Hot on the heels of Disney’s announcement of their acquisition of Finnish HTML5 developer Rocket Pack, Inside Mobile Apps is reporting (http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/03/05/ea-dragon-age-legends/) that EA has launched their own counteroffer, promising gamers a dual Facebook and Mobile launch, all revolving around an HTML5 version of Dragon Age Legends.
This HTML5 coding arrives via EA’s EA2D, a smaller and younger (more agile?) studio amongst EA’s arsenal, with a specific focus on cross platform games. The title has quietly been in beta since last autumn, and is scheduled to launch congruently with the console and PC version of Dragon Age II, slated for a March 8 launch. And while this is clearly an “around the horn” marketing and launch strategy, EA states that the Facebook and mobile versions of the game are not designed as an upsell mechanism to the $60 console/PC version.
“This is a standalone game. It’s seen as an extension of the franchise, not as a marketing tool for other Dragon Age products,” said spokesperson Cindy Lum via Inside Mobile Apps. “This game is going to have a life of its own.”
I’m inclined to believe Ms. Lum, as all indicators of CEO John Riccitiello’s previous statements about EA’s shift away from traditional boxed games and digging deeper into the digital download, social, and mobile gaming environments.
Instead of the upsell, EA2D is dubbing the two games “companions” to the console and PC titles, as they’re not quite a full tie-in to the main game. Instead, Dragon Age Legends for Facebook and mobile allow gamers to use their “away-from-keyboard” time, as it were, as a time to work on time-based mechanics. These include crafting 2 – 3 hour potions, or collecting the rent, errr…gold from friends. The apps also include a currency balance checker, however gamers may only check their balance, and not make any purchases. Yet.
So there we have it. If you’re looking for the top three games makers to watch over the next 12 – 18 months, I’d keep my eyes on Disney, Zynga, and EA. Disney because of their faster-than-lightning acquisition of Finnish games house Rocket Pack, and their associated HTML5 gaming engine. EA is clearly heading down the cross platform path with EA2D, and I’m fairly certain that Dragon Age Legend is a testing ground for only further HTML5 based developments. And let’s not forget about Zynga’s acquisition of Dextrose AG, a German firm also specializing in HTML5 based gaming. The time, effort, resource and investment savings in cross platform games speak for themselves, but if you needed any more convincing, have a look at what Kim-Mai Cutler has to say (http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/02/09/facebook-html5-mobile/) about Facebook’s HTML5 push.
On the other side of the coin, Disney now counts James Pitaro as a staff member. Pitaro recently joined the brain dump at Yahoo! and handed in his resignation late last month. Most recently Pitaro was heading up the development of Yahoo! Sports. He joined the team in 2001 as part of Yahoo!’s acquisition of LAUNCH Media, where he filled the role of Vice President and Head of Business Affairs for Yahoo! Music. Pitaro’s new responsibilities at Disney will include overseeing the brand’s web and social media sites and activities, included the flagship Disney.com.
Over the past 16 months, Facebook’s user population has tripled and grown to more than 350 million users. Adding Sandberg to the Disney board as a director would give Uncle Walt direct access to a highly coveted access. Not to mention, this appointment would facilitate an unprecedented level of cross platform promotion and integration between the worlds largest social network and one of the worlds largest entertainment giants.
Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland comments, “She knows a lot about a lot of the areas of new media and technology growth that we are interested in, so it makes a lot of sense for us to have her.”
