You can expect more single-player games from EA, but they’re unlikely to be more of a priority than live services, based on EA’s financials.
Only five years ago, EA stated that single-player games weren’t popular anymore, even cancelling a Star Wars game because of it. Nowadays, however, the company has changed its tune.
During a recent call with investors, the topic of single-player games was broached, and CEO Andrew Wilson described them as a ‘really, really important part’ of the company’s portfolio.
When asked about what to expect from future single-player games, Wilson only said that ‘this is really less about which game and more about which motivations do these games fulfil.
‘When we think about our portfolio and we think about building it out, we really think about it on two key vectors. One, how can we tell incredible stories and two, how can we build tremendous online communities and then how do we bring those two things together.’
So, while single-player games remain a part of it, EA’s efforts to fulfil these core player motivations will also comprise of online and multiplayer games as well.
It’s not surprising that EA wouldn’t put extra value on single-player games, as in the same call it was revealed that live service games make up more than 70% of the company’s business at the moment.
Furthermore, despite signs that people are spending less money on video games this year compared to 2021, EA is enjoying high profits thanks to its FIFA games and F1 22, with the latter outperforming expectations.
It’s net income for the past quarter is $311 million (approximately £255 million), which is up 52% compared to last year. EA’s financial results can be viewed on its website.
‘We’ve talked a lot about the areas of investment that we’re making, and that’s both in the live service as well as some of the single title launches that you’ve seen,’ said chief financial officer Chris Suh, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
‘And so over the course of time, we’ll continue to invest in our long-term growth. We’ll continue to invest in the ongoing stable performance of our live services business, and there’ll be some puts and takes along the way.’
There have been earlier signs that EA now recognises the value of single-player games. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order being a critical and commercial success obviously helped, with it due to get a sequel next year.
EA is also returning to the Dead Space series for the first time in 10 years with a remake of the first game, and there’re rumours of it making an open world Black Panther game as well.
That said, the company has been doing a bad job convincing its audience that it does care about single-player games. Last month, an ill-advised Tweet came across as insulting to both those kinds of games and the people who play them, angering not just regular people but even some of EA’s own staff.
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