Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson is determined not to comment on any real or rumored gaming platforms that haven't been officially announced. Such as, you know, the heavily-rumored Nintendo Switch 2. But today during EA's Q3 earnings call, he was asked to comment on whether or not this alleged Switch successor would be beneficial to EA's business or not. And Wilson did give a thoughtful, if heavily-couched, answer.
Wilson began his response to the question by heavily disclaiming that he was "absolutely not" commenting on anything that hasn't been announced, and was unable to "acknowledge it in any way." But then he went on with a fairly positive outlook:
"What I would say though is that to the extent that platforms over the course of the last 20 years have come out and offered improved CPU, GPU, memory, battery life, screen resolution, to the extent those things have happened, where we're able to deliver more immersion for our players, particularly around our biggest franchises like FC, like Madden, like Battlefield, like Apex, that has typically been very good for our business. Our players' ability to really experience our games at the highest level has typically worked out very well for us," Wilson said.
"So without commenting at all on anything around Nintendo or the Switch, I would just say, new platforms are good for us, when new platforms offer new CPU, GPU, memory, battery life, screen resolution, that typically is a plus for our particular portfolio of games, and the community that plays them."
It's hard to say how much one can read into Wilson's words here. On one hand, he's clearly trying to absolve himself from being accused of making any comment on what the Switch 2 will or will not be, or if it's even a thing at all (though months of rumors indicate it almost certainly is). And assuming it is on the way, it would be a bit silly of Nintendo to release a console that was technically worse in any of the areas Wilson listed, so it's safe to assume the Switch 2 will have better CPU, GPU, memory, battery life, and screen resolution than its predecessor.
What's maybe a bit more interesting here is Wilson calling out EA's biggest franchises, and suggesting that EA's relationship with the platform will largely hinge on how well Madden, Battlefield, Apex, and Sports FC will do there. It's certainly worth pointing out that not all of these franchises are available on the current Switch. EA Sports FC is there, but is technologically inferior in a number of ways to the same game on other platforms. Apex Legends made it, albeit a year after it released on other major platforms. Battlefield 2042 and Madden NFL 24 aren't on the Switch at all.
So the takeaway here might be that Wilson is looking very closely at whatever Nintendo is cooking up next, and that EA's judgment of the platform's usefulness to it will largely be determined by how well it can support its four biggest franchises (too bad he didn't mention The Sims!)
Elsewhere in its earnings today, EA reported net bookings of $2.37 billion and net revenue of $1.945 billion for the quarter ending on December 31, 2023, largely driven by EA Sports FC outperforming expectations. The company is currently projecting full-year revenue to reach between $7.4 billion and $7.7 billion.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
