On the earnings call on Tuesday, the gaming giant had a mixed bag. As marketing dollars flood into platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, Electronic Arts sees its popular game simulation as its way to secure a piece of the metaversal pie. The closest thing to a truly immersive and persistent digital world is a gaming platform. As games become full-service metaverse platforms, marketers spend millions of dollars partnering with in-game creators to build brand experiences inside them. During its Q3 2023 earnings call, the game developer took note of the revenue potential of virtual platforms powered by user-generated content. "There's no doubt in my mind that 'The Sims' will be as big as 'Fortnite' and 'RobOS' at some point," said Sam Ryan, an svp and general manager at the studio. The Q&A was supported by observations from the earnings call of the company. The conversation has been edited to make it more clear.
Ryan mentioned "The Sims" in her answer. The Sims 4 had a total player count of 33 million in October 2022, six years after it was first released, making it one of the most popular games in the world. The 173 million and 400 million users of "Fortnite" are larger than the 33 million player count for any game.
A series called "The Sims" is based on the construction of virtual worlds and virtual people to populate them. The sims is more of a simulation game than a true metaverse platform Users cannot co-create at the same time. In the games, socializing with other players in-game is necessary to keep things interesting.
On the specific changes that will bring games like ‘The Sims’ closer to metaverse platforms
The planned changes to "The Sims" show how the game's developers are aware of the inherent social nature of today's leading metaverse platforms. In order to ensure that the final product lines up with the community's expectations, and in order to test prototype versions of its games with a select group of players,EA has recently started to test prototype versions of its games with a select group of players.
The recent switch to a free-to-play, live service model for "The Sims" is one of the key changes that has brought the game closer to its competitors. Andrew Wilson said that The Sims is growing as a live service. Over 10 million new players were welcomed into the community in the third quarter.
On the scale of EA’s UGC audience
Another reason to believe that the company viewsMinecraft as a serious competitor is the partnership with Overwolf. The largest online game-mod sharing platform is owned by Overwolf. Millions of users visit CurseForge every month to download mod, and now they are also served sims mod whenever they navigate to the home page
The future of gaming is User Generated Content. Publishers can outsourcing content creation in a way that is safe, while fostering engagement, if they choose to do so, according to Overwolf CEO Uri Marchand. The partnership between Overwolf and The Sims 4 marked a significant step towards unleashing the community's creativity.
On the formation of a brand/creator economy in EA’s corner of the metaverse
The platforms have branded experiences created by independent creator studios without the involvement of the platform's developers. Most brand activations in "The Sims 4" are the result of direct partnerships between the brands and the publisher. It will have to support the development of a more robust creator economy in order for it to compete with the leading metaverse platforms.
Wilson said that the future of entertainment is interactive. By pushing titles like "The Sims" and "Skate" into the metaverse,EA is betting big on the continued rise of interactive and virtual media.