EA prepping "3 to 5" new IP for next generation

Electronic Arts says that it's looking to make several new IP for the next generation of consoles. EA Labels president Frank Gibeau says this will happen despite the preponderance of sequels at this year's E3.

"The introduction of new hardware from the big three is going to allow us to reembark on a bunch of new IPs, because it's the better time to do it, because you can really explore new ideas and do different things," Gibeau told CVG.

"In a market this massive, launching new IPs is very risky and it's a big investment to make these games. So it's a natural thing to see in this point in the cycle a little bit more emphasis on the knowns, but in the new cycle you're going to see a lot of new IP from Electronic Arts," he added. "If you're running a studio organization, the moment you stop creating new IP , your creative organization dies. Because you have to constantly innovate and try new ideas and people within the organization want to do new things."

"I can tell you right now there's between three and five new IPs that we're working on that we're thinking about for the next-gen. Some of them might come to market, some of them might not," detailed Gibeau. "It's really one of those things where I'm consciously looking at introducing new IPs into the portfolio over the next several years as the new hardware comes into the marketplace that we can refresh."

Gibeau said that if they were to release new IP right now "it would be very difficult to get the mindshare of gamers. You might get really good press for introducing a new IP, but to sell a couple of million units to break even on it at this point in the cycle... discretion's the better part of valor, to hold it a little bit so you get a whole new market refresh."