During the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference today, EA’s Vice President of Investor Relations Chris Evende said they are working on their own streaming platform. Stating..
“We’ve been building an infrastructure both from a product and a marketing perspective so we can move our slate across to new platforms, and we can move with our games across to new platforms as well. So all of these things, we’ve been working on for five or more years now, actually. But I think it’s inevitable that the gaming entertainment world will move in much the same way that the music and video entertainment worlds have already moved, in the sense that people have moved from an ownership model to an access model. And you’ll see that in gaming, just as you’ve seen it with Spotify and Netflix in other media businesses.”
“That infrastructure barrier is still there, but it’s shrinking very rapidly,and we think in the next couple of years, you’ll see some major technological announcements that will prove to be commercially significant in the next three to five years.”
Evende also says that in the long haul, it could be cheaper for the consumer. Evende said..
“Right now if you want to play FIFA in the United States, it will cost you $460. You have to buy the game; you have to buy the console. In a streaming world, it could be $9.99 a month. The commercial details have to be worked out, but whatever number it ends up at is very much less than $460. So that extends your market, because all you need locally is literally a smart TV.”
