Worst Company in America three years in a row?

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Source: Kotaku

Follow Anthony on Twitter @ANTaormina