Electronic Arts’ Q3 2023 earnings call on Tuesday was a mixed bag for the gaming giant — but “The Sims” was a bright point. As marketing dollars flood into platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, EA sees its popular simulation game as its way to secure a piece of the metaversal pie.

Gaming platforms are currently the closest thing to a truly immersive and persistent digital world, and brands have taken note. As games like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft transform into full-service metaverse platforms, marketers have spent millions of dollars partnering with in-game creators to build bespoke virtual brand experiences inside them.

EA didn’t use the word “metaverse” a single time during its Q3 2023 earnings call — but the game developer has clearly taken note of the revenue-generating potential of virtual platforms powered by user-generated content, or UGC.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that ‘The Sims’ will be [as big as Fortnite and Roblox] at some point,” said Samantha Ryan, an svp and general manager at EA who oversees studios including Maxis, the developer of ‘The Sims.’ To learn more about EA’s plans to crank up the UGC capabilities of its games, Digiday spoke to Ryan for this annotated Q&A, supported by observations from EA’s Q3 2023 earnings call.

source: https://digiday.com/marketing/how-ea-plans-to-compete-with-fortnite-and-roblox-in-the-metaverse/