However, aside from the comment about single-player games, it was also stated that EA’s ‘live service’ titles are “very reliable” with a “highly reoccurring revenue stream.”
It seems EA is constantly changing its mind about the single-player games debacle. More than a decade ago, in 2010, former EA Games President Frank Gibeau boldly stated that single-player games were essentially dead and that people should expect the shift to a primarily online gaming world. Following this, many games chose to omit single-player campaigns largely and instead go for online practices, with microtransactions and such.
However, at the same time, between 2010 and 2022, we have seen the release of countless popular single-player titles such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Last of Us, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, God of War, Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us Part 2 and even EA owned, Respawn Entertainments Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order.
The number of single-player titles still does not cover the amount that has been released to major critical acclaim since that statement. The company was obviously in the single-player headlights again, as a poor joke caused a massive uproar from both fans and the company’s developers.
The most recent earnings call on Tuesday proves that they certainly have reversed Gibreau’s 2010 statement and are against the Twitter joke. The current CEO of the company, Andrew Wilson, stated: “As we think about single-player games, we think it’s an important part of the overall portfolio that we deliver in the fulfillment of those core motivations.”
However, this does not mean that they are done with online multiplayer games, which is far from it. EA’s Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh has stated that “live services still encompass, on a trailing 12-month basis, over 70% of our business, and that has been a proven, very reliable, highly recurring revenue stream.”
So, while they have claimed that single-player games are ‘necessary’ to the company, much of the business’s money still comes from live service titles.
Now, the company has a few single-player titles ready to release soon. The Dead Space remake, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf are the three most highly anticipated, with Dead Space set to release early next year.
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