GDC 2008: EA still serious about games, not about ‘serious games’

Just last year, Electronic Arts donated open-source code of the original SimCity to the One Laptop Per Child Project. And though other similar games from EA were released to be converted into educational or training games, the superstar publisher remains adamant that it still takes its main games seriously and only invest in those “serious games” ventures that will net the company a sizable income.

During the Serious Games Summit at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), EA’s VP for The Sims global brand development Steve Seabolt, spoke to audiences about the serious games business. However, his main point often revolved around the fact that Electronic Arts wasn’t charging into that leg of the gaming business, even though they were a participant for a few times last year.

So it was no surprise that such titles and brands were recounted during the summit, the most prominent of all being the SimCity open-source code donation made in part of EA toward the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project. Another agreement with BP Alternative Energy was unveiled during the discussion, pitting a converted SimCity Societies title to re-educate players on energy choices and their corresponding effects to the environment.

But Seabolt quickly countered with the fact that publisher economics have still been the driving factor for their decisions. Seabolt explained:

The reality is that we are a hit-driven business. And economically, we can’t really commit to launching a product unless we think we can sell a minimum of 2 million units.

He explained that they turn down eight to nine proposals for every single one Electronic Arts actually accepts. One such proposal, one from the Tennessee Department of Health, was turned down, because it didn’t meet the publisher’s requirements. The project had to fit the brand the proposal selects, and both players of the original game and the target audience had to accept how the game is being associated with the serious issue. The proposed serious game also needs a large audience who will accommodate it.

Apparently EA still believes that the educational vein isn’t as profitable as their main entertainment focus. Seabolt says that funds used for a serious game would mean that there were funds not reallocated to their more profitable franchises.

More GDC 08 event updates as we get them.