after snubbing single-player games, the publisher is interested in them again

After the update on its possible takeover, EA clarifies its position in relation to single-player games by backtracking. They are always important… without being a top priority.

It’s never too late to change your mind… After very bad signals sent to players on the importance of single-player games at EA, the publisher is doing an about-face.

Single-player games appeal to EA again

In recent years, we can not say that EA has been very reassuring about the place of single player games in their strategy. Between the closure of Visceral Games and a tweet that created controversy, the publisher only tarnished its image even more. And this even if Electronic Arts was able to sign solo titles like the essential It Takes Two or the very good Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, two apps that proved to the company that it was always possible to meet with success without going through the multiplayer.

During the last meeting with investors, Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, took the time to address this thorny subject. For him, single-player games are still a very important part of the business.

We know that our players have these fundamental motivations which are inspiration, escape, competition, self-improvement and creation. Those things that bring us together as players, creating worlds, crafting characters, and telling stories are really important in fulfilling those motivations. We think single-player games are a very, very important part of our catalog. . We study our community of players, we look at how they spend their time and how these motivations can be satisfied or not. And then we’re looking to expand that with the addition of new online games, new multiplayer games, and new single player games.

Star Wars Jedi Survivor and the single-player FPS Apex Legends testify to this turnaround.

… but service games weigh more heavily in the balance

Chris Suh, chief financial officer of EA, however, tempers this statement. Solo games are good, but multiplayer apps are still better for monetizing in the long term.

Andrew explained it well but when we think about the impact of the model on the financial situation, the first thing to keep in mind is that service games, over a period of one year, still account for more than 70% of our activity. It is a proven, very reliable and regular source of income, which will remain the main driver of our PNL (Profit and Loss, editor’s note: income statement) in the long term.

Via Twinfinite.

As for the acquisition of Electronic Arts, the publisher has also provided an answer.