14 DAY TRIAL // Peter Moore, the current head of EA Sports, who recently commented on the state of PC gaming, is again talking about the future of games, this time focusing on the digital distribution model and on the way social gaming will be taking over from single player experience.
The people from GamesIndustry caught up with Moore at E3 and showered him with questions. The point man at Electronic Arts tried to show the way his company is looking to the future, mainly through the launch of All-Play initiative for the Nintendo Wii and the development of Nucleus, the social games service that it plans to implement in future titles.
Moore believes that the Wii is a challenge for game developers because most of them do not understand how to create games that are adapted to the unique control scheme and to the unique profile of the users of the Nintendo made console. Moore thinks that the system is "an opportunity, not a risk" and that the new line-up of EA Sports games will make sure to provide great experiences on the Wii while maintaining the gameplay mechanics that made all the games popular on the PC and on the other consoles.
Peter Moore also promoted the idea that the online component of gaming is becoming more and more important. According to him, Electronic Arts is a company "that truly believes that every consumer will ultimately go online, whether it's five years from now". This means that the publisher needs to adapt to the new situation so that "we don't become another music industry". Through digital distribution and online storage of game data and profiles, most of the releases will become social and persistent experiences.
The main initiative in this direction is now Nucleus, which will allow players to track preferences, game score, achievements and relationships across multiple games and platforms. Electronic Arts hopes that, ultimately, all its games will feature Nucleus, which is now shipped as part of EA Sports titles and integrated in Battlefield Heroes and in Spore.