EA Sports: Two original projects in the pipe

Publisher's global head of marketing says a pair of new IP sports titles are being wound up alongside recently announced arcade-style boxer FaceBreaker.

One of the criticisms constantly levied against publishing powerhouse EA is the company's perceived emphasis of turning a profit through sequalization and annualiziation over innovation and risk. In laying out the publisher's $6 billion revenue goal for 2011, EA CEO John Riccitiello lended further support to this perception, noting that the company will reach its goal by keeping its eggs in established baskets, including Need for Speed, The Sims, Burnout, and Madden NFL.

However, despite EA's track record of incremental innovation, the publisher hasn't forsaken creating its own new intellectual property outright. Closing out January, EA unveiled its haymaker-in-waiting FaceBreaker, an arcade-style boxing game that more closely resembles Punch-Out!! than the publisher's relocated Fight Night series.

It now appears the publisher has a few more original sports titles in its queue. Speaking with New Zealand gaming blog Geekpulp over the weekend, EA vice president of global marketing Todd Sitrin said the publisher has a pair of original projects in the pipe to complement FaceBreaker.

"We actually have three new original IPs in development; the only one that's been announced is FaceBreaker. We haven't done an original IP at EA [Sports] for several years, not since back to Freekstyle Motorcycle," said Sitrin. Since making its first run in 2002, Freekstyle has sold more than 520,000 units on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance in the US alone, according to the NPD Group.

68 Comments

  • StSk8ter29

    Posted May 7, 2008 9:50 am PT

    I WANT SSX!

  • gondee5

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:56 pm PT

    Given that it's rumored that SSX 5 got cancelled for "New IPs", I think this might be the culprit right here.

  • cowmaster2k3

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    Fight Night = great fun and great fighting depth
    FaceBreaker = Ready 2 Rumble

    heres hoping they're good... EA needs to do SOMETHING about their reputation!

  • CloudStrife9288

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 12:45 pm PT

    ahh gotcha haha nice

  • ronniepage588

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 11:41 am PT

    facebreaker might be cool, or totally lame. i like the realism approach of fight night and was hoping they would continue with that (plus, it was very in depth yet very easy at the same time)

  • Dr_Corndog

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 11:38 am PT

    Whatever they are, it doesn't change the unfortunate fact that they're still sports games.

  • bigevil_rashek

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:58 am PT

    Yeah right! EA didn't produce an original ip in almost 10yrs and they are not starting now.

  • cajunstrike

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:42 am PT

    Was jokingly referring to Electronic Arts' proposed acquisition of Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the 2K Sports franchise.

  • CloudStrife9288

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:38 am PT

    why would they make a nba 2k9?? they dont own the 2k games

  • nickdastick

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:31 am PT

    Cajun.... EA Sports doesn't make NFL 2K or NBA 2K games..... So I really doubt that's what they are. And they said they are ORIGINAL IP's, meaning they are new games that haven't come out before. So... yeah...

  • cajunstrike

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:14 am PT

    Two projects? NFL 2K9 and NBA 2K9 no doubt... (smile)

  • sphinx-shadow

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:05 am PT

    Just make Fight Night Round 4 and and we will all be happy.

  • oli54321

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 10:03 am PT

    xgalacticax "Everything was going well until I read EA and sports in the same sentence."

    I agree, sports games suck

  • neal_douglas

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:50 am PT

    I wonder if one of them is Formula One...

  • Limonadi

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:39 am PT

    Formula one is one of em.

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:19 am PT

    screw original sports IPs and bring back General Chaos!!

  • speedjunkie4

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 9:08 am PT

    Bring back NFL Street!

  • donnygorgas

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:56 am PT

    I want a new SSX. Or maybe a new snowboarding game that's similar to skate in terms of realism.

  • mrkame16

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:51 am PT

    I like Football but im sick of the same ol' Madden every year.. i was disappointed with madden 07, and 08 i barely played, no more for me.

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:43 am PT

    Everything was going well until I read EA and sports in the same sentence.

  • FraserAlexander

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:12 am PT

    I'll rent Ready 2 Rumble 3 - hardly original EA

    the other 'original ip's' will be imitations of games made by other companies, and I bet facebreaker will not be as fun as R2R for the dreamcast even to this day if you play them side by side.

  • klugenbeel

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 8:03 am PT

    I smell poop, oh EA is releasing "Original" titles...must be coming from EA, sine all they make is s*** these days, well not all they make is s****, but when 90% of what your release is bad, it tarnishes you reputation, which EA no longer has since they been screwing their reputation up for years now, good long term business plan!

  • GuyverV

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 7:18 am PT

    my god, did they say "original" and "ip" in the same sentence as EA. i think i may die of utter shock

  • Gaticus

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 7:18 am PT

    Army of two was not "sub-par", but then again it wasn't made by that worst of all dev studios EA Sports...lol

  • hightower8655

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 6:58 am PT

    As long as people keep buying EA crap because of the recognizable name, EA will continue to put out crap. Why waste money on improving their product when they know that Madden will sell a multi-million copies with a minor feature upgrade and updated rosters? The only answer is for the public to stop buying EA's sub-par offerings, but that is unfortunately unlikely to happen.

  • steveguttenberg

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:45 am PT

    Hey, speaking of Punchout, isn't that game due for a sequel on the Wii?

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 4:12 am PT

    I would like EA to make a NFL and NBA-licensed game with the graphics of the NBA Live and Madden games that were on the Sega Genesis. That's when NBA Live and Madden truly kicked @ss! I would start playing Basketball/Football games again if they did that.

  • coolguy681

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 3:37 am PT

    Why is EA going to arcade style. Most of their games have turned more realistic, and when Fight Night was such a great game, and it was so real and amazing it was good. I want Fight Night Round 4!!!!!!

  • BlackIsle_rip

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:33 am PT

    Make sports games for the Wii!

  • sktseany

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:24 am PT

    i agree with hoolsey

    SSX WILL SELL AMAZINGLY WELL! IT MAKES SENSE TO MAKE A NEW SSX!

  • hoolesy

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 1:04 am PT

    EA Big what are you playing at. An next-gen HD version of SSX is so needed. Oh the memories, pre-wind jump, lairy surround sound effects, over the top fireworks, wicked scenery, hell yeah!

  • bentleylax2

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 10:26 pm PT

    why don't they do a lacrosse game!? its the fastest growing sport in the world and it would be easy to sell atleast a million copies

  • thekey

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 10:07 pm PT

    Oh hey I got one "NBA Head coach"... Thats next.

    Stupid EA!

  • A7Xfan

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 9:18 pm PT

    wasn't fight night a new IP knockout kings and FN were pretty different boxing games.

  • haesuse

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 9:07 pm PT

    and in the follow up news....!
    seriously, am i the only one that read this as blah blah, terrible games coming up, blah blah?

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 8:48 pm PT

    Like FaceBreaker was that original

  • NA3D

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:58 pm PT

    Tell me they are building new engines for these games from the ground up, then I might start to listen a little more. That and if EA cleared out half of their high ranking staff. Other than those situations, and maybe not even then, I will believe they are innovative when I see it.

  • VixDiesel

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:47 pm PT

    Screw new IP's....

    Hey EA....

    MAKE A NEW SSX ALREADY!

  • Sins-of-Mosin

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    Besides NFL Steet and Madden, I hope its not another NFL game like that head coach one and that one that just came out. Horrible and I wished the NFL would've seen how EA is butchering the license. EA can't think of anything new, they just buy the company who did.

  • TheJGene

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:32 pm PT

    meh... is this supposed to persuade the gaming community that they don't just rely on churned and re-churned content to fill their coffers? perhaps so, but the announcement doesn't get me all tingly and excited like the work that other, independant developers are producing.

  • xblane

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:22 pm PT

    Im still haning for cricket on the wii

  • lovemeist_basic

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 7:12 pm PT

    hey guys. i hate EA and i dont want them to ruin the gaming world by buying out every company so they can make money. this is a petition that someone gave me over EA trying to buy Take 2. Sign the name and pass it to everyone you know.

    http://www.petitiononline.com/t2ea000/petition.html

  • TexasAnMGrad2K

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:54 pm PT

    Sounds to me like they are planning "sim" versions of all their sports, along with "arcade" versions (e.g. Fight Night and Facebreaker). Although I'd love a FNR4 more than anything right now, the idea of Facebreaker doesn't sound too bad. I did enjoy R2R on the DC. But let's hope their new games are more than just some new "Street" games. They have been pretty poor games.

  • isahunt

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:39 pm PT

    The Godfather was more like poor-man's Mafia, not solid or original.

  • mapaboy

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:32 pm PT

    They NEED to make a new fight night! FFS not some crappy arcade boxing game!

  • danchambos

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:29 pm PT

    the big games suck. nice way to ruin fight night. ill be picking up round 3 to last me until the next decade.

  • cliveisback

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:14 pm PT

    I would kill for a new SSX game. I've been looking forward to a new one and an enjoyable NFL Street game since Tricky and Street 1.

    This however does seem like it will be enjoyable. Hopefully we'll see characters similar to the famous Punch-Out!! fighters.

  • carljohnson3456

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:05 pm PT

    I agree, dannymalt. PGA Street is a really neat idea. All the other Street games are crap in my opinion, but a golf game would be a cool break-the-mode golf game. Genius! lol.

  • Josepiphus

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:01 pm PT

    "2) PGA Street- I know, it sounds crazy. Golf on the street. But it would be so crazy it'd be funny. As long as you don't take it seriously. You would have to drive the ball down a busy street and it would go bouncing down the road, and the hole would be an open sewer. Look EA has to be creative, right now they are the biggest sellers of mediocrity putting out the same barely changed games year to year(e.g. Madden, NHL, Need For Speed etc)"

    great idea

  • ghost867

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 5:36 pm PT

    Well once they buy 2K Sports, it's all over. They wont' have to do anything. They've won.

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