Electronic Arts Ready to Pounce onto Android Gaming Scene

[umikun]

The Deutsche Bank Tech Conference sure seemed like the place to have been this week. First we had Motorola CEO, Sanjay Jha using some choice words for the rumored Droid tablet, and now we have Electronic Arts new CFO, Eric Brown dropping bombs on the Android gaming front. According to Brown, they see Android as the next big thing for mobile gaming and are positioning themselves

 

[Nagrom]

Hmm interesting. Cant wait to see what EA have planed for 'droid.

 

[areeve]

And for how long have we been saying the Android Market needs some serious 'upgrades'?

1) Needs a web equivalent... not a selection of 8 games on the market.android.com site.
2) Needs filters so I don't have to look at Moppin' Hip XIV every morning when I'm checking out new apps.
3) Needs the ability to buy gift cards as currency and better international support.
4) Needs advertising... I wonder how many Android owners don't even know/care there's a market although this has probably declined quite a bit with the newer devices.
5) Needs more categories.

I'm sure there's more

 

[Essex]

Don't wanna be a Debbie-downer, but considering the fact that EA has pulled its games from the Market recently, I'll believe it when I see it. Notice that the CEO implied that EA wouldn't distribute games through the Market while the Market is in its current state (an incoherent, loosely organized, spam-infected mess). So unless Google is planning to overhaul the Market with Android 3.0 ("Gingerbread"), I would expect EA to adopt a distribution model similar to that of Gameloft if it really does plan on supporting Android. As a matter of fact, EA has a mobile games site similar to Gameloft's, just not quite as polished....

Again, I'll believe it when I can legally download "Need For Speed: Shift" and "Reckless Racing." Until then, it's just talk...

 

[mrmojoz]

Don't wanna be a Debbie-downer, but considering the fact that EA has pulled its games from the Market recently, I'll believe it when I see it. Notice that the CEO implied that EA wouldn't distribute games through the Market while the Market is in its current state (an incoherent, loosely organized, spam-infected mess). So unless Google is planning to overhaul the Market with Android 3.0 ("Gingerbread"), I would expect EA to adopt a distribution model similar to that of Gameloft if it really does plan on supporting Android. As a matter of fact, EA has a mobile games site similar to Gameloft's, just not quite as polished....

Again, I'll believe it when I can legally download "Need For Speed: Shift" and "Reckless Racing." Until then, it's just talk...

Your acting like market updates aren't being worked on right now. Why? Considering how quickly Android has improved, your perspective is highly flawed.

 

[nyydynasty]

I'm not impressed by EA's games on consoles, so I'm hoping (for their sake) their mobile games are better...just my opinion

 

[mrmojoz]

I'm not impressed by EA's games on consoles, so I'm hoping (for their sake) their mobile games are better...just my opinion

Yeah stuff like Mass Effect, who wants that? EA publishes lots of good games as well as crap, their mobile games will follow suit.

 

[Essex]

Your acting like market updates aren't being worked on right now. Why? Considering how quickly Android has improved, your perspective is highly flawed.

"[H]ighly flawed?" I don't think so. I'm not discounting the possibility that Gingerbread will be the cure for what ails the Android Market. Just because I didn't expressly state it in my previous post, doesn't mean that I don't recognize the possibility that Google may be hard at work trying to fix it. Who really knows? What I do know is that the Market sucks in it's current state (for the reasons Alster listed above), and because of that, there are games that I want to play but can't as developers aren't supporting it because the Market isn't as good as iTunes.

As much as I want to see developers support Android, I wouldn't be surprised to see more developers adopt the Gameloft model of direct distribution. So, EA may very well intend to pounce on Android, but it won't be through the Market. At least not until it looks like the iTunes store. Just take a look at EA's mobile games site to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Then, do a quick search for games by EA in the Market. Get back to me if you find anything...

In the meantime, despite EA's stated intentions, I still cannot (legally) download any of their games onto my phone RIGHT NOW. Which really sucks. So, like I said, I'll believe it when I see it...

 

[ludist210]

Everything from EA Mobile was pulled from the Market recently (on the Droid Eris) except Tetris was rebuilt and currently is on there. I downloaded it this morning and, aside from the $4.99 price, is excellent!