EA Making Windows Phone Key Focus

Electronic Arts‘ shadow has been growing larger and larger over the last few years and now the company is aiming to make it even bigger. EA, the second-largest video game company and maker of games including Madden and Battlefield, is working with Microsoft to make Windows Phone a key part of the company’s strategy.

“We’re working very closely with Microsoft to understand what their views on gaming navigation are,” Peter Moore, chief operating officer of EA, stated. “Anything that allows more platforms to be adopted quickly that have a gaming element is good for Electronic Arts.”

The company is hoping the a focus on the mobile platform would lead to less reliance on boxed retail product. The Redwood City-based company is making an effort to support everything via phones, tablets, computers, and internet-based titles.

However, partnering with Microsoft may not be the right move. Window Phones consist of only 3.5 percent of all phones sold in the second quarter of this year. Android owns the market with a staggering 68 percent. The app marketplace for Window Phones is only one-sixth of the size of the Google Play Store and Apple Store, which hold 600,000 apps to choose from.

A light of good news did come from Robert Jakobsen, an analyst at Jyske Bank A/S in Silkeborg, Denmark.

“It is important to attract the gamers and due to Windows Phones 8’s relation to the classical Windows PC programs, it is a good platform for game developers,” Jakobsen said.

Electronic Arts is going to have to change strategies fast. Shares of the company have taken a 37 percent decrease. Microsoft has only lost 1 percent while Activision Blizzard, who is the largest video game maker, has dropped 1.2 percent. We will see if this partnership will flourish for Electronic Arts in October when Window Phones with Windows 8 are set to hit shelves.

Over the last few months several gaming companies have closed down their mobile gaming studios to focus on their console and PC titles.