The idea of streaming games has been hot press lately, with the announcement of Google’s Stadia, which launches later this year, companies are attempting to take steps to have their name ahead in the streaming game.
Sony, Microsoft, and Ubisoft have made their positions clear in regards to the Stadia, and now EA is thinking about its own position. Senior Vice President of Player network at EA Mike Blank recently told The Hollywood Reporter that EA may still produce its own game streaming subscription service, but he is open to the idea of partnerships as well.
“We can, and we may still, offer our own,” Blank told the publication. “That said, I think there is space in the market for multiple complementary and competing services that offer different kinds of experiences to different players.”
Considering the number of companies stepping up to cloud based gaming, there might not actually be much of a choice. Sony and Microsoft have both teamed up for cloud gaming solutions to utilize each other’s cloud tech.
Microsoft also announced a Stadia competitor called Project Xcloud, Ubisoft introduced Uplay Plus for PC gamers and shared that the publisher is partnering up with Stadia to allow Uplay Plus subscribers to access the subscription’s games wherever it can be played. Bethesda also introduced a software suite meant to enhance any cloud streaming platform.
“The new trend of subscription offerings in games is an innovation,” he explains. “It might not seem like one because subscriptions have been around for a long time in other forms of media, but there’s something unique about games because they are highly immersive, have long life experiences and they’re highly social.”
