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[IbizaPocholo]

EA Originals: "We are moving away from niche"

Why EA Originals is pivoting towards AAA content

www.gamesindustry.biz

EA probably hopes we'll open this article by talking about It Takes Two.

It is the biggest game from EA's ever-growing indie label, EA Originals. It has picked up numerous awards and has just surpassed 10 million sales worldwide.

But we'd much rather talk about Knockout City, an altogether different EA Originals title created by Velan Studios.

GamesIndustry.biz has followed the story of that game – an online dodgeball title – ever since EA and Velan announced their partnership back in 2019. Knockout City was revealed during a Nintendo Direct and PlayStation State of Play in early 2021 and was launched to much fanfare and plenty of positive reviews a few months later.

But it struggled, and after a few months, Velan realised that Knockout City needed to be a free-to-play game. This was a problem. The partnership Velan had with EA simply didn't work if the game didn't carry an up-front fee.

If you were hoping for drama, you'll be disappointed. Although EA had never encountered a situation like this before, the publisher simply worked out a way to tear up the agreement and hand the publishing duties to Velan. It was complicated because it involved things such as user migration and privacy. But the two sides worked on it and 12 months later, Knockout City was self-published and free-to-play. (Unfortunately, last week Velan announced the game will shut down in June).

"It really is partner first with EA," Velan boss Guha Bala told us last year. "It can't be economics last (laughs), but it is partner first. I am really appreciative of the effort. It's not an easy thing to unravel a deal and put it into a totally new context."

Check the link for more.

 

[Three]

Good on EA for helping the dev out.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

what is the news here?

 

[Three]

what is the news here?

That they helped Knockout City to go independent but knockout city ultimately failed. Also that they are more likely to fund "AAA games" than niche products now.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Check the link for more.

 

[anthony2690]

what is the news here?

That EA is a good guy and helped Velen Studio.

 

[Black_Stride]

Shame they are probably looking towards larger games.
EA Originals was a god send for the industry and smaller titles.

Still I get what they are saying.
The department wasnt really making money because of the revenue sharing model that it used.

For the larger games from more established developers it makes sense to "fleece" them for the publishing.
But hopefully they still look at smaller developers too.

Otherwise Annapurna and Private Division it is:

 

[Naked Lunch]

EA hasnt been niche since they published Soukyugurentai.

 

[anthony2690]

EA hasnt been niche since they published Soukyugurentai.

Come on man, there is niche and then there is no one knows what the fuck that game even is

Great little Saturn shooter from raizing/eighting, but I can imagine even 99% off this forum users don't even know this game.

 

[Black_Stride]

EA hasnt been niche since they published Soukyugurentai.

Fe.
Unravel.
Sea of Solitude.
Lost in Random.

Id say EAO has had some pretty niche titles already.

Even the Monster Hunter/Fortnite/BOTW game is pretty niche.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

That EA is a good guy and helped Velen Studio.

it felt more like propaganda.