Electronic Arts denies that the popular Facebook social game’s management has been handed over to another studio claiming the source has been ‘misinformed’ among other nasty things.
Facebook may not be an emerging new market for gaming as it has been around for quite some time, however it is one that is growing exponentially as new publishers continue to join the market and compete.
Studios such as Zynga, which is now a multi-billion dollar company, and PopCap Studios, which was recently acquired by EA in a deal worth an estimated $1.2-billion, are both front-runners in terms of gaming on Facebook.
However, Electronic Art’s The Sims Social, which was released last year, and Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Commander, demonstrate the fact that major publishers in the core gaming industry are looking to tap into the social gaming market.
The Sims Social in particular is an interesting title not just from a gameplay point of view but also how an article in the Business Insider claims that EA may discontinue support for the game in the near future.
The article stated that the game’s management had been handed over to Playfish India, a studio known to be where games go to die, or to put it more poignantly, “…where social games are sent to be maintained with slight updates until they are discontinued.”
EA seem to have been outraged by the comment as they responded by being as harsh as possible without having to face any legal repercussions.
A spokesperson from EA said, “The misinformed article stating that The Sims Social is on life support couldn’t be further from the truth. The Sims Social continues to be EA’s top social game, supported by a dedicated team of 75 in the U.K. and U.S. and will see a robust and steady stream of new game-expanding content as it continues to build upon it’s thriving community and drive continued success.”
The statement concluded by stating that the studio had “no plans to walk away” from what it termed as a “very successful game based on one of the most popular brands” in the entire industry.
According to a recent survey it turns out that The Sims Social’s appeal has fallen since its release as the active daily user base now stands at 15.8-million as compared to earlier figures of 66-million. However, even with just 16-million users one has to wonder why the article in the Business Informer would claim that EA are ready to hand the game’s management over to another studio.
All that aside it will be interesting to see what extra content and expansions EA has in-store for the social game and whether or not the game can match the success it had early on.
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