EA Reveals 2024 Lineup: CEO Envisions AI's Role In Gaming, Shrugs Off Activision Blizzard Deal

Zinger Key Points
  • Electronic Arts unveils fiscal year 2024 release schedule with two surprise titles.
  • CEO Andrew Wilson shared his perspective on AI and gaming, and the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

On Tuesday, Electronic Arts Inc. EA held its Q4 and FY 2023 earnings call, where the company made some significant announcements regarding its upcoming release schedule.

EA confirmed the release window for several upcoming titles: "Immortals of Aveum," "Madden 24," and "EA Sports FC" will all be released in Q2 2024. Meanwhile, "EA Sports NHL 24" is set to hit the shelves in Q3 2024.

See Also: EU Antitrust Regulators To Approve Microsoft's $69B Activision Acquisition Later This Month: Report

"F1 23" and "Super Mega Baseball 4" were mentioned as well, although their release dates had already been disclosed.

However, the real buzz surrounds the two unannounced titles set for release in fiscal year 2024. One of the unannounced games is a racing title, which, according to Insider Gaming, is widely believed to be "EA Sports Rally." The other game is an EA Sports title, and while not much is known about it, there's speculation that it could be "UFC 5," which is currently being developed by EA Vancouver.

EA's CEO: "The Video Game Industry Is Probably One Of The Greatest Beneficiaries Of AI"

During the company's Q4 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson addressed the subject of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its relationship with the gaming industry.

According to IGN, Wilson expressed optimism about the potential for AI to augment EA's teams and allow players to create content within EA's worlds, and said the video game industry would probably be "one of the greatest beneficiaries of AI."

See Also: Will AI Disrupt Video Games? Someone Just Built Original 'Pong' Game In Less Than 60 Seconds Using GPT-4

However, he acknowledged fears about AI's impact on the workforce and stated that EA was working closely to ensure that its employees benefit from AI technology: "The fear of displacement of the workforce is something we read a lot about and we talk a lot about."

"And as we think about every revolution over the course of time from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution and on, there has been displacement of the workforce in the near term, and then meaningful increases in workforce opportunities over the longer term. Our hope is that AI represents the same opportunity, and we're working very closely inside of our company to ensure that our people benefit in that way and actually facilitate them to do more things," the CEO added.

Andrew Wilson Dowplays Microsoft's Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard

During the call, the CEO also revealed he's not worried about the outcome of Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI

"Whether that deal goes through or not is not really material to us, broadly," Wilson said, as per IGN. "We think we have the scale, again back to our network, our IP, and our talent, to continue to navigate the future and lead the future of entertainment and compete in a marketplace regardless of whether that deal goes through or not."

"I think we have tremendous assets with respect to the future of entertainment. But as it stands today, we're indifferent as to whether that goes through or not. We think we have an incredible strategy, we feel like we have an incredible opportunity, and whether it goes through or not we'll continue to be the number one publisher on the Microsoft platform," Wilson said.

Read Next: Activision Blizzard In 'Pannick' Mode, Taps Queen Elizabeth II's Former Lawyer For CMA Appeal

Image credits: Photo on LinkedIn and logo on Wikipedia

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