EA will continue to make games with an offline mode, Peter Moore insists
Plus, "not all EA games will offer a free-to-play mode."
EA will continue to make games with an offline mode, chief operating officer Peter Moore has insisted.
In a blog post Moore said EA was aware that that is what many gamers want - despite the ongoing trend towards digital.
The executive was seeking to clarify comments he made in an interview conducted at Gamescom last week in which he said EA no longer makes "offline" games.
"That is a fact," he said, "but in industry headlines, on Twitter and in forums, I see some misinterpretations as to what that means exactly.
"Today, most games are 'online' in some way, shape or form. Many games connect in online multiplayer modes; others include online services which allow for periodic content updates, sharing stats or achievements or connecting with friends; and others are games downloaded through digital delivery methods like Origin or the App Store. The reality is, the internet and social connectivity touches every one of our titles today - and has for several years.
"What that does NOT mean is that every game we ship will require an online connection. Many, if not most, of our games include single-player, offline modes that you can play entirely without an internet connection, if you so choose. We know that's something many of our players want, and we will continue to deliver it."
Moore also moved to calm fears about EA's plans for free-to-play games. He said that while EA has released F2P versions of many of its biggest franchises, including Battlefield, Need for Speed, FIFA, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Plants vs. Zombies (with a F2P version of Command & Conquer in the works), "not all of EA's games will offer a free-to-play mode".
"We will continue to explore new free-to-play experiences for our franchises when we believe there is gamer interest and a cool new game we can build," he explained. "But of course we will continue to deliver award-winning core gaming experiences on ALL of these franchises."
Always online and F2P are two of the hottest topics in gaming, and EA has been in the firing line for both. Earlier this year the company endured a crisis following the catastrophic launch of SimCity, which requires an internet connection to play, and EA's freemium mobile game Real Racing 3 was heavily criticised for the way it uses micro-transactions.