EA promises to put gamers first from now on

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has promised to put “players first” as part of his company’s plan to improve their product and service offerings. You would expect a company that publishes video games and owns several development studios to always have the player in mind when running a business, but we know that profits and shareholders often take preference over us gamers.

“In all honesty, as I came into the role, there was this sense in the marketplace that maybe we weren’t doing all that we could for the player. And my objective number one was to really re-instill a player-first mentality; a player-first culture inside the organisation,” said Wilson.

He admits that EA has not always been seen in the best light by its customers, and he wants to change that.

Wilson said EA could become a better company by showing games earlier and releasing public betas earlier in development for its bigger titles – like it is doing with Battlefield Hardline.

He added that the decision not to release a new Need for Speed game this year is an example of how they will put the player first – by not shipping a game unless it is “great”. Wilson said the player first initiative will also see EA making games which gamers can enjoy for months on end, not once-off releases.

“I want to move us into the live services business. If you think about Star Wars, I don’t want [players] to come in and play a Star Wars game two weeks or three weeks or four weeks, I want them to come in and be part of a universe, immersed in an interactive experience they play for six months, eight months, ten months,” he said.

Do you think EA really cares about the “player”? Let us know in the comments and forum.