EA Begins Distancing Itself from NFTs

The FPS Review may receive a commission if you purchase something after clicking a link in this article.

Image: EA

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson seemed bullish on NFTs not too long ago, having called them “an important part of the future of [the] industry on a go-forward basis,” but his attitude regarding the trending blockchain technology has seemingly changed.

In an investor’s call yesterday, Wilson was quizzed on his company’s stance regarding NFTs but gave an apprehensive response, stating that NFTs weren’t something that EA was “driving hard on” at the moment. He also likened them to 3D and AR/VR, technologies that were hyped up in the past by venture capitalists and other investors but deemed by some gamers as just passing fads.

Wilson on NFTs (Seeking Alpha):

The way I look at this is, collectability is really built on four key metrics. It’s around high quality content, it’s around scarcity, it’s around proof-of-authenticity and it’s around a group of people that find value in that content.

And we’ve seen that happen in the real world and we’ve seen that happen in a virtual world. We’ve certainly seen that happen in and around our games for some number of years. And I believe that collectability will continue to be an important part of our industry and the games and experiences that we offer our players.

Whether that’s part of the NFT and the blockchain? Well, that remains to be seen. And I think the way we think about it, is we want to deliver the best possible player experience we can. And so we’re going to — we will evaluate that over time. But right now, it’s not something that we’re driving audience.

EA’s Boss Went From Calling NFTs The ‘Future’ To Running Away From Them (Kotaku):

  • While EA never rushed to embrace NFTs the way competitors like Square Enix and Ubisoft have, the company was quite bullish on them back in November.
  • “Anything that brings more people in and engages those people for more time in a context with the extent that I think it’s a good thing over time,” Wilson said during a second quarter investor call last year.
  • “I think that is the very foundation of our live services. I think the play-to-earn or the NFT conversation is still really, really early. And there’s a lot of conversation and [there’s] a lot of hype about it. I do think it will be an important part about the future of our industry on a go-forward basis.”
Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

Recent News