14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts recently acquired Playfish and followed up on the announcement of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online by saying that it plans to develop and launch a free-to-play version of its football simulation FIFA, which will arrive in the form of an open beta in June 2010.
The publisher seems pretty serious about creating so-called social games, which target gamers who lack the time or the money to get into already established franchises. And Peter Moore, the head of the EA Sports division, is stating that gamers can expect more on the social front.
Moore has told Reuters that “You're seeing a focus in our activity being on companies that will enhance our digital strategy. It allows you to go out and go get more friends, get more people involved. You're building a labor force quite frankly that helps you build your game and be more powerful or more relevant in that game environment.”
Electronic Arts is looking to social titles as being both an alternative source of revenue, which will offset the overall fall in sales of boxed games and as a powerful marketing tool that allows the company to promote its products directly and efficiently to interested customers.
Peter Moore is saying that EA is learning a lot from Playfish, their recent acquisition, and that as time goes by, social titles will be more attuned to the needs of gamers who are short on time or on resources.
The big hope on the part of the publisher must be that social games like PGA Tour Online and FIFA Online, with their limited functionality and easy availability, will act like a sort of a gateway drug that will draw players towards the core releases, like FIFA 11 or Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. Only time will tell whether the plan will work.