EA Interested in GTA-Style Open World Action Games
By Boston Blake 17 November 2016
Electronic Arts’ CFO Blake Jorgensen says EA wants to create its own open-world action game similar to the Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed franchises.
Thanks in large part to the capabilities of current-gen consoles, developers are now able to create incredibly large and interactive worlds for gamers to explore and experience. The open-world action genre continues to grow as developers seek to capitalize on platform capabilities and gamers’ love of freedom in gaming.
So it’s no surprise that Electronic Arts is looking to enter the arena of “gitantic action” games on the level of Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed. In fact, last year EA shared its vision for entering the space with its own IP. At the time, EA didn’t provide any details for what it was planning, but thanks to a recent statement by EA CFO Blake Jorgensen at a USB conference, gamers now have a better idea what EA is hoping to create.
The largest genre in gaming is the action genre; that would be an Assassin’s Creed-style game; Grand Theft Auto. They are more open world; they are more exploratory. They’re big experiences. We have rarely played in that genre because we’ve been so deep in sports, where we are dominant and first-person shooters, as well as in simulation games like The Sims. But there’s no reason we can’t do well in [the action genre], we just haven’t paid attention to it.
With the recent success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Grand Theft Auto 5, and the myriad of other action titles and sequels, it’s actually a little surprising EA has waited this long to enter the genre. And those looking forward to an EA-created open-world action title will have to wait a little longer.
During the conference, Jorgensen made it clear an open-world action game wouldn’t be coming for a few years yet. However, gamers will be glad to know the game is in development at EA’s new Motive Studio in Montreal. Motive Studio is headed by Jade Raymond, who was instrumental in the Assassin’s Creed series at Ubisoft. With the huge success of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, hopefully Raymond can lead EA to a successful action title.
Jorgensen didn’t provide any details about what the game would be, but there’s a good chance it will be built using EA’s Frostbite engine. In fact, it’s likely an updated version of Frostbite is in the works, and may be use to drive the new open-world action game.
Meanwhile, EA’s Visceral Games is currently working on a Star Wars action game, with Amy Hennig at the helm. Hennig spent more than a decade working on the Uncharted Series at Naughty Dog, so like Raymond, she has the chops to direct a solid action title.
It’ll be interesting to see what EA creates, and how this new direction impacts EA’s other properties and genres.
What do you think about EA entering the open-world action space?
