EA Games president: “It is an absolute imperative for the company to go online as fast as possible”

By Patrick Garratt

EA Games president Frank Gibeau said Wednesday that a prime focus for the firm was to push into the online space with all available speed.

“It is an absolute imperative for the company to go online as fast as possible, and the more projects we can do that have scale and quality the better,” the exec told VG247 in San Francisco.

“That’s where, frankly, the head and the heart of the company are, is trying to get online in a really powerful way.”

Gibeau was speaking after the unveiling of Star Wars: The Old Republic at LucasArts, and added that it was obvious to EA that online was the “future” for gaming in general.

“It’s a key strategy for the company to drive our online businesses as aggressively as possible. It’s clearly the future, and the future is now,” he said.

“If you look at Asia, you look at where people are spending their time, where I play games: it’s just the place we want to be. What’s so powerful about the technology is connected gameplay is so cool for our creators.

“The games actually designing and building the games are just starting to scratch the surface in terms of how you can entertain in a massively multiplayer environment, a connected environment.”

No date has been placed on The Old Republic as yet.