EA won't go wholly always-on, free-to-play - Moore
Following a gamescom interview in which he made some potentially alarming comments about online gaming and free-to-play business models, EA COO Peter Moore has addressed concerns the publisher is embracing both models exclusively.
"Last week at gamescom I spoke about the fact that EA no longer makes 'offline' games. That is a fact," Moore said in a statement published on EA's blog.
"Today, most games are 'online' in some way, shape or form. Many games connect in online multiplayer modes; others include online services which allow for periodic content updates, sharing stats or achievements or connecting with friends; and others are games downloaded through digital delivery methods like Origin or the App Store. The reality is, the Internet and social connectivity touches every one of our titles today – and has for several years.
"What that does NOT mean is that every game we ship will require an online connection."
Moore said many, and perhaps most, of EA's games offer single-player and offline modes that don't require an internet connection at all.
"We know that’s something many of our players want, and we will continue to deliver it," he promised, before going ont o address questions about EA's plans for free-to-play gaming.
"Many of our most popular franchises for PCs and mobile – including Battlefield, Need for Speed, FIFA, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Plants vs. Zombies and now Madden NFL, to name a few – already offer free-to-play experiences. Command & Conquer is another exciting new free-to-play game coming online later this year," he pointed out.
"However, NOT ALL of EA’s games will offer a free-to-play mode. We will continue to explore new free-to-play experiences for our franchises when we believe there is gamer interest and a cool new game we can build. But of course we will continue to deliver award-winning core gaming experiences on ALL of these franchises."
Moore was head of EA Sports before rising to COO. He is strongly tipped to become CEO following John Riccitiello's exit. He formerly held executive roles at Sega and Microsoft. He's known for his candidness and willingness to speak out on issues directly rather than filtering through PR, and has a pretty rad facial hair situation going on.