Let’s discuss EA. EA was originally going to be one of the major supporters for Nintendo on the Wii U; however, a variety of factors, the most obvious and visible of them being the Wii U’s abysmal failure at the market, led to EA to bail, with the rest of the industry following shortly after them.
It did come as a surprise after that, when Nintendo revealed the list of third party partners for the Switch, with EA listed there. As it would turn out later, EA was very cautiously dipping its toes into the water- they would be releasing FIFA on the Switch, and that alone. And now, they have confirmed that future support for the platform may be contingent on how FIFA 18 on the Switch does.
“For us it’s about supporting the platform, building technology for the platform, testing it out with big things like FIFA–and maybe a couple of others, we’ll see–and if they go well, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have as much of our portfolio on that platform as possible. I hope we get there, that would be my personal ambition,” EA Worldwide Studios VP at Electronic Arts Patrick Soderlund said in an interview with EDGE. He also noted that EA is excited to be a part of the Switch, and that they want to help Nintendo grow the install base and be successful with the system.
To EA’s credit, FIFA 18 on the Switch is anything but half assed- it is a remarkably full featured version of the game, and it looks like EA has genuinely created a compelling product this time around. Hopefully, Nintendo owners pick it up, because if the game does well, EA may well support the platform with more of their games.
Thanks, Gamespot.