Electronic Arts has announced a new Competitive Gaming Division within the company. This new CGD will be headed up by former chief operating officer Peter Moore, who who will be supported by EA veteran Todd Sitrin. eSports is a big deal these days, and it looks like EA wants to get in on the action as well.
The goal of the CGD is to drive eSports competitions for EA’s franchises like Madden NFL, FIFA, and Battlefield. EA president Andrew Wilson said in the official announcement that the division would be build around “three core pillars”:
- Competition – To create highly-engaging competitive experiences with our games, officially supported by Electronic Arts.
- Community – To celebrate, connect and grow our community of players across all levels of expertise.
- Entertainment – To develop live events and broadcasting that bring the spectacle of competition to millions of people around the world.
EA is no stranger to the eSports scene, and its FIFA franchise has proven to be a popular game at conventions and gaming events. While the popularity has dropped off a little when compared to other titles like Dota 2 or Counter Strike: Global Offensive, it still manages to draw in a substantial number of participants.
Oddly enough, the problem with EA pushing its sports video games franchises as eSports is the existing of actual sports. While competing in FIFA 2016 is entertaining enough, it will be difficult to convince the public to tune in and stream videos of the competition. Not when people are more than happy to watch the real thing happening. The same problem exists for its Madden NFL and NHL franchises.
Where the CGD ends up will be interesting to see, but at the moment it faces an uphill battle to grab the attention it needs to get going. Although perhaps it might have some hope with Rainbow Six Siege coming along.
[Source: Electronic Arts]
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