EA is probably one of the leaders of having microtransactions in their video games – the most popular mode in their most popular franchise (Ultimate Team and FIFA, respectively) is predicated on microtransactions to begin with – but they still don’t want the player to feel exploited. Instead, they want microtransactions to feel like an organic part of the game design. Or so they say, anyway.

“Our game teams are all thinking through, ‘What’s the engagement model to keep the consumer, to really entertain the consumer for a long period of time?'”EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said at the UBS Global Technology Conference.. “When you think about that, it’s not really the economics; the economics come afterward. There might be multiple models of ways to engage people.”

“The fundamental way that we as an organization think about [microtransactions and subscriptions] is all around engagement,” he said. “How do we engage the consumer as long as possible? In the old days, people played Madden for a few months and then stopped playing. When the Super Bowl finished, they were completely gone. Today, with Ultimate Team, they engage for 12 months, all the way up until the time you start playing a new season. ”

He also talked about microtransactions in mobile games – the area where they have gotten most egregious, and where EA and their games have been guilty of most of their excesses, with games like Real Racing 3, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, and Dungeon Defender all ruined thanks to EA’s insistence on peppering them with microtransactions.

“I do think there’s a bit of consumer fatigue around feeling like they’re getting nickle and dimed all the time. And a lot of mobile games don’t allow you to have fun unless you’ve paid for it,” he said. “So we’re looking at new models of ways to try to alleviate some of that fatigue that’s going on. Some of those might come in the form of subscription-style, but some of them might simply come in different ways to play games over time so you don’t feel like you’re always getting nickel and dimed.”

Right, EA, I hear that. Those sound like good words to me. I just refuse to buy into any of that until you prove to me, over a sustained period of time, that you’re going to follow up on this, sorry.

Despite there being no Battlefield: Hardline this year – which essentially means no Premium service shilling – Electronic Arts is hopeful that it can generate $1 billion in revenue from its downloadable content this year. Bloomberg reports that the company expects this revenue to be across its entire games portfolio for the financial year (which means Hardline will eventually find its way through when it releases in early 2015).

The game will be picking up the slack are Madden NFL 15, FIFA 15 and other EA Sports games chiefly because of Ultimate Team mode. According to EA corporate communications representative John Reseburg, revenue from real money spent on Ultimate Team mode for Madden NFL saw a 350 percent increase in the quarter ending June 30th this year compared to the same quarter last year.

Even without DLC, EA still has some fairly major releases before the financial year concludes including Dragon Age: Inquisition. Will it meet its $1 billion goal? We’ll find out in the coming months.

FOr example, those who pre-order the “Ultimate Edition” from Amazon UK will net 24 Ultimate Team gold packs, one per week, with each gold pack featuring a mix of 12 items. This includes players, contracts, healing, badges and more, along with a rare item that could mean a valuable player or longer contracts.

The “Ultimate Edition” will also feature access to historic kits, Virtual Pro Boosters and an All-Star Team sponsored by Adidas with Barcelona and Argentina star – and cover man – Lionel Messi.

Then there’s the “Limited Edition” available at GAME, which features the same perks as the Ultimate Edition but with 2 additional rare items with the gold packs. The “Limited Edition” will be available to pre-order until August 1st, midnight.

Finally, GAME has the “Collector’s Edition” which features all of the above content along with a special edition Adidas EA Sports glider football and will be available till September 26th midnight.

EA has confirmed that FIFA 14 Ultimate Team will be coming over to the PlayStation 4.

An EA representative confirmed that “Ultimate Team is being developed for both Xbox One and PS4” to CVG.

It’s currently unknown which exclusive Ultimate Team features Xbox One will offer. Hopefully this will get more clear as E3 approaches. Earlier this week EA showed off FIFA 14 during Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal. Most of it looked like CG. You can check out the trailer over here.

FIFA 14 will be releasing on next-gen consoles with a brand new Ignite Engine. For our continued coverage of the game, please check out our hub page for FIFA 14 over here.

Let us know what you think of Ultimate Team mode in FIFA 14, in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates.