MCV reported on EA’s Showcase event held in West London on April 15th for retail and media partners to highlight their upcoming releases for the year and speak on the strategies they will employ for this year.
In his opening speech, EA’s UK marketing director Stuart Lang presented 4 key principles that the company will follow. They are as follows:
1. Fewer and bigger brands
2. Increased digital activity, both in terms of content delivery and consumer engagement
3. Expansion of direct-to-consumer/free-to-play offerings
4. An ongoing commitment to new IP and new genres
Lang cites several games as evidence of their success and commitment to their strategy. Medal of Honor helped to double EA’s market share in the shooter genre, from 8 to 16 percent in 2010. In 2011, EA is looking to expand even further, starting with strong releases in Bulletstorm and Crysis 2. Lang also touted that Battlefield 3 will be the biggest release in the shooter genre this year.
Beyond the shooter market, EA has also found success in the driving genre, with a rebirth of its Need For Speed franchise coming from the success of it’s Hot Pursuit and Shift 2 releases. Lang claims both games “re-invigorated the racing category and put the Need For Speed franchise once again at the forefront of the genre, commercially and critically.”
To squash the thought that their strategy would lead to a safety first approach, he refers to American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns, Kings Of Amalur: Reckoning and Shadows Of The Damned as proof of EA’s commitment to new IPs.
Across the board, EA appears to be making all the right moves to have a prosperous year. Hopefully other companies can follow their example. 2011 has been a year marked with so many new games and new IPs, making a gamer’s next purchase a difficult one. If the industry as whole can inherit a similar strategy, then gamers could potentially look forward to number of quality titles and give them the attention and time they deserve.
Original Source: MCV
