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EA Announces Competitive Gaming Division With Peter Moore At Its Head
Big publishers are figuring out what smaller developers have known for years: competitive gaming is big business. Moreover, they are realizing that they can control more of how their games are used in the competitive space.
EA has announced the formation of an internal Competitive Gaming Division, with Peter Moore at its head in a new role. The former chief operating officer is now executive vice president and chief competition officer.
This move puts EA in control of eSports for some of its biggest games, including FIFA, Madden, and Battlefield. The Competitive Gaming Division will be planning live events that will be streamed, similar to the existing eSports competitions that exist for other titles.
Moore will be working with senior vice president and general manager Todd Sitrin, who has played a major role with EA’s marketing, particular in the EA Sports division, as senior vice president of product marketing. EA won’t be pulling its titles from other competitions, at least not immediately.
The FIFA Interactive World Cup and ESL One Battlefield 4 championships are on track. EA says that its games will continue to be played in a variety of venues and leagues worldwide next year. However, the company seems to be headed toward unifying the competitions (or at least centralizing their most prominent platforms) in the long term.
This is similar to moves we saw from Activision earlier this year. The company founded its own Call of Duty World League, which is now the official platform for that game’s competitive scene. Shortly after, Activision announced an eSports division led by MLG and ESPN veterans with strong hints about a new broadcasting platform.
[Source: EA]
Our Take
With competitive gaming still on the rise and now firmly established, publishers of major titles like Call of Duty and Battlefield were leaving money on the table letting others manage competition. By bringing the planning and execution in-house, EA and Activision have tighter control of their brands and additional revenue opportunities without a middle-man third-party leagues.
The question is whether Valve, Riot, Activision, and EA having their own operations will completely strangle MLG, ESL, and other leagues. And, if so, what is lost (or gained) in the transition.
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