EA set on 100% digital distribution

Category: News Wire Published on Saturday, 07 July 2012 16:46 Written by scaR Hits: 201

When EA relaunched the EA Store as their new digital distribution site Origin in June of 2011, they had their sights set on much more than just a new way to sell their software. This was the future of EA's retail business. With all the middlemen cut out of the picture, the company was earning a higher margin on sales. The first year of sales amounted to one billion USD with and estimated revenue of 1.7 billion in 2012.

EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau wasn't shy about digital dominance in the marketplace in an interview with GamesIndustry International.

"For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future - much like your question about streaming and cloud - we're going to be a 100% digital company, period. It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable."

"It's in the near future. It's coming. We have a clear line of sight on it and we're excited about it. Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do. It has a lot of enhancements for our business. It allows us to keep more that we make. It allows us to do some really interesting things from a service level standpoint; we can be a lot more personalized with what we're doing,"

[ source : http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-02-ea-is-going-to-be-a-100-percent-digital-company-period-says-gibeau ]