14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts has talked about its relationships with Microsoft and Sony in terms of the next-gen consoles – the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 –, confirming that it still has a few unannounced deals with Sony for its PS4.
Ever since this summer, when the PS4 and Xbox One were confirmed to the world, Electronic Arts has backed Microsoft's own device through exclusives like Titanfall or Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, but also through special bundles like the FIFA 14 one that's available in Europe.
As such, Sony fans have accused EA of abandoning Sony's PS4 in order to chase after Microsoft's money.
That's not correct, according to EA's Frank Gibeau, who highlighted the different partnerships EA has with Sony and Microsoft.
"We’re not tilting Microsoft’s way; we are firm longterm supporters of Sony. I’m sure you’ll see tactical programs between us and Sony in the future that we haven’t announced, but will make things much more balanced," Gibeau told Edge.
The EA executive is thrilled with the balance of power between the two consoles, as it will lead to a tighter race between them once they actually appear.
"I think the Sony team has executed exceptionally well – and they did not execute particularly well on PS3, whereas last time around Microsoft executed perfectly. This time, Microsoft has run into some challenges, some leadership changes, but they’re a very resilient organization, and if you look at their counter punches on any setbacks, they’ve done a pretty good job of getting back on track."
Gibeau also stated that, while exclusive deals may be fine, games will have to deliver ongoing services to players if they want to stay relevant, meaning they need DLC, free-to-play versions, and much more.
"It won’t be about DLC anymore, but rather subscriptions or F2P mechanics," he added. "Fortunately, we’ve already gone down that path with FIFA Ultimate Team, Battlefield Premium and some of the things we’ve done with Mass Effect. It’s not just DLC – we think of these as live services, so we give you microtransactions, free content, episodic stuff."
EA has quite a lot of games confirmed for both the PS4 and Xbox One, so it's going to be interesting to see which platform is the most popular for the publisher.