February 17th, 2011 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Analysis & Editorial | No Comments »
During the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, EA’s John Riccitiello explained that EA is about to reclaim the leading position in the games industry. Online Distribution and Free to play will be key in the new strategy.
Though retail distribution will remain one of the keys in EA’s strategy, the company will put more focus on online distribution and free to play games. As an example, Riccitiello gave FIA Ultimate Team. By reducing the price from $10 to $0, revenues increased four times. Play now, pay later he claims.
In order to free up capacity for the new online strategy, EA will be releasing less (retail) games. Franchises like The Sims will be targeted more at online platforms like Facebook and the iPhone. Undoubtedly, this news will be good for the recently acquired Chillingo.
