EA makes good on last year’s promise to invest more in indie games, announcing a new indie publishing program, EA Originals, during its E3 2016 press conference.
During its E3 2016 press conference today, EA announced a new indie publishing program, EA Originals. The first game announced under the new program is Zoink Studios’ Fe, where you assume the role of a young, strange creature who is attempting to understand its species. Each animal and plant in the forest has a unique song, and learning these songs allows the player to unlock, and thus access, more areas in the world. You can check out the trailer below.
In a post following the announcement, Executive Vice President of EA Studios Patrick Soderlund further detailed the program.
“First, it is about taking first-time experiences that are unique, gorgeous, innovative and memorable, and bringing them to the world.
Second, it is about supporting small developers and helping them make the most of their games. We’ll seek a few projects each year for EA Originals, and partner with them throughout the process of development to marketing to publishing.
Lastly, it is about funding, and offering small studios a level of security with an EA Originals game. Making games is hard. It’s a hard business. These developers have taken on the risk of developing a new IP, and great games deserve to be played. So with EA Originals, we want the profits from these games to go into the hands of the studios making them. We want them to be recognized for their work, so they can keep innovating and creating, and so the players get to play more and more amazing games.”
