“EA Sports, it’s in the game.” That phrase has been heavily embedded into the memory of virtually anyone who played a sports game in the last three decades. Electronic Arts has published so many games across so many genres and franchises, but it will perhaps always be primarily known for its prominence in translating real world sporting events into digital form. Well, that and going in so hard on loot boxes that they ruined a “Star Wars” franchise and were previously voted the worst company in America… but you know, primarily the sports games. Now that division of the company is going to be even further separated as EA plans to diverge into two entities, EA Sports and EA Entertainment.
EA has been a juggernaut in the gaming industry for decades and creating a fair bit of controversy for itself. It gained a reputation through the late ’00s and 2010’s for buying up companies and either closing them down, or resulting in gaming franchises taking a turn for the worse. Even the sports division was hit with a lawsuit over accusations of violating anti-trust laws with the EA “Madden” series having sole ownership of the NFL license for video games. Yet even with all this, they’re still one of the biggest names in the business, especially with their sports titles in football, soccer, PGA Golf, and F1. It’s not entirely surprising then to see EA Sports have its own unique focus now coming into play.
It’s hard not to ignore the fact that the rest of EA is falling under the branding of “EA Entertainment.” Given the glut of video game related projects and the insane success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” it seems like EA is making a calculated move to try to branch out beyond just video games. When you look at all the non-sports franchises they own, you see properties like “Dead Space,” “The Sims,” “Medal of Honor,” “Mass Effect,” “Mirror’s Edge,” and “Need for Speed.” The latter of these already had a film adaptation, but that was nearly a decade ago now and what’s to say a reboot isn’t in the cards?
Reports indicate while this might seem like a big shake-up, it actually won’t change a lot about how the company’s divisions function or who is leading them. Effectively it seems to be happening just to let EA Sports do their own thing while allowing EA Entertainment to become something more than just a video game developer and publisher. How this will affect gamers is yet to be seen; EA has previously been very aggressive in its push for microtransactions and mechanics that could be construed as “gambling,” especially in their sports games. They’ve also rebounded with some strong single-player experiences as well in the form of the “Dead Space” remake and the double whammy of “Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order” and its follow-up, “Jedi: Survivor.”
As the current console generation chugs along EA will continue to remain one of the biggest players in the industry. Whether this split will enhance the quality of their titles or just help maintain the status quo more efficiently will be something to keep an eye on in the upcoming months.
