EA declares NFTs, play-to-earn an 'important part' of gaming's future

Like Ubisoft, EA is also embracing NFTs and play-to-earn as the future of the games industry.

2

EA CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned NFTs three times during EA's recent Q2 earnings call. Wilson is very optimistic about NFTs and the possibility in adding a new level of collectibles in games like FIFA, Madden, and NHL, possibly as a new monetization opportunity with its billion-dollar Ultimate Team service.

Here's everything Wilson said about NFTs courtesy of a recent transcript:

Anything that brings more people in and engages those people for more time in the context of the entertainment it would create I think it's a good thing over time. I think that is the very foundation of our live services.

I think the play to earn or the NFT conversation is still really, really early, and there's a lot of conversation. And there's at some level, a lot of hype about it. I do think it will be an important part of our -- of the future of our industry on a go-forward basis.

But it's still early to kind of figure out how that's going to work. I feel good about our position with respect to that. I mean, as a company, we have been leaders in the creation of digital content that has real collectible value in the embedding of that content as part of live services. What we know about collection over time is the collectibility is far more valuable to the collector where the collected item has utility.

And I think that in the context of the games that we create and the live services that we offer, collectible digital content is going to play a meaningful part in our future. So still early to tell, but I think we're in a really good position, and you should expect us to kind of think more innovatively and creatively about that on a go-forward basis.

2

Ultimate Team is EA's most lucrative monetization mechanic besides Apex Legends.

Wilson also says that gamers want NFTs in some fashion, despite massive push-back on social media channels.

"...They want more digital experiences outside the game, esports, NFTs broader sports consumption and they want us to move really, really quickly."

Finally, Wilson outright says that yes, EA sees an opportunity with adding NFTs to specific games in order to expand player value (and of course increase spending).

"I think your question is, is there an opportunity, particularly as we think about NFTs and other digital ecosystem to expand that value over time. I think the short answer to that is yes.

"I mean the slightly longer answer to that is we need to work and make sure we continue to appropriately tune and balance the experience for our players, and we're always looking to give our players more value in the experiences they enjoy, and you are seeing that based on the growing engagement in the game and a growing spending, they're getting that value.

"But we will continue as we have evolve the ultimate team experience over the last decade, we will continue to look for ways to add value for our players."