EA has created a Competitive Gaming Division headed by Peter Moore
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Though late to the party Electronic Arts has been attempting to make a push into eSports, and that’s been evidenced by recent feature additions within Madden NFL 16 and FIFA 16, and others that will play a role in various EA Sports titles emerging in the space. Yesterday the company announced the creation of a Competitive Gaming Division which will be headed up by former EA Sports president and current EA COO Peter Moore, noting 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.
“(Moore) was an early pioneer in championing competitive gaming programs, such as the FIFA Interactive World Cup and the EA SPORTS Challenge Series, and (his) personal passions for the player experience, sports and competition, make him a tremendous leader for this new division. Peter’s team will partner with our development studios, marketers and publishing teams to bring this new platform to life.”
The Madden Challenge that recently kicked off joins the FIFA Interactive World Cup and Battlefield 4’s involvement in ESL One. Features are being built into other sports games like NHL and EA Sports UFC 2Â that make it clear the hope is to involve them as well down the line. It remains to be seen how much traction sports games will have in the competitive scene, but there’s no doubt EA and other publishers will be making great efforts for them to catch on.