Xbox gets Electronic Arts boost
World's biggest publisher to develop "up to ten titles" for the Xbox
Microsoft this morning announced that the world's biggest computer games publisher Electronic Arts will be releasing "up to ten titles" for the Xbox within the first six months after its launch next autumn. EA's first run of Xbox games are expected to include "Madden 2001", "SSX" and "Knockout Kings", with the likes of "FIFA 2002", "F1 2002", and pretty much anything else with a "2002" on the end of it probably also in the pipeline.
"Under the terms of the multiyear agreement, EA will commit its worldwide studios to Xbox games development; the company expects to publish up to 10 titles in support of the system's launch", according to the press release. "To get started immediately on Xbox games development, EA has ordered 500 Xbox Development Kits (XDKs) from Microsoft."
That's a lot of kits... EA was one of the last big western publishers to commit to the Xbox, and it's beginning to look like Microsoft's console, with its wide developer support and slightly ridiculous $500 million marketing budget, is going to be unstoppable. Microsoft are claiming that "over 200 of the world's top games companies" have committed to the Xbox, with 18 developers making Xbox exclusive games. The only real question is how the Japanese will react to an American console with mostly American and European games...