Electronic Arts 2014 Annual Report Download - page 84

Technology changes rapidly in our business and if we fail to anticipate or successfully develop games for
new platforms and services, adopt new distribution technologies or methods, or implement new
technologies in our games, the quality, timeliness and competitiveness of our products and services will
suffer.
Rapid technology changes in our industry require us to anticipate, sometimes years in advance, which
technologies we must implement and take advantage of in order to make our products and services competitive in
the market. We have invested, and in the future may invest, in new business strategies, technologies, products,
and services. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and no assurance can be given that
the technology we choose to adopt and the platforms, products and services that we pursue will be successful and
will not materially adversely affect our reputation, financial condition, and operating results.
Our product development usually starts with particular platforms and distribution methods in mind, and a range
of technical development goals that we hope to be able to achieve. We may not be able to achieve these goals, or
our competition may be able to achieve them more quickly and effectively than we can. In either case, our
products and services may be technologically inferior to our competitors’, less appealing to consumers, or both.
If we cannot achieve our technology goals within the original development schedule for our products and
services, then we may delay their release until these technology goals can be achieved, which may delay or
reduce revenue and increase our development expenses. Alternatively, we may increase the resources employed
in research and development in an attempt to accelerate our development of new technologies, either to preserve
our product or service launch schedule or to keep up with our competition, which would increase our
development expenses. We may also miss opportunities to adopt technology, or develop products and services
for new platforms or services that become popular with consumers, which could adversely affect our revenues. It
may take significant time and resources to shift our focus to such technologies or platforms, putting us at a
competitive disadvantage.
We may experience outages and disruptions of our online services that harm our business.
We expect to continue to invest in technology, hardware and software to support our portfolio of online products
and services. Launching and operating online games and services, developing related technologies and
implementing online business initiatives is expensive and complex. Execution of these initiatives could result in
inefficiencies or operational failures, such as significant user connectivity issues. These efforts, as well as the
deepening integration of online features and functionality into our products and services generally, may also
result in increased vulnerability to cyber attacks that attempt to damage, disrupt or gain unauthorized access to
our networks, computer systems and supporting infrastructure, many of which may be difficult to detect.
Operational failures or successful cyber attacks could lead to consumers being unable to use our products and
services or other negative effects upon the products, services and user experience we offer, possibly resulting in
damage to our reputation, the loss of current and potential customers and harm to our business. In addition, our
online products and services could be adversely impacted by outages, disruptions and failures in basic network
and electrical infrastructure, as well as in the online platforms of key business partners who offer or support our
products and services.
Our business could be adversely affected if our consumer protection, data privacy and security practices
are not adequate, or perceived as being inadequate, to prevent data breaches, or by the application of
consumer protection and data privacy laws generally.
In the course of our business, we collect, process, store and use consumer information, including personal
information, passwords and credit card information. Although we take measures to protect consumer information
from unauthorized access, acquisition, disclosure and misuse, our security controls may not be able to prevent the
improper or unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of such consumer information. In addition, third party
vendors and business partners which in the course of our business receive access to consumer information that
we collect also may not be able to prevent data security breaches with respect to the consumer information we
provide them. The unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of consumer information could significantly
harm our reputation, compel us to comply with disparate breach notification laws and otherwise subject us to
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