During its Q3 2020 earnings call, Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed that Jedi: Fallen Order is expected to sell 10 million copies in the fiscal year, less than five months after its release. That’s a pretty big number, and it makes an important point about revenue models and what consumers want from their gameplay experiences.
Jedi is a single-player title with no in-game purchases published during a period when EA prioritize multiplayer games like FIFA that aggressively push loot boxes and microtransactions. But EA seems to recognize that they can also make huge profits from games that don’t nickel and dime customers, as evidenced by 10 million Jedi: Fallen Order sales. As a result of this success, Kotaku reports that EA expressed openness towards exploring more single-player experiences, particularly in the Star Wars universe, which would clearly be a smart business move.
The call represents a change in philosophy for EA, which has looked at microtransactions as a core revenue model. Jedi: Fallen Order turned things around for the company’s line of Star Wars titles, one of which was mired in controversy for pay-to-win microtransactions. Fans will be happy to learn that Electronic Arts is at least considering more consumer-friendly strategies moving forward, especially for single-player titles.
