EA Always Working on New IPs, Wants One or Two New Games Each Year

Electronic Arts has talked about its push for brand new intellectual properties and how it's currently striving not just to have multiple iterations of proven franchises, but also to deploy all-new games in order to keep things fresh and exciting for gamers.

EA became infamous for its exploitation of franchises back in the early 2000s, but now, the company is trying to strike a more even balance between new iterations of proven properties and all-new titles that could give birth to profitable series.

EA's Games label President, Frank Gibeau, discussed about this strategy with CVG, highlighting that, while EA is currently preparing to deploy big sequels like Battlefield 3 or Mass Effect 3, it's also working hard on new intellectual properties.

"We're always going to be in the new IP business," he said. "It's entertainment - we have to stay fresh and we've got to change with the times and stay ahead of the curve in terms of what people are anticipating and want."

Gibeau explained how a few years ago EA was running out of profitable franchises, and decided to invest more heavily in new properties, in order to keep a more steady output stream of quality games.

"We're always going to be building new IP and the mix that we have now is... you're right, we do have a lot more titles now that are proven, where as a few years ago we we're coming out with a lot of IPs because the cupboards were bare. We had been a licensed-oriented group. Of course I'm talking about the Games label at that time; it was Bond, Potter and Lord of the Rings. As those went away or diminished, we didn't have anything."

After that particular moment, EA released big, all-new games, like Mirror's Edge or Dead Space, while rebooting dormant franchises like Medal of Honor or Battlefield. The focus on new IPs will continue, as Gibeau highlighted the current EA strategy.

"I figure we'll probably be doing one to two new IPs a year as far out as I can see - and we always have new IPs in development," the executive stated. "We go through a green light process and in technology development and gameplay development we're always looking at new, fresh ways at applying product."