It’s been a while since EA has regularly put out their sports titles on PC, with the notable exception of FIFA. It’s been nearly a decade since Madden was putting American football on home computers, and titles like EA’s UFC have never made it away from consoles.
In an interview with Game Informer, Cam Weber and Matt Bilbey, two of the leading executives behind EA Sports, were asked about the prospects of more sports titles returning to computers. ”PC is literally based on demand,” Bilbey said. ”There’s still the high demand for FIFA on the PC globally because of the global appetite for the game. I think that’s less so with Madden, but I think if that changes and an opportunity presents itself, I think we would definitely leverage the opportunity.”
”I think with Madden in particular, it used to be a good business, and then it declined and the economics just didn’t make sense anymore,” Weber added. ”Then the compounding problem is that I guess in the last four or five years…as we get away from PC development, it becomes more and more difficult to get back to it. We’re open to it; it’s just a matter of when’s the right time and when does the opportunity make sense.”
Bilbey also mentioned that EA’s focus on the Frostbite engine could mean a better chance of PC ports going forward, as it can easily be moved from console to computer. FIFA 17 is due to release on consoles and PC this September.
