GCA 2008: Q&A: EA Asia head Jon Niermann

SINGAPORE: It's hard to imagine giant games publisher Electronic Arts being a small player in any market, but that's exactly what it is in most countries in Asia. EA accounts for only a tiny fraction of the $9 billion-a-year Asian games market. With countries such as Korea and China heavily dominated by locally developed massively multiplayer online games, EA has attempted to crack the region by introducing online-only versions of its popular franchises such as FIFA and NBA Street. GameSpot AU tracked down EA Asia Pacific president Jon Niermann at Games Conference Asia 2008 today to chat about the company's plans for growth in the region, whether FIFA Online will be offered to the rest of the world, how Australia fits into the equation, and whether the company has lost a lot of gamer goodwill by holding off on the release of Rock Band for so long.

GameSpot AU: Online is obviously very important in this region, with more than half the yearly $9 billion game revenue coming from online games such as MMOs. How strongly has that section of gaming been growing recently?

Jon Niermann: It's evolved. Online growth has been about 50 percent annual growth in recent years. In the early years--about five years ago--it was 100 percent. We've seen the tremendous growth it's been having led by Korea, taken over by China in terms of leadership, and now really rolling out across Japan and Asia. As a games publisher you really need to be in the online space in Asia. We have three business models here. We have Australia/New Zealand, which is more like a traditional Western market; Japan, which is Japanese games for consoles and online; and then there's the rest of Asia, which is online with a variety of games.

GS AU: Do you see the rest of the world going towards more online games such as MMOs?

JN:I think it will become a bigger part for sure, and I think it will become more important. In markets like Australia, we [EA] can still become a market leader, but in markets like China and Korea we're running fast to catch up. We started with zero percent market share, and for us to now catch up and eventually capture 10 to 20 percent share, it'll be really hard.

GS AU: So who are your major competitors here?

JN: Local companies. In China, it's companies like Shanda, and there's probably 10 other companies. We also partner with three companies in China right now. Korea is the same way--we've got a partnership in one key company called Neowiz, but then you've got companies like Nexon (to compete against).

GS AU: So what is your online offering for the region?

JN: We have FIFA Online, NBA Street Online, we have Warhammer launching, we have Battlefield Heroes, and we have at least that same amount of games in development that we'll announce soon.

GS AU: Will you take FIFA Online and NBA Street Online to a global audience?

JN: Absolutely. FIFA Online needs to be a global online game. I think by the time the next World Cup starts, you'll see FIFA Online across the world. Asia leads the online market. Half of the online PC gamers in the world are in Asia. Korea is the key in terms of technology development, while China is the fastest-growing.

GS AU: Only six percent of EA's business is in Asia, and you say you want to double that within the next three years. How are you going to do that?

JN: We'll be launching a lot of online and mobile games. We'll be customising packages for Japan and being more aggressive in Australia. There is a lot of competition in Australia, so we need to bring more and better product to Australia.

GS AU: How about Australia specifically? How big a part of EA's business is that country?

JN: Australia makes up almost half of Asia's business. It's our number-one market, while Japan is number two. And then our top five in priority is rounded out by China, Korea, and Taiwan.

GS AU: Is working in Australia/NZ similar to other Western markets?

JN: It's very similar. I think it's a mix between the US and the UK. It's a very good, solid market for us. For EA overall, Australia is the number-six market in the world, so that shows you how important it is.

GS AU: Let's tackle Rock Band. You've announced a release date for Singapore today of September 25. How about Australia and the rest of the region?

JN: We can't talk about it, unfortunately, because there's an embargo on how we release information. All I can say right now is Singapore is the first market, and stay tuned for the rest.

GS AU: Why is it taking so long?

JN: The demand in the West has been so great that, in terms of sheer capacity of making the game and feeding the rest of the world, has just caused a natural progression of rollout.

GS AU: So will Rock Band beat Guitar Hero World Tour in Australia, which has been dated for November?

JN: I think you need to wait and see.

GS AU: Do you think you've lost a lot of competitive advantage in Australia and the rest of the region by waiting so long to release the game?

JN: I think it's never good to wait a year, but I think there's still a demand. The game is great, it's still getting a lot of positive buzz. With Rock Band 2, you're going to have a franchise that is going to be popular and continue to grow a while. So other than limited parallel imports and people bringing in games from the US, that demand is still there. We feel we're ready for the market.

GS AU: Rock Band 2 has just been released in the US. Will we see an accelerated release for Rock Band 2 in Australia and Asia to compensate for the delay in releasing the first Rock Band?

JN: It's hard to say, I hope so.

GS AU: Jon Niermann, thanks for your time.