EA wants to change course when it comes to modders, giving them more freedom to make everything more accessible. The goal, of course, is to be able to make the whole thing profitable.
Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, spoke at a conference of Goldman Sachs on its desire to provide players with more creative experiences. Thus, the gamers, who are the most active audience in the entertainment field, are more and more brought to play a role in the development of the games.
The future of EA games also lies in creation and modding
As the CEO of EA explains:
What we expect over a 5 to 10 year horizon, and what we are already beginning to notice today, is that new worlds will be created that will fit right alongside the worlds we have created.
Obviously, the goal is also (mainly?) a financial one, since the point is to capitalize on it and thus earn more money thanks to these creations. EA also says on this particular issue:
The minutes committed and the money spent are correlated. Whether it’s us creating the content or our community creating the content, as long as it’s high quality and engaging, it represents an amazing opportunity for us.
Wilson estimates that around 20% of EA’s gamers already create content for games, and 50% of the total player base uses player-created content. Inevitably with numbers we recognize the financial possibilities.
Currently, many modern games’ authoring tools tend to allow players to modify the appearance of skins, such as creating alternate uniforms in a sports game (e.g., by EA) or custom liveries in a racing game. But EA predicts more complex player creations in the future (although some games already are) closer to professional work.
In this regard, we can imagine EA allowing modders to sell creations on the store and earn some profits in the process.
