EA Mobile, Electronic Arts’ mobile device division, is finally diving into the Android pool. We know they’re taking our favorite operating system seriously when they commit to releasing Madden NFL 11 for the DROID X and the Evo 4G.
Speaking at the Deutsch Bank Tech Conference, EA’s new CFO, Eric Brown, gave us a big thumbs up:
So I think there’s a lot to happen in the future in Android, and we’re trying to position our mobile business to take advantage of that trend.
And that came with a concern, but also a positive expectation.
I think the next big positive wave to push better growth in mobile will be the deployment of an App Store equivalent for the Android operating system … We think long term … the Android market is going to take its share.
There’s many a good reason for EA to go Android. Brown agrees EA is going where the users are, no doubt seeing the Android OS’s spectacular growth. Brown must have seen the same IDC Report forecasting Android claiming a 25% market share by 2014, and Apple iOS devices lagging behind with only 11%. Android smartphones out-selling iPhones also caught EA’s attention on where to put their efforts.
Since many EA titles appear in top-grossing Apple iOS app lists, this should be great news for Android phone owners who can’t get enough game. Some of these top franchises are Tiger Woods, Need for Speed, FIFA, Madden, Tetris and Monopoly. Sure looks like some great games will be playing with our favorite green robot.