Back in January 2017 Nintendo hosted a live event to share more details on the Switch just before its launch later that March. They brought several third party partners on stage to pledge their support for the system. One of those partners was Patrick Söderlund, formerly of EA, who claimed he loved Nintendo so much he gave his child the middle name of Luigi. He then promised that FIFA would come to the Switch.
Fast-forward to now and FIFA games are the only EA games on the Nintendo Switch (outside of two indie EA Partners games Fe and Unravel 2). And even those portable versions of the soccer sim have failed to keep up with the rest of the franchise, leaving out huge features like the single-player story mode and street soccer spin-off. We understood why EA called off its “unprecedented partnership” after the Wii U didn’t use Origin in its online system and ended up being a failure anyway. But the Nintendo Switch is the current hottest thing in gaming. So what gives?
EA’s investors apparently feel the same way. While shareholders typically demand dumb things that would hurt game companies in the long-term for short-term gains, at EA’s first quarter earnings call an analyst actually made a pretty savvy suggestion EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson glibly ignored. The analyst asked why hit casual games in The Sims franchise weren’t on Nintendo’s family friendly machine. Wilson claimed Switch owners just play those games on other platforms so there’s no reason to increase support.
First off, if a game isn’t on Switch, then yeah Switch owners have no choice but to buy it on other platforms. They can’t buy a version that doesn’t exist. But beyond that I think it’s been proven that there’s demand for a wide variety of games on the console/handheld hybrid not just from Nintendo but from third parties as well. This is a console with successful Mario and Zelda games but also Doom and Diablo and soon The Witcher 3. Clearly those publishers think Switch owners didn’t just buy those games on other platforms.
It’s a shame too because there are a bunch of EA games we’d love to see on Switch. Better versions of FIFA for sure but also other sports games like Madden and NHL. It’s absolutely criminal that the Burnout Paradise remaster didn’t show up on Switch. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare would feel right at home alongside Splatoon. There are still rumors of an Apex Legends Switch port. No EA supports right now means no Star Wars games for Switch. And even if the machine can’t run the modern demanding Frostbite engine (currently ruining EA’s developers) last-gen ports of Dead Space or Dragon Age or Mass Effect would clean up on Switch.
Hopefully as the Switch sells more EA realizes how dumb this excuse is and catches up quickly. For more on Nintendo Switch here are some cool games to play right now and pre-order the upcoming Nintendo Switch Lite.
