Electronic Arts was not the only gaming company this season to announce its intentions to dive into NFTs and play-to-earn gaming, but it may have a leg up on the competition.
During an earnings call this week, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that the company was looking into NFTs and play-to-earn models that could involve cryptocurrency, calling the innovation “part of our future,” while noting the space is very young.
“Anything that brings more people in and engages those people for more time in the context of the entertainment it would create I think it’s a good thing over time. I think that is the very foundation of our live services,” Wilson said. “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 at some level, a lot of hype about it,” said Wilson.
He preceded those remarks by noting gamers and sports fans alike are looking for more experiences that are tied to consumer products.
“They want more modalities at play inside the game, which go beyond just straight 11 on 11 football. They want more digital experiences outside the game, esports, NFTs broader sports consumption and they want us to move really, really quickly,” said Wilson.
The announcement wasn’t novel. Competitors Ubisoft and Square Enix have also announced plans to dig into crypto. But Electronic Arts has FIFA Ultimate Team — a card-based collectible game that mimics the experience of many existing NFT products but with a direct tie to a AAA video game.
Ultimate Team allows players to collect and play with real-life players of different rarities and skill levels on its FIFA game franchise. Players are received through “loot boxes” that provide random “cards.” It raked in more than $1.5 billion for EA last year alone.
NBA Top Shot, by Dapper Labs, is attempting to produce a similar video game tie-in to its product, called Hardcourt. But Dapper Labs is starting from scratch, making it a taller hill to climb.
Still, Wilson was coy about EA’s broader plans.
“I do think it will be an important part of our — of the future of our industry on a go-forward basis. But it’s still early to kind of figure out how that’s going to work. I feel good about our position with respect to that,” Wilson said.
Electronic Arts was not the only gaming company this season to announce its intentions to dive into NFTs and play-to-earn gaming, but it may have a leg up on the competition.
During an earnings call this week, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that the company was looking into NFTs and play-to-earn models that could involve cryptocurrency, calling the innovation “part of our future,” while noting the space is very young.
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