EA CEO Wilson sees formats & business models as distractions, urges industry to focus on making great games
EA CEO Andrew Wilson has stressed the value of making great games in a new interview, stating that any good game can succeed regardless of format and business model, and that this should provide the core of any project. He's called on the industry to stop getting distracted away from this key aim.
All of this, following the release of the reprehensible and monetisation-heavy Dungeon Keeper reboot, that locks core gameplay mechanics behind waiting and paywall mechanics.
Speaking with CNN's Fortune, Wilson said, "Every video game is hard to make. It takes long hours, and you really have to love it. What I hope comes with me in this job is that there's that renewed passion for what we do, which is make great interactive entertainment. At the end of the day, that also comes with an understanding of what our people go through in order to make great games.
"If the industry can avoid the distraction of platforms, of geographies, of business models, and really just focus on making great games for whatever their target audience is, for whatever that gamer-centric group of people is; then I think we'll be all right. These other distractions are not without merit and they're important, but they can't be your center.
"Great games work no matter what platform you're on or what business model you're going with. If you can provide great entertainment, then you can really get down to that minute-to-minute interaction that's fun and enjoyable and feels like great value."
When asked how the Battlefield 4 launch issues fit into this positive vision, Wilson replied, "For whatever reason, whether it was because [the developers] were pushing the boundaries of innovation and they pushed a little hard and things didn't go so well. We won't always get everything right, but my hope is that we're seen as a company that tries to do amazing things. When we get it a little bit wrong, we do our best to fix it."
Well then, what do you make of that?
Via OXM.