BioWare Mythic: community migration key to next-gen success

BioWare Mythic general manager, Eugene Evans, has predicted that successful migration of existing online communities will be one of the key fronts on which the next-gen console battle will be won or lost.

A key factor in the next round of the console war will be the success with which platform-holders migrate their existing online communities, BioWare Mythic vp and general manager Eugene Evans has told attendees at this year's Develop conference in Brighton.

"[The thing about] the transition we're about to go through again, with the inevitable new platforms from Sony, from Microsoft, from Nintendo, is, for the first time, they have connected communities on their existing devices," he said.

"I actually think one of the keys to success for whoever becomes the leaders with the next round will be how successfully they migrate those communities.

"People have their Gametags, they have their friends lists on these devices. The key will be how well they migrate that.

"The company that does that the best, I think, will be the most successful," Evans predicted.

Evans drew on his 30 years experience of the industry in a speech in which he touched on the importance of being both mobile and always online, as well as suggesting that the free-to-play model will become the prevalent, but not the only, option.

Develop is currently taking place in Brighton and is expected to play host to 1,500 developers and 450 companies.

Thanks, EG