EA Breaks Its Silence On Next-Gen Consoles
Electronic Arts is not a company content to rest on its laurels. Despite the backlash that EA has received over the years, it's clear that the publisher has no intentions of slowing down. This is especially true when it comes to the next generation of console gaming. In fact, we finally have an idea as to how EA feels about what it's seen from the next era.
A recent conference call with the company's investors revealed some of what the company has in the pipeline and what we can look forward to. In particular, EA has expressed a genuine excitement for next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. It even outlined a bit of the content we can expect to see on those next-gen consoles, and sketched out general ideas of how best to take advantage of next-gen hardware.
All in all, there were some juicy tidbits revealed in regards to EA's plans for the next generation of console gaming. Let's take a look at some of the highlights from this conference call and allow our brains to start speculating wildly.
What does EA think of the next-gen systems?
EA did not mince words when it comes to the potential and the power being brought to the table with next-gen consoles. We know this thanks to a transcript of the call (via The Motley Fool). According to Blake Jorgensen, C.O.O. of Electronic Arts, the company intends to play a bit of a waiting game so that it can take full advantage of the powerful new consoles.
"You should assume that the power of those consoles are going to be a lot better than the power of the existing consoles," said Jorgensen. "And so you will start to see things over the next couple of years that we're doing with games that will blow people's minds."
This would seem to imply that EA is very impressed with what it's seen from the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. It's also somewhat encouraging to see EA attempting to anticipate future trends, rather than simply banking on the success of well-worn franchises to lead the way. However, we can expect to see at least one familiar EA franchise on new consoles.
The return of Battlefield
Elsewhere in the call, Jorgensen listed a few of EA's biggest franchises that would be making their return in upcoming years. What's more, EA fully expects these titles to perform splendidly. The most notable of these was, of course, Battlefield.
"We expect growth to accelerate in fiscal 2022 as we leverage the growing base of the next-generation consoles with the launch of a new Battlefield," said Jorgensen. "This is on top of the launches of FIFA 22 and Madden NFL 22, plus new and ongoing live services and other titles."
While we knew Battlefield 6 was slated to arrive in 2021/2022, it's exciting to hear the game's development being discussed again, not to mention for the next-gen consoles. This means that Electronic Arts is planning to take full advantage of next-gen capabilities. Maybe the quality issues that plagued the development of Battlefield 5's canceled 5v5 mode will be a thing of the past when players finally get to play Battlefield 6 (if it's even called that) for themselves. If nothing else, the enthusiasm shown by Jorgensen is rather infectious.
EA had a pretty great year
All in all, it's easy to see why EA is looking forward to hitting the ground running when the new consoles make their way to stores. The company had a pretty positive year with some of its biggest franchises.
Partnering with Respawn for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order resulted in a game that far exceeded sales expectations for the company. According to Jorgensen on the conference call, EA had anticipated selling between "6 million to 8 million units for the fiscal year." However, following the game's positive reception and high sales during the holiday season, the company is forecasting closer to 10 million units sold for the action title.
In addition to the success of Fallen Order, EA rolled out new content for Apex Legends, and its other tried-and-true franchises performed well. In fact, Jorgensen claims, "Madden NFL 20 is delivering the best performance in Madden's more than 30-year history."
It's looking like the successes of the 2021 fiscal year are giving EA a full head of steam. Considering how excited the company seems to be about next-gen consoles, one can't help but look forward to what it plans to do next.