GamersCrib
08-18-2008, 11:29 AM
Acclaim Inc founder and development veteran David Perry has told GamesIndustry.biz (http://GamesIndustry.biz) that he believes forthcoming Electronic Arts title Battlefield Heroes will be "a huge hit" and that he has "incredible faith that EA (http://ea.com) is going to pull this off." Lets check out the rest shall we:
Perry, talking in the build-up to his keynote talk at this year's GCDC event, is currently working on titles utilising the free-to-play model, including the massively-developed online racing game Project: Top Secret.
But while a number of companies have tested the free-to-play water, EA's move with Battlefield Heroes shouldn't be underestimated, he says.
"EA is a retail-based company and that means they're dealing with retailers everyday, they have constant retail issues that they're dealing with, and the last thing in the world they want to do is announce that they're going to go free-to-play... that's not a good relationship builder with your retail sales teams," he explained.
"For them to actually make that announcement was huge, I thought that was one of the biggest statements that EA has made in years and it just went over people's heads.
"They already have invested in Korea and The9 in China, they've been doing this for ages but they've been keeping it down. They built FIFA Online as a free MMO. Why would you make one of the most popular games in Asia and not release it in the US?
"The reason they don't is because they weren't going to commit EA to free-to-play games - but finally they have. I think Battlefield Heroes is going to be a huge hit, it's going to be a bit of a phenomenon... I have incredible faith that EA is going to pull this off."
To read the rest of this article, visit here (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/bf-heroes-will-be-a-phenomenon-david-perry).
Perry, talking in the build-up to his keynote talk at this year's GCDC event, is currently working on titles utilising the free-to-play model, including the massively-developed online racing game Project: Top Secret.
But while a number of companies have tested the free-to-play water, EA's move with Battlefield Heroes shouldn't be underestimated, he says.
"EA is a retail-based company and that means they're dealing with retailers everyday, they have constant retail issues that they're dealing with, and the last thing in the world they want to do is announce that they're going to go free-to-play... that's not a good relationship builder with your retail sales teams," he explained.
"For them to actually make that announcement was huge, I thought that was one of the biggest statements that EA has made in years and it just went over people's heads.
"They already have invested in Korea and The9 in China, they've been doing this for ages but they've been keeping it down. They built FIFA Online as a free MMO. Why would you make one of the most popular games in Asia and not release it in the US?
"The reason they don't is because they weren't going to commit EA to free-to-play games - but finally they have. I think Battlefield Heroes is going to be a huge hit, it's going to be a bit of a phenomenon... I have incredible faith that EA is going to pull this off."
To read the rest of this article, visit here (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/bf-heroes-will-be-a-phenomenon-david-perry).