The economic crisis, unsurprisingly seems to be hitting everyone. EA, Sony, MS among only the big names all seem to be both cutting back and loosing money. Its also a bit scary because desperate times as these are seem to lead to companies adopting some pretty low brow strategies and succumbing to means of monetising previously unthinkable.
Heh only Blizzard seems to be unaffected. No surprise there though their income should be counted in GDP now that their earnings match and overcome that of several countries.

No power in the 'verse can make dilbet good. It's one of the few things worse than penny arcade

I'd like to say that for the UK, we're in just as bad a situation as the US, with over-inflated house prices, no inter-bank lending, very low savings per head of population, and two million unemployed and rising.
Those in government relied on the major corporations and the major banks to work their magic, when in reality they just say they'll pull a rabbit out of a hat, but they don't even have the hat!
In all seriousness, the real pirates are those in the financial sector.

Sorry, I did generalize a bit too much... it's just that in Germany everybody is talking about it, but aside from the car manufacturers, the effects are really nothing out of the ordinary. Inconvenient? You bet, but nothing that could bring our economy down.

Our problem is based around massive debts and low savings, which the government is "solving" by increasing government debts, which are very high.
The IMF says we may be the worst hit of the G8 nations, so I have to hope I can hold onto my job. It's a scary time, noone knows whats going to happen in the next year.

Ah found a number (from last year). The average German above the age of 17 has €81000 on his account. In the US on the other hand has (if I remember correctly) an average citizen is in dept.

This is one of the reasons I wish that the UK was closer to the French, Germans and Dutch, rather than the US. It's a little late now though.
Mind you, I hear that Iceland is trying to join the Euro, so perhaps if/when the UK is in similar trouble, we may join also.
Is there a German view on the UK regarding our EU membership? I would imagine it's a negative view.

The general view is that the UK should finally decide if it wants to be in or out. If you want to become a full time member, we'll welcome you with open arms. But this special half-EU status is not something we like. The EU is built around a principle of give and take, and the UK is seen as a parasite which completely ignores its responsibilities. We accepted it because for some time. But the free ride will end soon.

I think this is what pro-EU people in the UK fear, that we may get to an "are you in or out?" moment, and we will never be able to agree, and it will cost us dearly.

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving company. They lost the last shred of my support when they locked up the NFL license. There has been the occasional winner from EA in the last decade, but they seem to be king of the yearly 'update', particularly with their sports titles. I do feel for the working shmoes who will suffer as a result.
Maybe if they put in some more overtime...
I am old enough to remember back to when EA started. Back then the ol' EOA logo just meant it was a quality game. I truly enjoyed games in genres I normally wouldn't consider based on their rep. One-on-One was gold plated fun. As was Wasteland, Archon, Pinball Construction, and a whole host of others in the 'flat box' packaging.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Well, eaten out from within in this case.

I like EA when they do good games... but it not always append. They often do scrap or too much commercial games. Do you know that Ea is the major investissor in Ubisoft (19% of actions). So Ubisoft as a little part for EA. (not so surprising!!)

ea is more of a publisher than a developer, EA probably publishes a lot of Ubisoft games.

Actually, Ubisoft publishes Ubisoft games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubisoft

in all markets?

then thats distribution rather than publishing