WWW.MCVUK.COM
MCV 11/06/10 25 EA SPORTS’ REINVENTION TEAM PLAY: EA Sports’ incredible
Vancouver studio boasts a high-tech Mocap centre, 1,300 employees and an entire sports complex
Although Metacritic has been central to the company’s transformation, Moore feels it is time to look beyond the score aggregation sites’ metrics. “I’ve taken the entire FIFA team out for dinner for a tremendous celebration for what they did on FIFA 10, because they not only delivered a 90 they delivered a 91,” continues Moore. “In terms of what I want from 11, it is difficult to tell them to go and get a 92 or 93. It is almost impossible to take an iterative annual sports title and get it into the mid-90s. There are no plot lines, no boss characters, no map packs. There will be metrics that I work into their objectives, but I don’t think it will be around Metacritic. “Here in the US Robin Hood just come out and it has been ripped apart by the critics, but it made $40m in the first weekend. There is a bunch of games that sell millions of units that only get a mid-70s Metacritic. “There were challenges five years ago in regards quality at EA that has all been put to bed. There were 20 titles with a
“
Metacritic of 80 plus in our fiscal year. You can break Metacritic down and say ‘We can get two extra points by doing this’ but it may not actually enhance the gamers’ experience, and that is where there is a line we have to be careful we don’t cross. It is a bit of a slippery slope if you focus everything on Metacritic.”
THE DIGITAL AGE
EA Sports still puts quality at the heart of what it does. Developers from its
Consumers are telling us that the preference now is not to buy lots of games, but to spend more on fewer games. Andrew Wilson, EA Sports
highly acclaimed FIFA and NHL titles have even begun helping out on the firm’s other franchisees to help improve the overall experience. But it has become less of a worry for the management team, which is now switching its focus towards what Moore calls “the digitalisation of our business.” “By 2015 you will see a company that still has its core franchises, so
Madden, FIFA, NBA and Mixed Martial Arts, and you’ll see a lot more of it delivered digitally,” continues Moore. “We of course have to adhere to the terms and conditions of our platform partners – Microsoft and Sony in particular, one would hope that Nintendo will catch-up from a digital perspective, which I believe they will eventually.” EA Sports has seen great response to
”
the FIFA Ultimate Team DLC and is convinced that more and more gamers will be buying downloadable content in the years to come as they see digital updates as an alternative to new titles. “What our consumers are telling us, and the growth that we are seeing, is that the preference now is not to buy lots of games, but to spend more money on fewer games,” says SVP of development Andrew Wilson. “In fiscally challenging times, maybe a gamer won’t buy three games anymore, maybe they’ll buy two and spend the other £30 on extendable content, on experiences they know they love.” Moore adds: “FIFA 11 has become the jewel in the crown from the
WELCOME TO VANCOUVER
EA Sport’s impressive Vancouver office was formed in 1991 when the publisher acquired Burnaby-based Distinctive Software. It is one of the largest game
development studios in the world, with 400,000 square feet of state-of- the-art production studios and three distinctive buildings. Electronic Arts Canada features
education facilities, a football pitch, fitness centre, basketball courts and a beach volleyball court. It also has an arcade, a theatre, rooftop terraces with stunning views, and a 3,000 square foot café (EAt) that services the studio’s 1,300 staff. One of the three buildings features
the firm’s famous motion capture studio. The Mocap building was finished in August 2005 and is the largest one of its kind in the world. It contains two stages, while the Mocap team often has to pack up and travel around the globe to meet the world’s biggest sporting stars.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104