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Well, here we go again. EA not being very giving to Nintendo fans is nothing new. The company infamously stopped bringing NFL football to Nintendo platforms back in 2013 when it skipped a Wii U launch of Madden 25. While there has been intermittent support here and there in the form of ports like Mass Effect 3 and Unravel Two, overall it has been years since the Nintendo faithful have gotten any software out of Electronic Arts.
That doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. Beyond FIFA, Switch likely won’t be getting much from the publisher as time goes on, despite being a roaring success of a console. Speaking to investors during its Q1 2020 earnings call, Stephens Inc. analyst Jeffrey A. Cohan asked EA CEO Andrew Wilson the following question about The Sims appearing on Switch:
“It feels like that franchise would be one that would do really well on the Nintendo Switch. So I’m curious how you guys determine which platforms you’d bring the game to or games to? And is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to bring that one on there?”
To which Wilson replied:
“Any time we’re evaluating platform conversations we’re really looking at a couple of things. One, does the game really fit that platform in terms of the controls or the community ecosystem. Two, do we think the community playing on that platform would appreciate the game to go there, or would they prefer to play it somewhere else?
“We have a lot of data that would suggest that a great many Switch owners also own a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One, or a PC, and very often choose to play the games that we make on those platforms even though they have a Switch and they enjoy a lot of great content on the Switch.”
It’s an answer, certainly, but maybe not totally clear in detailing why The Sims still wouldn’t benefit from being ported or receiving a new installment of some kind on Nintendo’s hybrid console. It’s not altogether surprising given the nearly nonexistent presence of EA within the Nintendo ecosystem. Whether this will change or not is anyone’s guess, but considering Nintendo wasn’t even mentioned in EA’s previous earnings call transcript… progress?
Source: EA Q1 2020 Earnings Call
