There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s get right into it. First, there is one indisputable component in Wilson’s statement—most Switch owners do own either an Xbox One or a PS4 alongside their Switch. This is a statement that is corroborated by official NPD data, as an example. So inasmuch as that goes, Wilson is correct.

The problem is with literally everything else that was said here. EA’s statement makes next to no sense given the nature of the Nintendo Switch and the success third parties in general have found on the platform—and they have found a lot of success on the Switch. Diablo 3 is one of the bestselling games on the system according to the NPD Group. Bethesda continues to find success with their continued efforts on the platform. Mortal Kombat 11 on Switch was the bestselling game on the system the month it launched. Tales of Vesperia sold the best on the Switch in the UK, a territory that is usually Nintendo’s worst performing one. All of this is without getting into the kind of success that indie games such as Celeste, Dead Cells, and Hollow Knight have seen on the Nintendo Switch.

But then we have EA. EA says Switch owners would rather play EA games on other systems, so let’s take a moment to try and see why that might be. To date, there have been four EA games on the Nintendo Switch—FIFA 18, FIFA 19, Fe, and Unravel Two. Fe and Unravel Two are smaller, indie releases, with the former being criticized for being a poor port, and the latter launching without fanfare almost a year after it had been available everywhere else. FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 were feature incomplete, hobbled versions of the game—they didn’t use Frostbite Engine like the PlayStation and Xbox versions, they lacked some crucial Ultimate Team content, they lacked the Journey story mode, and FIFA 18 didn’t even let you play online with friends! At that point, is it a wonder that most people who want FIFA chose to play it on consoles that got a proper version of the game?

That right there is EA’s data pool—two pared back ports of games that received absolutely no marketing from them, and which then went on to obviously underperform relative to the other, full featured, prominently marketed ones, and two indie games they published under their Originals label, and which almost certainly don’t factor into their decision making.

If this is the data EA has made this decision based on, then it is a bad decision informed by irrelevant data. The irrelevance of this data is, again, demonstrated by the widespread success that other third parties have seen, and continue to see, on the Switch. That success is the reason we have started to see so many “impossible” ports on the Nintendo Switch—to be clear, this is the platform that got ports of DOOM, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, day and date releases for the next games in those franchises, a day and date release of Mortal Kombat 11, and has a release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, one of the most technically demanding and impressive games of this generation, lined up for later this year.

Those games are, obviously, not easy to get to run on the Switch—the Switch is an impressive bit of kit, especially given its form factor, but it is also undeniably far weaker than the PS4 and Xbox One. Putting a game like The Witcher 3 or DOOM on the system requires time, money, and effort, because unlike with other systems, you need to develop around the system’s limitations. And yet, developers continue to announce these ports—we just got an announcement that The Outer Worlds is coming to the Switch recently.

Why are developers putting in that time, money, and effort? Clearly because they more than get the return on their effort and investment, because third party titles sell exceedingly well on the Switch, better than they have on any Nintendo system in probably decades. Third party publishers that put in the effort and released actual good products on the system, that they then marketed, saw success. EA, being the outlier in terms of that—releasing a poor product that it also didn’t market—proceeded to not see that success, and then chose to use that as justification for not supporting the Switch.

Here’s the thing, of course, EA is fully within its rights to not support a system it doesn’t feel fits with the products it releases. As an example, Frostbite has not been ported to the Switch, and a lot of EA’s releases run on that engine. Most EA releases have a significant online component, and the Switch’s online is, well, not the best. Not seeing Anthem or Battlefield on the Switch makes total sense.

But what about titles like The Sims 4, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, or Burnout Paradise Remastered, which is a port of a last generation game? Those games have very pointedly ignored the Switch as well, in spite of them being very good matches for the console from a demographic and technological perspective. At that point, it’s clear there’s no actual reason for the publisher to not support the console, other than… they just don’t want to? At this point it’s clear EA is unwilling to put even the minimum possible effort into the Switch, given that FIFA 20’s Switch version is literally a reskinned re-release of last year’s game in the guise of a “Legacy Edition”.

Of course, it’s not like EA’s lineup this generation has actually been something that the Switch is missing out on. Their sports franchises have increasingly grown stagnant, as they chase the microtransaction money, they have entirely mishandled their Star Wars license, having put out two disappointing games, and canceled at least as many, Need for Speed is now worse than it has been in ages, Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem were embarrassments at launch… there’s not much in EA’s catalog that would actually actively add to the Switch’s library, and the best demonstration of that is the fact that the Switch continues to be one of the fastest selling consoles of all time even without any support from EA.

There was once a time—not too long ago—when EA’s lack of support could single-handedly sink a console. When EA announced they would not support the Dreamcast, they precipitated a domino effect of other third parties also pulling out, and the Dreamcast ended up being discontinued just two years after its release. More recently, when EA confirmed they would not support the Wii U shortly after its launch, they, once again, triggered a ripple effect with most third parties bailing from supporting the system, and the Wii U ending up as Nintendo’s worst selling console of all time. But today? Today, it doesn’t seem to matter. EA is making more money than it ever has before, off the back of Ultimate Team, but their larger relevance in terms of the larger industry appears to be… not as much as it once used to be.

So the Switch continues to soldier on, and EA has just locked itself out of a marketplace that is clearly thriving and could add to their revenues. And that, more than anything, is something that should give EA investors pause. EA is far too entrenched in the current market paradigm, and seems to be entirely resistant to seek potential growth avenues, even outright rejecting them. EA remains one of the only major publishers that didn’t attempt anything major with VR, the only major publisher that has given up on the Switch, and the only major publisher that doesn’t seem to have any actual substantial support for upcoming major platforms like the Stadia announced.

We can discuss all day about those other platforms and avenues—except for the Switch, which, as discussed, is a proven success, VR and Stadia are both on shakier ground, after all. But the point here is that EA doesn’t even try. Other companies do. But EA is far too happy and complacent in the current marketplace, and not even considering looking ahead from it. That’s great in the short term—but in the long term, they could end up missing out on very real, tangible, large markets due to how slow they are to react and respond.

And in the immediate here and now? EA’s doing great without Nintendo. Nintendo’s doing great without EA. But I just find myself wishing that EA was more honest about why it is doing what it is doing, if nothing else.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

You probably know about the My PS4 Life celebration feature Sony recently put out—to celebrate five years of the PS4, they would allow players to generate a video sharing their stats of their PS4 game playing career. It was a pretty neat feature, and a great way to celebrate the players who have made the PS4 the most successful current console in the world.

So naturally, Sony found a way to mess it all up. You see, one of the things they did in this video was give you the exact number of players who have earned Trophies that you have earned. That’s pretty cool—except the PS4 also gives you a percentage count for every Trophy (as in, exactly what percentage of a game’s total players have unlocked it). Putting the two together, fans have managed to extrapolate the player counts of several PS4 games.

For instance, we know that FIFA 18 has 32.5 million players, FIFA 17 has 30 million, Minecraft has 25.6 million, Rocket League has 22.6 million, Detroit: Become Human has 2.4 million, DOOM has 3 million, and Fallout 76 has a catastrophically low 407,000 players.

There are some things to keep in mind here: this is player count, not sales, and the two don’t always correlate (for instance, if a game was given away for free on PS Plus, that will inflate player counts, but not sales). Secondly, we don’t know the data is through to—in other words, if it is only through to, say, November 18, then some low numbers can be easily explained. Thirdly, Sony may have revealed a lot of confidential and proprietary data their third party partners did not want revealed. And lastly, that Fallout number is very low- it looks like the bad reviews are really affecting its performance.

In case there was any doubt that FIFA is massive for EA, there won’t be after this announcement- EA has just revealed that FIFA 18 has sold 24 million units worldwide since its launch last September (via GamesIndustry), which means that it was selling an average of 2 million units a month. There are games that don’t manage to hit those numbers over their lifetimes.

Doubtless, the game got a lift thanks to the World Cup earlier this year, which presumably gave it a stronger tail than it otherwise would have had. FIFA 18’s sales bring the grand total for the franchise up to 260 million units sold to date, which means it is the bestselling sports game franchise of all time.

FIFA 18 aside, EA has also revealed that FIFA Mobile hit 193 million downloads, and the Asia exclusive FIFA Online 2 and 3 have hit over 115 million registered players so far- all staggering numbers that go to show that FIFA remains EA’s most valuable property.

FIFA 18 is available now on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Read our review for the main version here, and the Switch version here.

Oppressive monetization policies in full sized AAA games have been an intense topic of discussion in our industry, one that has grown even more relevant in recent months, especially with the unwanted yet needed attention games such as Star Wars Battlefront 2 have garnered over such controversies over the last year or so.

As a result of this, and as a consequence of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect in Europe earlier this year, a 32 year old resident of UK, Michael (who refused to give his last name for the sake of anonymity), made a GDPR request to EA to send him all the data they had on him and his spending activities. The results, which Michael sent to Eurogamer, were surprising, to say the least.

It turned out he spent a total of $16,154 on microtransactions options included in FIFA games over two years. FIFA 18, just like its predecessors, of course, holds plenty of opportunities for players to spend real life money on in game purchases, with FIFA Points being the primary income generator in the series (outside of actual software sales, of course). The lootbox style FIFA Ultimate Team has generated plenty of revenue for EA over the course of several years, I imagine.

Of course, we don’t know just how representative these figures specifically are of the larger number of people who play FIFA. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume, based simply on pure logic, that it’s way above average. Michael himself admits to Eurogamer that he has access to “a healthy disposable income”, with the money he and his fiancee make together. Also, something I thought I should note, FIFA 18 is of course only a year old at this point (a little less than a year, in fact), so the data compiled here must be looking at his activity across more than just one FIFA title for a period of two years.

Of course, EA did not disclose the entirety of the relevant data as part of the GDPR request. “We have also withheld data impacting the security and integrity of EA products and services, data that, if disclosed, would affect the rights and freedoms of others, including EA, and any other EA or third-party trade secrets,” EA wrote to Michael in an email they sent to him (via Reddit).

It’s definitely interesting, to say the least. Again, microtransactions have become a topic that seems to be at the centre of so many discussions in our industry, and instances like these only serve to show why. What’s your take on this? Leave your thoughts in your comments below.

We recently received some new information from SuperData regarding  Fortnite’s increasing success in the gaming industry. Now, SuperData have revealed their report for June, and it looks like Fortnite continues rising in popularity. The game has topped the console sales charts, and it is in the top 10 of the PC sales charts as well.

For the consoles, Fortnite is followed by FIFA 18 and Call of Duty: WWII. On PC, the game is in sixth position on the charts, which is a few positions behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which is at third position. The recent sale for the latter is probably what helped it get into the lead. On the PC, first place is held by the very popular and evergreen League of Legends. In a different report published by SuperData, the data suggests that the growing popularity of Fortnite may be cutting into the popularity of other online games such as Overwatch, League of Legends, and others. We’ll just have to wait until the end of the year to see which games come out on top as the most popular over a longer period.

You can check out the entire charts for the month of June below.

PC

1. League of Legends
2. Dungeons Fighter Online
3. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
4. Crossfire
5. Fantasy Westward Journey Online II
6. Fortnite Battle Royale
7. World of Warcraft
8. World of Tanks
9. DOTA 2
10. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Consoles

1. Fortnite Battle Royale
2. FIFA 18
3. Call of Duty: WWII
4. The Crew 2
5. Grand Theft Auto V
6. Rainbow Six Siege
7. NBA 2K18
8. God of War
9. Far Cry 5
10. Overwatch

Mobile

1. Honor of Kings
2. QQ Speed
3. Pokemon Go
4. Knives Out
5. Fantasy Westward Journey
6. Clash Royale
7. Monster Strike
8. Fate/Grand Order
9. Candy Crush Saga
10. Clash of Clans

More specifically, though, by playing some incredible football games. This is a feature about ten incredible football games, all easily playable right now, that you should get into to get ready for the big day on July 15th.

Without further ado, let’s jump right in!

FIFA 18

Let’s start with the most obvious choices first. And really, is there any choice more obvious than FIFA 18? EA Sports have refined their series’ gameplay to a ridiculous degree over the last few years, with FIFA 18 featuring even more refinements than its predecessor. With an entertaining career mode, the amazing narrative-driven The Journey, and the dangerously addictive Ultimate Team, FIFA 18 is a love letter to anyone who considers themselves a fan of the sport. On top of that, EA also recently released a World Cup update for the game, which is totally free. The perfect way to gear up for the festivities ahead.

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA

If you’re looking for something that’s even more dedicated to the World Cup than EA’s new update for FIFA 18 though, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa can scratch that itch. This was the last World Cup-specific FIFA game EA made, and it was absolutely brilliant. From its stellar presentation that captured the atmosphere of the massive competition that the World Cup is perfectly, to its moment-to-moment gameplay, which was bang in the middle of the period where EA Sports were making some of the best and biggest changes and improvements to their formula, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is the perfect side activity for football fans during the World Cup.

PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018

But of course, FIFA isn’t the only big name around when it comes to sports simulation video games- this is a two horse race, after all. Pro Evolution Soccer has been its massive and bitter rival for as long as anyone can remember. What the series lacks in shiny presentation and licenses, it makes up for its amazingly polished and fine-tuned mechanics, with many veterans of the genre even claiming that, as far as pure gameplay is concerned, PES has the upper hand over FIFA. Oh, and PES 2018 is also the last game in the series that will have UEFA licenses, so if for nothing else, maybe play it to hear that iconic song in-game once more.

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2018

While FIFA and PES battle it out year over year, every year, on the pitch for the crown of the best football simulation game, Football Manager consistently maintains its monopoly in the management simulation space. This is a game that is tailor-made for hardcore veteran fans of the genre. With a bevy of charts, graphs and stats to pour over, a ridiculous level of detail in systems, and micromanagement over every aspect of your team’s management like you’ve never seen before, Football Manager is easily a game you can pour literally hundreds of hours into.

NEW STAR SOCCER

If you’re looking for a lighter, more accessible football experience, then New Star Soccer, downloadable on iOS and Android devices, is the perfect game for you. New Star Soccer sees you playing as just one player, and it follows you on your journey from the lowest rungs of the football world to the very top. But it’s not just about football- when you’re not on the pitch, you manage your finances, you sign sponsorship deals, you buy stuff with your money, you manage your image with the media (and thus, the general masses), you improve your stats, hell, you can even participate in side activities (like betting on race horses, or playing blackjack). It’s a deceptively deep (yet still very accessible) experience that can pull you, and refuse to let go for dozens upon dozens – if not hundreds – of hours. The best part? It’s completely free.

SCORE! HERO

Score! Hero is yet another mobile football game, but unlike New Star Soccer, the focus here is squarely and solely on the on-pitch action. What sets is apart is how different, simple, fun, and addictive it is. Every time the moment arises to pass, cross, or shoot the ball, the action pauses, and you then have to chart the ball’s trajectory yourself, by drawing it on your touch screen. As we said, it’s very simple – you can basically play the game using just one finger – but it’s so, so good. On top of that, it looks great, and it’s also free.

FIFA STREET

FIFA is a series that has its fingers in many pies. There is, of course, the main series as well, but over the years, it’s also tried its hand at international-only games, management simulators, and street football. 2012’s FIFA Street brought back the fan favourite street football variation of the sport back into the limelight, and it’s fair to say that it wasn’t nearly as successful as its parent franchise. It has its issues, sure, but it’s also undeniably fun. You’re pulling off tricks, panenkas, and over-the-top flair shots in street environments with the likes of Rooney, Messi, and Ronaldo- how can it not be fun?

MARIO STRIKERS CHARGED

Okay, we’re getting into “weird football game” territory now, but Nintendo and weird basically go hand in hand, so it’s more or less unavoidable. The iconic Italian plumber has been a doctor, a kart racer, a tennis ace, and, well, a plumber. Mario and co, however, have also been weird, whacky football stars. Wii and Wii U title Mario Strikers Charged was an incredibly enjoyable game, mixing on-pitch football action with the trademark goofiness and over-the-top abilities and power ups that we all expect to see in any Mario game. Playing this game online against a friend is an absolute blast.

ROCKET LEAGUE

Is there any football game weirder than Rocket League? A bunch of monster trucks boosting around arenas, pulling off gravity-defying stunts, trying to jet an oversized ball into the opponent’s goal- who thought this was a good idea? Whoever it was deserves a medal, because Rocket League is a brilliant game. Mixing car combat with football? Absolutely genius. In spite of being three years old, Rocket League still remains hugely popular to this day, and that’s because it struck gold with its brand of bombastic gameplay.

DREAM LEAGUE SOCCER

You’d think delivering a proper, FIFA or PES-like experience on mobile devices would be next to impossible, but that is exactly what Dream League Soccer 18 does. In spite of being a free to play title, Dream League Soccer includes proper, full-fledged matches for you to play, as well as a meaty and addictive career mode to sink your teeth into, where you create your own team and pull it through the ranks to the very top. You upgrade your stadium, you buy new players- it’s the perfect blend of management elements and on-pitch action. Basically, as close to FIFA as you can get on iOS and Android.

June was a big month for gaming, thanks in no small part to E3 2018. However, it was a big month in the UK as well, as games like FIFA 18 and God of War battled for supremacy. In the end though, it was EA Sports’ title that came out on top, thanks to the recent free World Cup update as revealed by GFK/UKIE (via MCVUK).

The fact that the update arrived on May 29th while the World Cup took place in mid-June also helped with sales being up 67 per cent month-on-month. The Xbox One version saw sales increase by 203 per cent month-on-month. God of War was in second place and only saw a 30 per cent decrease in sales month-on-month.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy made it to third place thanks to a multiplatform re-release. The PS4 version even saw an increase in sales month-on-month by 16 per cent. Detroit: Become Human came in fourth place, followed by Far Cry 5 and Fallout 4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe scored seventh, as Mario Tennis Aces came in at eighth place. Vampyr and Grand Theft Auto 5 rounded out the June 2018 best-sellers chart for the UK.

Gfk Chart-Track’s latest UK sales data for the week ending May 29th is in. Surprisingly, despite Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Become Human being in first place the week prior and SIE Santa Monica’s God of War doing great business, it’s FIFA 18 that’s currently leading the pack. This is due to heavy promotions at retail outlets and the new free World Cup mode which released on May 29th.

Regardless, Detroit: Become Human is still in second place, showing strong sales in its second week. Far Cry 5 saw a generous uptick from sixth to third place while God of War managed to rise slightly up to fourth place. Sega Mega Drive Classics and Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection are the new releases, ranking fifth and sixth respectively in their debuts.

Other games include Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition remaining steady at seventh place, State of Decay 2 falling heavily from second to eighth place, Dark Souls Remastered falling from third to ninth place and Fallout 4 moving from ninth to tenth place.

2018 is World Cup year- and while in previous World Cup years, EA has put out a standalone spin-off World Cup themed release from its FIFA series, this year, they will be providing World Cup content to existing FIFA 18 owners for absolutely free.

EA has announced the World Cup Update for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (yup, Nintendo fans weren’t left out this time), and PC versions of FIFA 18. This update lets players play as one of the 32 qualified teams for 2018’s World Cup, and then play for the World Cup, either in Online Friendly games, or Online Tournaments. It also adds twelve new Russian stadiums (which correspond to the venues these games will take at in real life), and new player items and Icons based on World Cup players to Ultimate Team. A kick off mode for the World Cup has also been added, playable both online and offline.

You can check out a trailer showcasing the World Cup update for yourself below. FIFA 18‘s World Cup update will release on May 29 for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The loot box controversy that stated as a result of the egregious monetization in Star Wars Battlefront 2, and the uproar and backlash around it, has led to actual legislation being introduced for games with monetization around the world. Netherlands has already declared that loot boxes are illegal- and now Belgium has joined the fray, confirming that loot boxes are games of chances, and therefore gambling- and as a result, illegal.

A statement from Minister of Justice Koen Geens said that unless games FIFA 18, Overwatch, and Counter Strike GO remove loot boxes, their publishers “risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros”.

If children are involved with playing those games, those punishments can be doubled, Greens added. Belgium expressed a particular concern about the impact loot boxes have on young people. “It is often children who come into contact with such systems and we cannot allow that,” Geens warned.

Ironically, the only game found to not be guilty in Belgium’s investigation was Star Wars Battlefront 2– because EA removed all loot boxes from it after the backlash.

Still, it remains to be seen now how Belgium and Netherlands’ rulings will influence things. Will publishers stop selling their games in those territories? Make alternate versions of their games that strip out the loot boxes? Just remove loot boxes from their games entirely? I eagerly hope it is that last one.