EA Not Worried About the Battlefield 1 Xbox One Partnership
We all know that Sony’s juggernaut console, the PlayStation 4 has trumped the Microsoft Green Machine, Xbox One in terms of sales this generation. With more PS4 consoles in the hands of players than Xbox One consoles, one might think that a Battlefield 1 Xbox One partnership / marketing deal could be a big mistake. As part of the recent Electronic Arts’ Investor Day, the publishing giant responded to questions asking if the Battlefield 1 / Xbox One marketing deal might hurt the game overall.
Investor Relations Vice President, Chris Evenden explained that he thinks the deal won’t hurt the game’s overall appeal and reach;
You know, I think this is a game for PlayStation as much as it is for Xbox as much as it is for PC. I think what DICE has done and the game that they’re building is going to satisfy the battlefield core that continues to play Battlefield 4 and Hardline, and it’s actually gonna bring a lot of additional players into the battlefield franchise.
I don’t think there are limiters to our ability to reach a really broad audience of gamers across the whole shooter spectrum, players who play these games, and also bringing more players in to the genre with Battlefield 1.
Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wilson went into detail on marketing partnerships in layman’s terms, stating that it’s all about brand awareness;
As we think about the marketing partnerships that we do… We do them, other people in our industry do them, and certainly our console partners want to stand right next to the big and best games in the industry.
Typically what we see is that just aids awareness. It aids awareness with your PC gamer, or an Xbox gamer, or a PlayStation gamer. Of course what the console partner hopes to achieve is some disproportional awareness around the game as it relates to their particular console, but what we have seen, and we have seen the analytics against it, is that if you’re a PlayStation gamer, you do not reject it because it’s brought to you by a potential console partner. You understand deeply that it’s also available on your console, and what we get is just a multiplier and effective greater awareness in the marketplace.
What are your thoughts on the Battlefield 1 marketing deal with Xbox One? Are you a PlayStation gamer who feels slighted? What do you think of console exclusive deals in the first place? We’d love to hear your comments so sound off to us in the comments below, on Twitter or on Facebook.