Digital Bridges to continue to provide development, distribution of mobile versions of top EA franchises.
Electronic Arts Senior VP Gerhard Florin announced today at the European Games Network (EGN) in London that EA would continue to expand and develop its presence in the mobile games arena. Specifically, Florin announced that EA will reinforce its existing partnership with mobile games creator Digital Bridges. The new agreement creates a more comprehensive relationship between the two companies, Florin said. EA will use Digital Bridges' mobile-specific development expertise, connectivity technology, and distribution network to maximize the mobile presence of EA's top franchises. The agreement spans Europe and North and South America.
The two properties that EA licensed to Digital Bridges last year, FIFA 2004 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour, were in the top ten mobile charts and had a combined one million paid-for downloads in Europe alone, according to Electronic Arts stats. In addition to 2005 editions of those two franchises, a mobile edition of Need For Speed Underground 2 will launch this year. IN addition, a mobile phone version of The Sims will follow in 2005, with announcements of more titles to follow.
"There is still a long way to go in the evolution of mobile gaming as technologies advance and as consumer tastes become clear, and EA looks forward to being a part of this evolution," said Florin in a presentation which profiled the deal. "Digital Bridges has a deep understanding of this market, and building on our past three years of working together, they continue to be our ideal partner as the mobile games market moves into its next phase of growth and maturity."
News source: gamespot
Electronic Arts Senior VP Gerhard Florin announced today at the European Games Network (EGN) in London that EA would continue to expand and develop its presence in the mobile games arena. Specifically, Florin announced that EA will reinforce its existing partnership with mobile games creator Digital Bridges. The new agreement creates a more comprehensive relationship between the two companies, Florin said. EA will use Digital Bridges' mobile-specific development expertise, connectivity technology, and distribution network to maximize the mobile presence of EA's top franchises. The agreement spans Europe and North and South America.
The two properties that EA licensed to Digital Bridges last year, FIFA 2004 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour, were in the top ten mobile charts and had a combined one million paid-for downloads in Europe alone, according to Electronic Arts stats. In addition to 2005 editions of those two franchises, a mobile edition of Need For Speed Underground 2 will launch this year. IN addition, a mobile phone version of The Sims will follow in 2005, with announcements of more titles to follow.
"There is still a long way to go in the evolution of mobile gaming as technologies advance and as consumer tastes become clear, and EA looks forward to being a part of this evolution," said Florin in a presentation which profiled the deal. "Digital Bridges has a deep understanding of this market, and building on our past three years of working together, they continue to be our ideal partner as the mobile games market moves into its next phase of growth and maturity."
News source: gamespotThe 11 console titles--all sequels--that the research predicts will sell more than 1 million units each and will dominate holiday sales are as follows:
•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Take-Two, PS2)
•Halo 2 (Microsoft, Xbox)
•Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts, PS2)
•Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts, PS2)
•Gran Turismo 4 (SCEA, PS2)
•Spider-Man 2 (Activision, PS2)
•Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision, PS2)
•Pokémon LeafGreen (Nintendo, GBA)
•Pokémon FireRed (Nintendo, GBA)
•Metal Gear Solid 3 (Konami, PS2)
•Mortal Kombat: Deception (Midway, PS2)
Wedbush Morgan predicts that during 2004, 218 million pieces of software will be sold in total, skewed such that an astonishing 114 million of them will be moved during the final three months of the year. In addition, the report closes with in-depth looks at six of the major third-party publishers and recommendations for investors (giving a "Buy" rating to Take-Two, Activision, Atari, and Electronic Arts and a "Hold" rating to Midway and THQ).
While today's report focused on the console and handheld sectors, the document briefly alluded to three PC games thought capable of driving sales of a million or more before the end of the calendar year. Those would be Doom 3 (Activision), the upcoming The Sims 2.0 (Electronic Arts), and "November’s" release of Half-Life 2 (VU Games). "We expect the total unit sales for the 11 console/handheld million unit SKUs plus the three PC million unit SKUs to exceed 30 million units in calendar 2004," said Wedbush analysts Michael Pachter and Edward Woo in today's report.
Dice says: I feel this analyst is correct, do you?
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