GDC 2010: COO John Schappert says digital revenue will still be tied to shiny discs for years to come, expresses regret that Modern Warfare 2 developers will be spending time making court cases instead of games.

[B]Who was there:[/B] John Schappert, chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, took part in a half-hour "Mythbusting Fireside Chat" with [I]Los Angeles Times[/I] writer Alex Pham. The executive was expected to talk about the industry's migration to digital distribution, the ultimate fate of retail game sales, and how social media and other recent trends will influence that evolution.

[B]What they talked about:[/B] Alex Pham began the talk by recapping a bit of Schappert's history, back when he was a lead programmer for Visual Concepts working on an EA Madden game and FIFA Soccer. Things quickly turned toward the future, as Pham asked if there were any prospects at all for disc-based games with the advent of digital distribution. ([URL=http://gdc.gamespot.com/story/6253316/ea-coo-weighs-in-on-infinity-ward-firings-retails-fate]MORE[/URL])