EA Sports business challenge

EA Sports have a well established and mature catalogue of computer sport franchises.  Madden and FIFA are the big sellers, with NBA Live, NCAA Football, NHL and Tiger Woods all contributors to annual sales.  The problem EA have is that the annual release cycle for each franchise is seemingly creating a jaded feel to the games, even though many of the games contain a large number of improvements. Madden last year was good example. A new art direction gave it a great new look but many people questioned was there enough of a change to justify a new purchase. 

The incremental nature of improvement within a game seem at odds with an annual purchase. To help combat this dislocation Peter Moores has created a new approach where the development studios communicate early and often with the community.

To this end EA Sports are utilising a large number of social media tools:

• Peter Moores, head of EA Sports has a regular blog that contains full and frank discussion about the EA Sports business
• Over the past couple of months developers of the 2010 games have started to blog early about their games
• EA Sports have a presence on Playstation Home
• They stream interactive content such as news within their games
• Developers are encouraged to particiapte within the community forums
• Gamers can upload their favourite plays within the game to show off on youtube
• EA Sports have invested heavily to provide the most comprehensive online play for gamers
• Within the 2009 series FIFA and NBA included a constantly updated player form and play feature

While these are welcome additions I suspect social media alone is not enough, the annual release cycle may be flawed, they may have to find a subscription payment similar to a MMORPG and investigate further in game sponsorships and advertising.

Such a change will not occur overnight, many people still want to buy the annual release from a retail outlet, however a growing number of gamers no longer see the value of the annual release. The social media tools the EA team are currently deploying could be the start of a strategy that could change their entire business model.

btw I’m a sport nut so I love Madden, NCAA Football (only available in the UK via PS3 import), Fifa (much improved but still does not feel dynamic enough), NHL (be a pro mode), EA Cricket and Rugby when available.