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EA To Be On Wii U "On Day One"
Speaking about Nintendo's upcoming HD console, EA Games head Frank Gibeau told gamesindustry.biz that "it's important for us to get there on day one." Maybe Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello's appearance at Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference wasn't as content-free as it seemed.
Gibeau spoke highly of the Wii U in general terms, but didn't offer any specifics of which EA franchises or new titles would appear on the system. At this point you have to think that any of the publisher's 2012 releases are on the table, pending the difficulty of porting current 360 and PS3 development to Nintendo's machine. EA has had the machines "for a little while," though, and Gibeau seems confident that his label will be there on launch day.
Another recurring theme throughout the extensive interview was Gibeau's trumpeting of EA's movement toward fewer, higher quality titles. He noted that EA Games put out 20 titles three years ago, and now the label is down to six for 2011. He also repeated the often-stated wisdom that being profitable in console gaming is incredibly difficult for any game outside the top 20 in sales.
Gibeau's comments to gamesindustry.biz on the PC space and free-to-play gaming are just as interesting as the Wii U talk. He pointed out that a hit free-to-play game can be just as profitable as a console game, not least because it can reach markets where console gaming is years if not decades away from the mainstream. He used Need for Speed World's stellar performance in Russia, Brazil, and the Ukraine as an example of how a free-to-play model can grow a traditional publisher's reach significantly.
It's great to hear a top executive from a top company like Electronic Arts speak highly of the many new markets and models available for gaming to expand into, rather than simply lamenting the rising development costs of triple-A console gaming. Hopefully EA can develop some actual interesting titles for those spaces now.
Read the entire interview at gamesindustry.biz.
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