Since September, Electronic Arts (EA) has been testing its own cloud gaming platform. It is called Project Atlas and is not going to compete for an audience with similar solutions from Google and Microsoft.
Madden NFL 20
Recall that Project Atlas is a comprehensive EA platform.
On the one hand, it is a gaming service of the company that will allow you to run games without installation. On the other hand, it is an infrastructure for cloud game development inside the publisher’s studios.
Speaking about the b2c component of Project Atlas, EA technical director Ken Moss said in an interview with GamesIndustry that he does not regard Stadia, xCloud and PlayStation Now as competitors. The company will not follow this path. She has a different goal in front of her.
Part of our task is to transfer games to the cloud, learn from it, get information through such releases on how to improve tools (Frostbite, service platforms, AI). That's what we're doing. We are not interested in competing with other platforms.
This is supported by the recent announcement of Madden NFL 20 (on the cover) for xCloud. The American football simulator will be included in the launch line of Microsoft’s cloud service, whose release is scheduled for next year.
Moss believes in the bright cloud future of the gaming industry, believes that cloud gaming, like AI, will radically change the video game market. However, he is sure that it will have to wait: the restructuring of the market will take from five to ten years.
According to him, it is currently unclear exactly how cloud games will develop, but EA wants to be at the forefront here and is ready to learn how to work with new technologies, including thanks to Microsoft and, surprise, other companies.
Microsoft allows us to work directly with players and, to be honest, we are just getting used to it. Yes, wait: we plan to work much more actively with partners than before.
EA sees subscription as one of the most likely developments of cloud gaming. It will become, according to Moss, one of the success factors. In support of his words, he refers to the experience of other media.
As we can see from other entertainment formats, cloud streaming is most effective in conjunction with a subscription. When these two start working together, magic happens.
One of the miracles that will become possible thanks to the new technology will be a rapid increase in the playing audience. According to Moss, now the number of gamers is 2.6 billion. After the expansion of the cloud, this figure will increase by a billion.
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