Back at E3, EA COO Peter Moore had a lengthy chat with Games Industry, where they discussed a wide variety of topics, including how the mega publisher is spending billions of dollars each year on people, technology, and development.
Elsewhere, Moore also highlighted the early adoption rates of the PS4 and Xbox One:
The last time we looked, we were up 127% on hardware vs. the previous generation, same month after launch. So all indications are it’s been a strong start. If you remember this time last year, we were sweating whether these things would fly, right? And to both Sony and Microsoft’s credit coming out of E3 last year, I think they convinced us all they would, and now they’re certainly proving it.
With EA supporting consoles this fall by releasing titles like FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Battlefield: Hardline, and NHL 15, it’s clear they have planned out their future way ahead of time. As it turns out, EA’s “resource planning is done two to two and a half years in advance,” with Moore adding, “I can look at our lineup for FY2017 pretty solidly right now.”
So, while the company may be bringing out numerous titles for consoles, their 3DS and PS Vita support has dropped considerably after their initial batch of launch titles, with Moore explaining:
We were supportive of both of those platforms. But then you’ve got finite resources and you’ve got teams that say, ‘We really think that two or three years from now, these are the platforms that people are going to be consuming games on.’ And you look at the quality of what you can do on phones and tablets… Sometimes strategy is not about what you do but what you don’t do, and you have to make some hard calls when you’ve got only so many people. To my point, we’ve got to be planning for FY 17 and 18. Do you think the Vita and 3DS are going to be around in some shape or fashion by then on a scale level?
EA’s level of support won’t fade as quickly for the PS3 and Xbox 360 though, as Moore said, “The hope is we get a decent tail of two or three years, and we’ll continue to make games for those platforms as long as fans buy them.”
Finally, Moore addressed virtual reality, confirming that they’re “looking at it,” but “there’s not much to jump on board right now.” He added that he hopes it doesn’t fall victim to the Segway effect: “incredible technology that kinda looks dorky.” While not committal about VR, Moore does think the “tech is great.”
