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Posted
Jun 06 2009, 04:01 PM
I hope everyone enjoyed following all the news of E3 this week. I’m just trying to catch my breath (and looking forward to catching up on my sleep) from what I think was a great week in Los Angeles, but in the meantime I wanted to quickly touch on one of our many announcements last week – the re-launch of EASPORTS.com. We’ve been talking a lot over the past few months about the potential of online, whether to allow EA SPORTS fans to enjoy fresh, new content, go head to head in competitive matches or even just get in touch with us to voice their opinions or problems. I’m proud to say that our announcement at E3 is an important next step in harnessing all the potential of our connected experiences. If you missed the EA press conference where these and a number of other announcements (MMA, for example) were made, you can view the archived video here.
The new website is in Beta , as was our EA SPORTS World community site before it. Why? Simply put, we wanted to share it with you before it was 100% complete – and so you can get a taste for the things to come and keep coming back to find out more. I’m not going to spoil any surprises, but I do want to reflect on those all important three words above – Connect, Share and Compete.
Since last June, we’ve seen close to 600 million online game sessions of EA SPORTS games played. That’s a lot of virtual blood, sweat and tears. Our plan is to ensure you can savour those victories and plan to avenge those defeats even when the console is turned off. Through the web site, you can stay connected during your lunch break or a business trip.
As part of the relaunch, you’ll have noticed even more blogs go live, so you can connect with the Producers direct – or maybe you’ve joined the Twitterati and are discussing your games with the Community Managers (the Essentials Carousel on the Beta has a listing in the Community section for this team). Perhaps you’ve posted on our new look forums.
I have said before how much I enjoy the robust discussion on this blog, but equally I’ve often referred to the plans afoot to ensure that when you do share your concerns and comments with us, that they get a response. I do read every post, but I’ve also empowered many people across the company, who have both the time and the details at their fingertips to provide answers to or join the debate with you.
Like any website, the new look site is evolving. I’d like to personally invite you to be a part of it’s future – connect, compete with our games and share your thoughts.
Posted
May 29 2009, 08:17 AM
As many of you may have seen, EA Revolutionizes Sports Gaming with Tiger Woods Online, today we made a very significant announcement that signals a new future for EA SPORTS games on the PC. Based upon the commentary of recent posters to this blog (regardless of the subject matter), PC sports games and the position of EA SPORTS on that platform is still a source of interest and angst for a number of you, so I wanted to share with you directly some added context to why this is such an important announcement for EA and how it signals a new future for how we intend to bring our experiences to what is the largest gaming platform in the world, yet one so challenging for us without creative new products and new business models to support them.
As I’ve mentioned previously on numerous occasions, the personal computer as a viable platform for authentic sports games has declined radically in recent years, making it incredibly difficult to green light titles and allocate precious development resources for what has become a questionable return. Currently, the PC Sports Game segment is virtually non-existent, having shrunk to less that 1 percent of the overall videogame segment, from its peak in 1998, when the split was 83% console / 17% PC (in NA). A rapid decrease in the PC sports game segment share began in 2000 with the launch of the Playstation 2 and continued with the launch of each new console system since. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a perfect example of a product whose sales on the PC platform dropped precipitously from 2000-2008, as noted on the chart.
SOURCE: NPD Data
We’ve said a number of times that we think that while PC is rapidly becoming the largest gaming platform, the opportunity is not in the packaged goods PC business. That’s why we’re so excited about today’s announcement of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online. We intend to be at the forefront of that evolution and today’s announcement signals that. You can expect to see us investing in online games for the PC with new sports experiences, aimed at both the loyal hard-core as well as the broader sports fan. You can expect experimentation in subscriptions, premium downloadable content, downloads sponsored by advertisers, micro-transactions, free-to-play models and massive tournament play. I will say this again as clearly as I can – we are great believers in the PC as a viable platform for sports games, but not following the norms of the previous business model. These are challenging times for business and we have obligations to our employees, to our fans and to our shareholders.
Let me also take a moment to address, again, an area of frustration for those of you who state you have a right to know what we are negotiating, creating and planning as regards to our title. While I’ve provided insights on this topic previously, I’m happy to explain it again. We are constantly looking to bring announcements and information to our customers. It’s a part of this job that I love. However, we can only share information when all legal, competitive and operational issues have been cleared and licensor approvals have been obtained. Not a moment before. I’m proud at how we have opened our lines of communication. But, there are limits to how freely we can communicate during the development stages. That’s just how this business works.
In order to make fundamental shifts in an established ecosystem, you often have to have the courage to hit the reset button. Today’s announcement about Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online is another, of many, examples of how we are doing that. You’ll continue to hear more about these strategies across our business in the future, including next week at E3.
I know I’m excited as excited as I have been in years to attend a show that I think will be chock full of big announcements, and I think it will signal an even heightened sense of optimism, innovation and confidence in our industry.
Peter
P.S. I’d invite you to go ahead and sign up now for the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online beta at www.tigerwoodsonline.com for when it becomes available later this year.