Free-to-play can be “very profitable”, says EA

28 June 2011

Everybody loves free stuff, and EA’s Frank Gibeau loves people who love free stuff too. That’s what the company’s free-to-play label is all about, anyway.

“We’re aggressively investing in things that are very low cost like free-to-play,” he says in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. “The free-to-play group inside of EA Games is growing extremely fast – we’ve got 17 million users.

“Frankly when they get to scale, have huge audiences, are very profitable, they’re not cannibalising the main games and they actually reach markets that we’re not currently serving. With Need for Speed World, Russia and Brazil are number one and two – the Ukraine is in there too. I can’t sell packaged goods in those territories.

“It’s a very exciting time from our perspective because it’s not all about consoles,” he adds. “It’s about smartphones, tablets, free-to-play, browser, social.”

EA’s lineup of f2p titles includes Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play 4 Free, Battleforge, Lord of Ultima, and more.

Discuss free-to-play games in the forums

You have read 1 out of 5 free articles. Log in or register for unlimited access.

Read now

The best gaming website in South Africa
MyGaming proudly displays the “FAIR” stamp of the Press Council of South Africa, indicating our commitment to adhere to the Code of Ethics for Print and online media which prescribes that our reportage is truthful, accurate and fair. Should you wish to lodge a complaint about our news coverage, please lodge a complaint on the Press Council’s website, www.presscouncil.org.za or email the complaint to [email protected] Contact the Press Council on 011 4843612.