UPDATE
Do you think this is a good strategy by EA? Or do you think that this will mean they sacrifice certain things to “improve” these communities? Let us know below!
ORIGINAL STORY
Electronic Arts is one of the biggest publishers in gaming today, and for good reason. They have numerous contracts that allow them to touch upon popular franchises, and they have made acquisitions that have led to them making numerous big-name titles, as well as games that continue to rake in money. Given that, they have a certain “view” of gaming that influences what they do, for better or worse. At a conference, as noted by VGC, CEO Andrew Wilson talked about the value of companies and how things aren’t as simple as it were in measuring that value. He then discussed how the company wanted to focus on “massive online communities.”
He listed off the numerous games with large-scale communities, several of which are owned or operated by Electronic Arts. Wilson went on to note that EA would invest a lot of time, money, and effort into growing these communities for the benefit of all involved:
“As you look at us and our company, what you’re going to see from us is us really double down and reallocate investment towards these five or six massive global online communities that we have the benefit of growing,” said Wilson. “We are very blessed in that we have FC, we have Madden, we have Battlefield, we have The Sims, we have Apex, we’re building out Skate. And so, we’re going to disproportionately invest in IP as a platform and really creating the new world that is the flywheel of engagement.”
On a certain level, he’s not wrong about thinking these online communities have plenty of value. Sports games especially have annual value because even with “repetitive” gaming titles coming out across that medium, the titles still sell in the millions. With their new soccer title, they could reach hundreds of millions of players, and those players could all spend money on the game, which would further ensure EA’s success.
Another big hit for them is Fortnite, which they own through Epic Games. That title constantly releases new content that gamers can’t help but eat up. The larger that community grows, and the more they consistently play the title, the more money they rake in.
So it could be that their goal isn’t so much to make a whole bunch of “hit titles” but to make a brand that can be everlasting and make a profit over the course of years. Wilson touched on that, and it’ll be interesting to see how that goes.
