Electronic Arts is ramping up its efforts in the world of sports games. EA Sports VP Cam Weber said during an EA “fireside chat” that the company is looking to release more sports titles annually than in the past. Currently, EA’s annual release slate covers new Madden, FIFA, and NHL games.
“We’re looking a little further ahead into the future. We definitely do expect to increase the number of sports games we launch each year,” Weber said.
Weber teased that EA Sports is currently working on multiple unannounced new sports games, and some of them are “familiar faces.”
“We have a number of new games in incubation or early pre-production. Some of them are familiar faces you might remember, and others are completely new,” he said.
The “familiar faces” line is intriguing. It’s widely rumored that EA will bring back its EA Sports UFC franchise this year, while another report mentioned that EA is reviving its golf games. The company for years worked with Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour series, but after the two companies split apart, EA signed PGA Tour player Rory McIlroy for a new franchise. However, it fizzled out after one release.
EA used to release NBA games, too, but the company canceled NBA Live 20 and announced it would bring the franchise back on next-gen consoles.
Also during the call, Weber said EA Sports is looking to “reach new players” with all of its sports games, and this could include releases in the “mid-core” and “casual” markets.
Weber said for mobile in particular, there is a “lot of growth ahead of us.” He said players can expect more “connected progression” between mobile and console/PC.
Weber pointed out on the call that EA currently has more than 400 sports league licenses, which help the company make sports games that appeal to players around the world.
Sports games are big business for EA, so it’s no surprise to see the company look to do even more in the space. In 2019, Madden NFL 20 was the third highest-selling game of the year in the US, only behind NBA 2K20 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In addition to sales of the base EA Sports games, EA makes a huge amount of money from their Ultimate Team modes and microtransactions.
In other EA news, CEO Andrew Wilson recently spoke about how the company may be getting into the world of betting, but probably not anytime soon.