EA creating five new Facebook games based on already established franchises
held its quarterly earnings call this week, giving fans of social games quite a bit to look forward to, at least in terms of vague promises. As reported by Gamasutra, EA plans to release five new Facebook games this year that are based on established franchises in the EA catalog. While no specific mention was made that one of these could be the often-rumored Mass Effect social game, we do know that the reason for all of the secrecy comes from a fear of copycats.
During the earnings call, EA CEO John Riccitiello addressed the issue: "Mimicry is common in this industry, and fast iteration and mimicry is something we need to guard against." That is, we won't learn as much about these games pre-launch as we might like, simply because EA is fearful that a competitor would swipe the ideas and create the same game first (let's face it, that's not an uncommon trend).
As for current social games in the company's lineup, the call did note that Playfish's the Sims Social is performing at least to the point of "meeting expectations." The call went on to focus on the growth available in the freemium games space, with EA COO Peter Moore stating that the company's moves into the social arena will only continue to grow as time goes by.
With five full games in the works, it leaves us with plenty of room for hopes and dreams that at least one is based on our favorite games, and with that much up in the air, you can be sure we'll stay on top of things as any information is eventually released.
What games in the EA catalog would you like to see transformed into Facebook games? Sound off in the comments.
