Andre Yoskowitz
5 Jul 2012 23:00
EA has confirmed that the company is quickly moving towards being all-digital in the future.
Frank Gibeau, EA Games president, noted that their digital arm was the fastest growing and that the transition was inevitable.
Overall, the company made $1.2 billion in revenue last year for its digital downloads, premium subscriptions and mobile apps.
Says Gibeau: "It's in the near future... it's coming. For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future...we're going to be a 100 percent digital company, period. It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable."
Additionally, it appears the company is looking to cut out retailers in general, a move that would certainly hurt the already struggling industry.
"We have a clear line of sight on it and we're excited about it. Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer.
If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do. It has a lot of enhancements for our business. It allows us to keep more that we make. It allows us to do some really interesting things from a service level standpoint; we can be a lot more personalized with what we're doing," concludes Gibeau.