EA Sports’ President Andrew Wilson has said that any game without some form of connected online play is “dead media”, speculating that the quality of games will soon be determined by their ability to “connect [the player] with tens of millions of gamers around the world across platform”.
“Like a 90 rated game is the expectation on console,” said Wilson talking to GamesIndustry International, “moving forward a 90 rated game supported by an annual service that connects you with tens of millions of gamers around the world across platform is going to be the new definition of quality.”
EA has been keen to stress the importance of online connectivity in recent years.
Last week, the firm said that it has plans to migrate all of its brands, which includes Mass Effect, FIFA, The Sims, Need For Speed, Dead Space and Battlefield, into connected “online universes”.
The move would let players access various aspects of their game on different devices. For example, letting FIFA players practice their free kicks on their iPad or updating their kit on their iPhone, before automatically transferring these changes into their console game.
EA Sports was also the first publisher to introduce a controversial online pass system.
But considering the trouble EA has faced with its online options over the last 12 months, particularly with server disconnections, damning accusations of security leaks and its decision to shut down the servers of certain titles, Wilson’s comments could appear somewhat ironic.
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Comments
Skyrim says hello.
who is this guy? Hes a sports game maker……thats all he can refer too
Single player games are the reason why most people want to play anything at all
thats why EA shuts down game servers?
LMFAO EA needs to DIE
This guy clearly has no idea what he’s talking about. As an economics student and gamer I can safely say that as long as there is demand for offline games (I don’t play online games, or at least avoid them), then there will be supply.
Online games are not a progression from offline games, but simply a different category.
On another note, it might be worth mentioning that having idiots in decision making positions is very much detrimental to economic efficiency.
Nice to know some people like you have some common sense, unfortunately we live in a world that rewards greed, that’s how someone this dumb ended up as president of EA. Do you think this guy is even a gamer?
Guess I’m dead then.