Electronic Arts came out swinging against what it calls a “misinformed” article in Business Insider, which said that EA’s The Sims Social game is on “life support.”
The article stated that EA had turned the management of the social game over to its Playfish India studio, “…where social games are sent to be maintained with slight updates until they are discontinued,” the article said, citing a source close to the matter.
“The misinformed article stating that The Sims Social is on life support couldn’t be further from the truth,” an EA spokesperson told GamesBeat. “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 its thriving community and drive continued success. We have no plans to walk away from a very successful game based on one of the most popular brands in video game history.”
The Sims Social was launched last August, and it gave Zynga’s top games a run for their money. The Sims Social had 66 million monthly active users in October 2011, but it has since fallen to 15.8 million today, according to AppData. And EA has fallen from second to fourth on the top game publishers list on Facebook, with 44 million monthly active users altogether.
Zynga has been launching more social games on a regular basis. But EA social-game launches, bolstered last year by the $750 million acquisition of PopCap Games, have been less frequent. EA has argued that its brands will enable it to gain share in social games in the long run.
During an earnings conference call with analysts this week, EA chief executive John Riccitiello said that the company will launch a new social game this quarter. The game is being developed by EA’s Maxis studio, which created The Sims Social.
GamesBeat 2012 is VentureBeat’s fourth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. This year we’re calling on speakers from the hottest mobile, social, PC, and console companies to debate new ways to stay on pace with changing consumer tastes and platforms. Join 500+ execs, investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, and press as we explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. The event takes place July 10-11 in San Francisco, and you can get your early-bird tickets here.