Fri, Sep 14, 2012 | 00:47 BST
EA’s focus is on Origin and the importance of change
Frank Gibeau, Head of Development at EA, says the future of the company is with its online Origin system.
On top of that there is a big push to further its free-to-play games but to also maintain commitment to the current generation of consoles and physical game discs, even in light of growing download sales.
In an interview with Gibeau at The Verge, he went into what EA are going through, and what it’s preparing for with the approaching Windows 8 launch. “EA has transitioned from a content-only company to a content/platform company.”
“I think that three core growth drivers in the interactive business is going to be mobile, PC free-to-play, and console,” Gibeau said.
“All I can say is that we’re multiplatform and we publish on everything,” he said. “Where it makes sense for us, we’ll do it and when it doesn’t make sense, we won’t. We’re building an Origin store, an Origin platform, an Origin social network that works on the PC. So you can see where we are going with it. Apple has a store… to me (the launch of the Windows Store) is just a fact.”
“I feel like the next five years are going to be largely defined by the battle of the ecosystems. It’s important for us to have our ecosystem. If you look at attributes of an ecosystem, it’s: How many users do you have? How good are your relationships with them? Do they perceive it as a positive experience? Do they tell there friends about it? How viral it is?”
Further to his previous comments on customer preference, he sums up the balance EA is after with in-game purchases. “People get pissed off when they are required to buy something in order to be competitive,” Gibeau said. “So there’s this classic ebb and flow between older consumers and younger consumers that I see right now in our telemetry. Younger consumers have more time than money. Older consumers have more money then time.”
12 comments
#1
ps3fanboy
14/09/12, 1:26 am
Origin is the worst shit ever and the free-to-play(freemium) aka dime and cent you to death for ingame crap, it ruin a good game… if that is the future of ea, then goodbye!
#2
OlderGamer
14/09/12, 1:36 am
“EA has transitioned from a content-only company to a content/platform company.”
That is the biggest part of the problem right there.
Wait till all of the pubs want to push their own “platform” in the form of sepertist store fronts and “services”. I am awaiting the day when it will be announced that only through an EA Sports Pass can you play an EA sports game, regaurdless of the console/pc/handheld your actualy playing it on. It will be like a subscription, but just for their games. Your will need another subscription if you want to play say …Acti games. The only upside should be that as acsess to content becomes easier and more widly distributed, you should be able to bounce around from one device to another device, playing the same game/subscription. It won’t matter if that device is from Nintendo, MS, or Apple.
Frankley I suspect most of the content providers will go that route.
#3
ps3fanboy
14/09/12, 1:43 am
@2
I suspect serious gamers will lose interest and there will only be casual gamers and wallet warriors left in the future of gaming.
#4
DSB
14/09/12, 2:56 am
I can say for sure that the day that I’m forced onto a different client for every game I play, is the day I go back to pirating them.
The primary reason why digital worked against piracy and brought so many of us into the fold is because it’s convenient. It’s so easy and it comes with so many extras, that you feel like an asshole for not buying your stuff legally.
That ends the moment that these clients become “platforms”.
#5
zinc
14/09/12, 3:14 am
They are in for a sharp surprise .
A Large part of gaming is convenience , make it difficult for us to play & we will walk away.
#6
ps3fanboy
14/09/12, 10:50 am
@4
the day your forced to use different clients for every game. you will not be able to pirate games anymore. since the games are 100% depended on the online features to function. the only choice you will have is to find another hobby.
#7
roadkill
14/09/12, 11:01 am
@6 You’re off!
#8
ps3fanboy
14/09/12, 11:09 am
@7
yeah i am pissed off… you know what, the downfall of gaming started with wow and monthly payment. then the casual gamer joined and started paying for berries in that smurf game. it was the start of freemium gaming, that will lead to the death of gaming as we know it.
#9
mongbatstar
14/09/12, 11:25 am
@8 Yup, WoW was totally the first MMO with a subscription. Boo Blizzard! You evil entity!
I used to love playing Ultima Online for free every month.
#10
Telepathic.Geometry
14/09/12, 11:30 am
Gaming as we knew it is already dead.
#11
ps3fanboy
14/09/12, 3:16 pm
@9
ultimate was from the early days of the internet of 56k. so cant be compared to the behemoth of evil of today’s wow are, even if it was subscription based.
#12
OlderGamer
14/09/12, 11:05 pm
I was playing, and paying monthly fees to play, Meridian59 before the launch of Ultima Online.