The fact that live-service games are extremely successful is surprising to absolutely no one in 2022, andEAin particular has had substantial success in this niche, even though this wasn’t always the case. Games such asApex LegendsandFIFA Ultimate Teamhave proven time and again that they are massive money-makers over long periods of time.According to Geoff Keighley, however,EA’s live-service success is even more substantial than what some might’ve expected it would be. The company’s latest earnings call outright stated that live-service titles were responsible for well over half of EA’s total revenue, making it obvious whether it would keep investing in similar projects in the future.RELATED:Mass Effect 4 May Have Accidentally Confirmed Shepard’s ReturnThe CEO of Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson, discussed the game publisher’s success in launching and maintaining its various live-service titles over the years on the latest EA earnings call, and according to Keighley, Wilson said that 71% of the company’s total revenue comes from its live-service projects. This shouldn’t come as a surprise after it was announced that EA’sApex Legendswon’t be getting a sequelanytime soon, as it’s plainly obvious that the game is still hugely profitable for the publisher.
Over the past few years, live-service games have grown to become a truly gargantuan concept, and the industry is quickly adapting to the idea of continuously updating, changing, and even reinventing successful titles to keep players coming back for more. Even companies such as Sony have begun to lean in this direction, with thePlayStation CEO convinced of live services' successin the coming years.
Now that it’s clear just how profitable live-service productions have been for the publisher,Electronic Arts' cancellation ofAnthemmay get brought into question once more. The game was initially supposed to go toe-to-toe with the likes ofDestiny, only for it to falter during its initial run, and then stumble yet once more during its 2.0 retrofit which ended up going nowhere. While it’s not impossible that EA would consider bringingAnthemback sometime down the line, it’s more likely that the company will stick with tried-and-true projects such asApex Legendsinstead.
The fact that EA is taking live-service productions seriously is mirrored in the company’s backend endeavors, too. It was just a few weeks back thatEA patented a server checkup systemthat should, in theory, lead to a more stable and reliable gaming experience across all of its games if it ever comes to fruition.
