EA Games Label President Frank Gibeau recently told GamesIndustry International that the publisher is on its way to becoming completely digital.
James Brightman reports that when asked “point blank” when the publisher will be able to claim that most or all of its revenues come from digital products, Gibeau mused,
“For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future – much like your question about streaming and cloud – we're going to be a 100% digital company, period. It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable.”
To understand Gibeau’s perspective, one needs only to look at the fact that EA recently celebrated its first year of digital revenues over $1 billion, and expects the number to jump closer to $2 billion.
But Gibeau is not promising an immediate transition, saying that as long as there’s still a market for physical retail, EA will be offering products in the format.
“We'll continue to deliver games in whatever media formats make sense and as one ebbs and one starts to flow, we'll go in that direction,” Gibeau said.