EA: Demise of console gaming 'very premature'

The demise of traditional console gaming is not a reality the industry faces, according to Electronic Arts chief operating officer Peter Moore. Speaking with Bloomberg TV, Moore said even though the mobile space has grown, gamers still want core titles they can play on a big screen.

"The console business is still a core part of our business; it's the majority of our business. The demise of console gaming is very premature as far as we're concerned," Moore said.

"We still have thousands of people focused on developing current-generation Xbox 360 and PS3 games, as well as people focused now on the next generation when that finally arrives," he added. "And so, people still want core games. People want to sit back in their living rooms, take advantage of their HD TVs, and and play fully immersive games like [Battlefield 4]."

Also during the interview, Moore said he expects EA's digital sales--which includes mobile, downloadable content, and subscriptions--to possibly overtake its traditional packaged goods business by 2015.

"In two years we could be looking at the tipping point where digital becomes bigger than the traditional core,” Moore said.

Moore is believed to be a leading candidate to take over as the next EA CEO. He would not comment on this conjecture, but praised John Riccitiello for leaving the company in "tremendous shape." Moore said one thing the new EA CEO needs to do is execute.

"We did not executive to the level that we needed to in [fiscal year 2013] and [John Riccitiello] took accountability for that. And I think the future CEO will focus on pure execution because all the ingredients are there; we have the world's best developers, we have a tremendous publishing pipeline, and we've made the hard decisions about our platform.