There are more people playing more types of games on more platforms with more business models then we’ve ever seen before in the interactive industry

I believe this consumer trend represents a turning point for the games business.

For Electronic Arts, there are many ways to address this opportunity, whether it is by attracting female gamers on Pogo, or by unlocking the mobile platform as an effective gaming device, or through our partnership with Hasbro across social networks or next-generation consoles.

We have the organizational depth here and we have the expertise. I can say with some confidence that we have valuable insight into how to offer value and fun to new consumers across a variety of platforms.

But, there is a lot to learn and in some ways, we are taking our baby steps.

Pass Go

Let’s take Monopoly as an example of one way we’re approaching this opportunity.

Monopoly is probably the most well known game in the world and also a game that’s beloved. People have very fond memories of Monopoly; it stands for a great time with your friends and family. Everybody knows how to play it.

Our job is to take our medium and our expertise in the interactive space and bring that IP to light in new ways that take advantage of the technology.

It’s way harder than you might think. We don’t want to create a Monopoly game that is unfamiliar, nor do we want to replicate the board-game experience. We realize the design challenge, and that’s why we’re putting world-class development organizations onto these games.

There are other ways in which we are taking a fresh, new approach. A lot of these games have gone down the value route in the past, but we think these IPs are worth much more than that. I can’t tell you how many times Connect Four and Boggle and Battleship and Sorry have been remade in our space but I can tell you they’ve never been done in the way we have, with Hasbro Family Game Night, which is really is more akin to a traditional party style game like Mario Party.

This is not a value-price proposition but a premium party style product that leverages some of the most fun game experiences in the consumer’s mindset.

Development Strategy

It’s very important that we have dedicated and distinct development teams working on different versions of that product on different platforms.

In the past, we’ve seen this kind of IP taken in a single form factor to many, many platforms. Unfortunately, that forces you to develop to the least common denominator. You can’t take advantage of the specifics that each of these different platforms brings, whether it be the social mechanics of a Facebook application or the next-gen graphical applications of the PS3 or the mobility of a cell phone.

It’s essential to deploy web developers to, say, a Facebook app, and mobile developers to an iPhone game and a next-gen team working on the PS3 version.

Of course, this approach allows us to make the right bets on the future. We’re going to be tracking closely how each of these different brands performs across different platforms, and we can react as the market evolves.

The Board Question

One question I am often asked is whether interactive games will somehow replace the original board game versions.

I don’t see this at all. I believe there is just no replacement for getting your family together around the dining room table and playing a classic game of Monopoly. You just can’t replicate that time-honored tradition, and we don’t intend on trying.

There are things that we can do with interactive platforms around the TV that you can’t do with a board game. We really see them as complimentary experiences.

I genuinely believe that just about everybody who buys one of our products will have these board games in their closet and a large part of our marketing program is driving people back and forth between those two different play styles.


There is no point in treating this as a replacement strategy, but as a partner strategy. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about working with Hasbro is that both sides are treating this as a strategic alliance and working to figure out how we can combine what they have and what we do to create something that’s new and special. It transcends the traditional interactive licensing program, and I’ve been part of a lot of those in the past.

Ultimately, our job is to bring authentic world class interactive experiences based on these great brands, in partnership with Hasbro, and to do the best job ever in our industry with those products.