Electronic Arts is Interested in Switch, But Not in Being Outshone by Nintendo
There's interest, but nothing much to show for it yet.
The Nintendo Switch may have a lot of games on it now, but Electronic Arts is still noticeably missing from the system's lineup. Only a handful of games have made the jump to the Switch, and despite growing interest, it still seems like EA is watching from afar.
In a conference call for today's Q3 2020 quarterly report, COO Blake Jorgensen said that they are "very pleased" with how well the Nintendo Switch has done so far. But he also added that people who have a Switch also tend to have a PlayStation or Xbox as well. When porting to a Nintendo platform, those games have to compete with Nintendo games for the spotlight.
"We are always looking and discussing with Nintendo what else we can put on the platform, and as the platform grows, our interest in adding content grows for that platform," Jorgensen said. "But we're also conscious of the fact that the top selling titles, by a long shot, are all Nintendo software. Which is fabulous software, but it helps us balance the realities of how big our markets could be there. But trust that we're looking at that, you will hear more things in the future about what we're putting on the platform."
EA has historically been hesitant to move games over to the Switch, with only a handful to date including Unravel 2 and a few FIFA games. And in past quarterly calls, the company has brought up the Switch's status as an additional console for those that own a PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or PC; several systems where their games tend to get played more often.
"We have a lot of data that would suggest that a great many Switch owners also own a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One, or a PC," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said last July. "And very often choose to play the games that we make on those platforms even though they have a Switch and they enjoy a lot of great content on the Switch."
Meanwhile, Nintendo reported stellar sales of the Nintendo Switch today, including a strong year for first-party games like Pokemon Sword and Shield and Luigi's Mansion 3. Maybe that last aside about hearing from EA in the future can spark some hope for some Switch love.
Related articles
Blizzard Addresses Warcraft 3: Reforged Criticisms, Pledges Support "For a Long Time to Come"
Blizzard is going to take the long road with Warcraft 3: Reforged.
5
Astro Bot VR Director Becomes Studio Director of SIE Japan Studio
Nicolas Doucet steps into a larger role at SIE.
1
GTA 5's Most Streamlined VR Mod Now Works in Cutscenes and Supports Other Mods
R.E.A.L. might be as close as you can get to visiting Los Santos in person.
1
Doom Eternal's First 10 Minutes Wastes No Time To Get Into Ripping and Tearing
2016's Doom didn't start off slow, but this is a full-on sprint.
2
You may also like
The 25 Best Steam Games
A rotating list of the best games on Steam may seem impossible on the surface, but against all odds, we've done it. Now updated for 2020!
Starting Screen | Starting Screen | I Moderated a Gaming BBS in 1995, and It Was a Beautiful, Life-Changing Mess
When it comes to video game discourse, everything old is forever new.
3
PlatinumGames is Crowdfunding The Wonderful 101: Remastered
Pay to get blocked by Kamiya.
6
Cyberpunk 2077 Will Have "Around 75" Bespoke Street Stories
They're not fully fledged missions, but they're not randomly generated either.
3
Newsletter
Subscribe to our weekly newsletters
Get the best of USG in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters.