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Windows 8 will be key to game publisher Electronic Arts' (NASDAQ:EA) strategy according to Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore.
While Windows Phone OS has struggled to gain market share, Windows 8 will offer a more elegant environment for both smartphones (Windows Phone 8) as well as tablets and PCs with ARM architecture (Windows 8 RT).
More importantly, DirectX is a key building block for game development, and all platforms will share the same Windows core. This allows developers to streamline their work across multiple platforms (key to success in the next generation of gaming), and allows Microsoft more synergy between its PC, Windows Phone, and Xbox divisions. Less labor, less coding, more exposure.
[Fun fact: The name for Redmond's original Xbox was inspired by DirectX, originally pitched as a "DirectX box"]
In a phone interview with Bloomberg, Moore said: "We’re working very closely with Microsoft to understand what their views on gaming navigation are. Anything that allows more platforms to be adopted quickly that have a gaming element is good for Electronic Arts.”
Indeed, EA Mobile is recognized as the #1 publisher in that space, and Electronic Arts wants to embrace a future of digitally-distributed games. Moore was recently quoted as saying
"There will come a point, whether it is two or three years from now, when we say. 'We are doing more in digital media now than we are in physical media,' and it's clearly ... not far away."
During Q1 of EA's fiscal year 2013, EA Mobile generated $69million in revenue, up 21 percent year-on-year. The company will showcase its upcoming PC, console and mobile titles at this year's gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany.
Meanwhile, high-profile companies like Valve (developers of Half-Life 2 and proprietors of Steam) have expressed dissatisfaction with Windows 8, referring to it as a "walled garden" and a "catastrophe." Shortly after those comments were published, Valve revealed that they plan to introduce creativity and productivity apps into their Steam portfolio, aligning them as a direct competitor to Microsoft's Windows 8 Store.
Clearly EA sees more potential with Windows 8. Hopefully whatever partnership springs forth between EA and Microsoft will result in a larger selection of cross-platform game titles.
Forbes has reached out to Microsoft for further clarification, and is speaking at length with other developers crafting games for Windows 8. For more details regarding game development on Windows Phone 8, see this Microsoft Developer blog.
