Flying in the face of its tendency to rely on existing franchises, Electronic Arts has spoken of its desire to mould new intellectual property in the near future. In an interview with MCV, Patrick Soderlund – head honcho of EA Games – addressed the misconception that the stalwart publisher is prone to focus solely on established titles, even stating that the company currently has plans for “six to eight completely new IPs.”
Here’s what Soderlund had to say regarding the issue:
“We are working on a new Mirror’s Edge game, and although that’s not a new IP, it is a revival done in a new way. We are developing Star Wars Battlefront, which to us is a new IP, even though it isn’t technically. [At present] we have six to eight completely new IPs in the works. The day we stop making new IP is when we go onto life support. We need to incubate new ideas and push creative boundaries.”
Those boundaries – at least, up to this point – have meant that the company has focused stringently on gaming franchises such as The Sims, Battlefield and the illustrious FIFA series. Mind you, having acquired the rights for the Star Wars license earlier this year, and by taking the opportunity to publish the critically-adorned Titanfall, it’s clear that Electronic Arts is putting out proverbial feelers to adopt and develop new gaming properties.
Although Respawn’s futuristic shooter is a new IP by default, much like Soderlund touched upon, the company’s upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront is tethered to a source material. With this in mind, it’s difficult to interpret whether the publisher is cooking up novel franchise concepts or perhaps seeking to acquire material from other, pre-existing sources.
Either way, many will be pleased with EA’s constructive approach to innovating new gaming ideas; but we’ll have to bid our time before gauging whether their new franchises are worth our attention. The company has yet to confirm release dates for the two aforementioned, next-gen titles – namely Mirror’s Edge 2 and Star Wars: Battlefront – and it may be some time yet before we get a concrete launch window for either.
Until that time, though, tell us what gaming avenue you would like Electronic Arts to explore with these nebulous franchise ideas in the comments below.
