News
EA Games gets behind PC market
Jonathon Harker May 1 2008, 2:35pm
Comments (5)
Mega-publisher's label unveils array of ambitious new titles and talks up 'important' platform
EA confirmed its commitment to PC gaming in the publisher’s annual European showcase on Friday.
At the event the publisher showcased seven of its upcoming titles including free online gaming and PC versions of console classics.
The games on display all hailed from the EA Games label – one of the four divisions created by CEO John Riccitiello – with many of the titles demonstrating a continued PC focus for the firm.
Fears surrounding the future of the PC format has been growing over recent years, yet the FIFA publisher has thrown its full support behind the format: “We’ve got lots of stuff coming up on PC and the PC continues to be an important platform for EA,” said EA Games’ senior PR director Tammy Schachter.
EA VP Ray Muzyka added: “What strikes me about these titles is how great the quality is.
I’m proud of these games.”
Muzyka spoke to the crowd about the upcoming PC version of Mass Effect, calling it “our best work to date” and highlighted relationships as a key feature of the title, before introducing a ‘love scene’ from the game.
The event also included presentations from Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing for Valve, and Jonathan Zamkoff, senior producer for Pandemic.
Zamkoff introduced Mercenaries 2, a game with “glorious over the top action” which turns “it up to 11.”
The event also featured Battlefield Heroes, a free downloadable game that features Facebook-style event logs where gamers can see fellow gamers’ activities.
Comments
“I'll second that emaotion”
Posted by: Anon - May 1, 2:57pm
I'm all for EA putting it's weight behind the PC format. It is here to stay and there needs to be more united support for it from within the games industry, especially from publishers and retailers alike.
“Re: I'll second that emaotion”
Posted by: Bruceongames - May 1, 3:35pm
After phones PCs are the most common gaming platform. So they are well worth developing for. The problem is a business model that sees your game available for free by bit torrent before you even ship. Presumably EA are getting round this with in game advertising and micropayments.
“Re: I'll second that emaotion”
Posted by: MGB - May 2, 8:43am
Gotta be said that EA are making an effort nowadays. Never thought I'd say that...
“Re: I'll second that emaotion”
Posted by: woodins - May 2, 9:55am
With Bruce on this one,
The decline of the PC as a gaming platform seems to be intrinsicly linked to the rise of torrent sites. Being an ex-dyed-in-blue PC gamer, I have seen it slowly die as developers and publishers jump ship for something more profitable in the form of next-gen consoles. Not the only reason of course, I like the fact my 360 (and maybe one day PS3, once the price comes down to something more realistic and has a game that actually shows off the much vaunted power) doesn't need expensive hardware upgrades and the developers "make do" with what they have.
Cant help but think though this just means the PC will just get a slew of console conversions (GTA 4 a year down the line once the real profits have been made on consoles, for instance) and MMORPGS that developers know they can get a return on investment from subscription. Microsoft's "games for windows" push wasn't exactly brilliant was it? Even the much vaunted STEAMs products can be cracked and regularly haunt torrent sites.
I would love what i call (for my generation at least) the golden age of PC gaming when Half-Life 2 was released to return, but im not holding my breath.
“Re: I'll second that emaotion”
Posted by: diego - May 8, 5:13am
plkay game