EA mobile boss: "The numbers show" consumers like freemium

EA All Play senior vice president and general manager Nick Earl believes most consumers are perfectly happy with freemium business models, while detractors are just noisy.

Speaking at GDC 2013, as reported by GamesIndustry, Earl said free-to-play supported by microtransactions is a market leader.

"The market has spoken very loudly that that's the model they like," he said.

"Even though there's some vocal minority that don't like it, ultimately the numbers would show that they and others all support the freemium model better."

EA recently ran afoul of this vocal minority, which reacted with predictable umbrage to the news that Real Racing 3 would follow a freemium business model.

"I think initially they were a little bit annoyed because the all-you-can-eat model makes sense for them. That's the kind of people they are," he said.

"But at the end of the day, they're going to pay to eat, if that's their choice. And they're happy doing it. At the end of the day you kind of have to look at real numbers. The old proverb, 'You can't please all the people all the time' is just so true."