Speaking to Develop, EA Games label president Frank Gibeau has claimed that single player-only-games games are on their way to extinction and that "online is where the innovation, and the action, is at".
"I volunteer you to speak to EA's studio heads, they'll tell you the same thing," he said. "They're very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay - be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services - as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out."
"I think that model is finished," he affirmed. "Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at."
Gibeau was then quick to clarify that EA doesn't force their studios to add multiplayer - or any other design aspect - to their games. "I mean, EA used to be against M-rated content," he gave an example. "Go check out Dead Space [laughs]. It's one of my core cultural studio values to allow developers to decide more on what they want to build. And a studio's creative call needs to be balanced against a commercial imperative, and if you look at online these days - that's the place to be."
