Big titles like "Battlefield 3" will continue to be once-a-year
blowout events, but the day-in-day-out conversations with
consumers, creating additional digital content and moving game
content across smartphones and tablets, is where the year-round
success will happen.
Ms. Miele is counting on data and facts to help EA Games target
messages and develop game content, having created its "listening
engine" using everything from social-media buzz and chatter to game
telemetry so EA can track its players' actions without having to
ask for input.
In last year's release of "Battlefield 3," which went
head-to-head with Activision's "Call of Duty," there was a Paris
Metro map that EA saw getting consumer buzz and engagement. So it
developed a downloadable add-on of indoor maps, rare for a battle
game, and, as Ms. Miele put it, "not an insight we would have come
to on our own." "Battlefield 3" has sold 20 million copies, with
7.5 million active online users.
The data has also helped EA develop nine personality profiles
built around gamers' attitudes and motivations, instead of
traditional targeting consumers by genre preference.
For example, shooter-game fans include "Conquering Captains,"
who play by the rules but are fiercely competitive; "Cutthroat
Cowboys," smack-talking winners-take-all; and "Badass Bards,"
story-focused players who engage deeply in the characters. However,
Cowboys also play sports games, and Bards crossover to action and
role-playing strategy games.
Ms. Miele believes working with consumer data still takes a
measure of old-fashioned intuition.
"A lot of it comes down to judgment and interpretation," she
said. "There's so much information that you never had before.
Before, all you had was gut and subjective experience, and you
would just confidently go through your day saying, "Yeah, I killed
that ad, it's going to be amazing.' But now we have this instant
response from the marketplace at all times."
Another challenge for the industry arose after the tragic school
shooting in Newtown, Conn., when the category again found itself in
political crosshairs. The National Rifle Association deflected
blame from gun ownership by pointing the finger at violent video
games, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller introduced legislation to study
their effect.
Ms. Miele said EA is working with the industry association, the
Entertainment Software Association. "We're taking it very seriously
and understand that people are making the connection," she said. "I
will say that there are reams and reams of studies and data that
are completely inconclusive and don't at all point to this
connection. And I passionately believe that to be true."