"Online is massive and significant opportunity" - EA

The internet is a key platform in Electronic Arts' bid to attract new audiences to its games, according to UK boss Keith Ramsdale, talking in his opening keynote at the Games 3.0 event in London.

He echoed comments made last week by Frank Gibeau, and labelled the medium as a "massive and significant opportunity".

"Its a great time to be a game-maker, a game publisher," said Ramsdale, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the London Games Festival. "We know the audience is growing, we know the offerings get better - but fundamentally online is massive and significant opportunity, and a ground-breaking opportunity for this industry."

He went on to talk about the number of people online engaging with videogames websites, citing CommScore statistics that in June this year a third of 880 million internet users visited videogame-related websites.

And he also mentioned the range of gaming opportunities currently on offer, from EA's own Pogo platform to MMOs such as World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online.

"The next wave in gaming is to understand the trend, make sure that games are directly accessible to consumer on the internet - and key to us will be retaining those consumers once they come into our space. Whether that's a brand or a franchise space, we need to hold on to them.

"The way to hold on to them is to deliver them great, ongoing content."

Ramsdale's speech was the opening session of the Games 3.0 event, talking place all day in London.