Andrew Wilson, CEO of major video game firm Electronic Arts (EA), said on an earnings call that network-based transactions (NFTs) and play-to-earn games are the gaming industry’s future, despite the fact that it is still too early to determine how it would operate.
EA is widely regarded as a business-oriented corporation that employs the pay-to-win model in a number of its games; yet, the company has not yet experimented with the play-to-earn approach. In contrast, according to a job offering from the summer, EA seems to have set its eyes on blockchain and NFT technologies.
The success of games like as Axie Infinity demonstrates that if a play-to-earn product is well-refined, it can readily attract a large number of players. Player digital assets are obtained through completing daily objectives, slaying monsters, and outperforming other players in arenas in such games. Those assets have a monetary worth in the real world and may be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Considering how well it integrates with Electronic Arts’ games and live services, Wilson feels that collectable digital content will play an important part in the company’s future. “As a result, it’s too soon to say.” Nevertheless, “I believe we are in a really strong position, and we should expect us to think more innovatively and imaginatively about it in the future.”
NFTs and play-to-earn games, according to Eurogamer, are a “essential element of the future of our business,” according to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, who claimed last week during an earnings call that both are “critical parts about the future of our company.” The executive also confessed that they would not feature in any EA-published games in the near future since “it’s still early to figure out how that’s going to work.”
This concept, known as “play to earn,” compensates participants with cryptocurrencies and, in certain cases, makes use of blockchain technology. In contrast, non-fungible tokens (NFT) are digital certificates for intellectual property that may be used for a variety of purposes throughout a game.
It is possible that the creation of material for a certain title will result in the creation of an NFT. For the time being, EA acknowledges that this relatively new technology will be significant, but no one understands how to use it successfully in video games at this point, according to the company.
It is unlikely that it will be included in a future Battlefield, FIFA, or The Sims game since it could quickly backfire and hinder sales. Another issue is that of regulation, or rather the lack thereof, in the cryptocurrency space at the moment, which might develop into a minefield for Electronic Arts.
It was only a few days ago that it was announced that Ubisoft is also looking at NFTs and blockchain technology, indicating that the large game publishers are taking this seriously. As part of the Q2 financial results, EA released a statement from CEO Andrew Wilson noting, “This was the most successful second quarter in the history of Electronic Arts, with more people across the globe joining and participating in our top franchises, new releases, and live services.”
He also expects the firm to have high sales throughout the Christmas season, thanks in part to the release of Battlefield 2042, which will take place on Nov. 19.