Continue to Broaden Its Horizons
EA has a stable of successful series they can use like Battlefield, Madden, FIFA, and Need for Speed. However, the company can really succeed by trying new things. Experimental indie-style games like Unravel, A Way Out, and Fe are a breath of fresh air from the stream of sports and shooting titles that we normally see. These kinds of titles could also see success on the immensely popular Nintendo Switch, although EA is still hesitant to support the console despite its momentum. Not everything needs to make its way to Switch, but there’s a hungry market on Nintendo’s system that EA could really tap into, and luckily Fe is coming to the console.
At the same time, experiments with their biggest series have paid off in the past, like with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. Taking a few chances from the norm might just pay off in the end for EA, especially with Mass Effect now on hiatus. Anthem is going to be one of the big new titles from the company for the year, and with BioWare behind the game, it certainly has the chance to blow up into something huge. Star Wars will also be something to focus on for the company, and the best thing they could do is show us a Star Wars game coming out that’s drastically different from Battlefront II.
Broadening its horizons means more than just trying new things, of course, it also means bringing some of its other series back around and not just focusing on the norm. Every year sees the usual releases for sports games, and we can expect a Battlefield every few years, now offset by Battlefront. Bring back series like Dragon Age, Army of Two, and maybe even Dead Space, even with Visceral Games now defunct. EA is a massive developer with a lot of talented teams and resources, it’d be a crying shame to only see the same things come out from them year after year.
