EA abandoning offline game development
Kotaku points out a grim omen for the future of offline gaming in the form of some comments from Electronic Arts executive Frank Gibeau. In an interview at Develop, Gibeau minces few words about the future of the firm's business model.
"They're [EA studio heads] very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay -- be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services -- as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at," he says.
While it's clear why publishers are desperate to move everything online (hello monetization and DRM), the benefits to the consumer are decidedly less apparent. Whether the larger gaming industry adopts an MMO-style access model remains to be seen, but EA is clearly moving in that direction.
