Peter Moore, former big shot at Microsoft’s Xbox 360 operations, and now head of EA Sports, says that Activision-Blizzard won’t have a chance in competing with Electronic Arts in 2008 as his division goes full speed ahead as far as improving its market share in sports titles.
Moore has a plan for world domination:
"We need to globalize, and we’re taking many steps to broaden the appeal of our product portfolio. We’re committed to testing the elasticity of our brand. We have a number of concepts in development that will start to evolve the EA Sports experience to something that still appeals to the hardcore but is less intimidating to casual gamers."
His strategy to reach out to the rest of the world, which probably could care less about home runs or slam-dunks, is a good way to broaden the appeal of the EA Sports brand. Moore defended EA’s track record, like a loyal employee should, and said that the criticism leveled against EA Sports franchises, such as FIFA and Madden, is unmerited and unfair.
"Quite frankly, I think many people who say our games aren’t innovative don’t actually play our games. It’s easy to be criticized when you’re on top, but we are getting high marks both critically and commercially across our portfolio.
"Consumers get a chance to vote at the cash registers, and what we’re seeing is that our games are as popular as ever. This is an area in which Activision-Blizzard really can’t compete with us."
The move towards international appeal and a move away from the hardcore emphasis of its sports games certainly will be a new move for EA and a fresh approach to what many consider has been a rut for the sports division.
[via mcvuk]
