It's EA's Responsibility to "Push the Industry Forward"

"We can't just be a company that's only about gigantic big things."

According to EA Studios executive vice president Patrick Soderlund, the publisher isn't only about huge franchises such as Battlefield, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars.

In an interview with GamesIndustry International Soderlund said that EA has a responsibility to "push the industry forward."

"We've had a lot of discussions inside the studios around our responsibility as Electronic Arts to push the industry forward and to help others," Soderlund said. "We can't just be a company that's only about gigantic big things. There's more of a portfolio mentality that there's some things that we want to give to the players, that's something like Unravel."

He went on to explain how Unravel came to be an EA-published game and why he thinks the game itself is important for the industry overall.

"I think [Coldwood Interactive] were showing Unravel to a lot of other publishers as well, and I think that we managed to convince them that we would be a good home for this, and that we would nurture it and take care of it the way it deserves," Soderlund said. "Meeting [creative director Martin Sahlin] and hearing him talk about the game, and how deep it is to him, and how important it is to him, and where it came from; this industry needs that, as well as the other things. A company the size of EA should be in both, I think."

EA also has also reached an agreement with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons director Josef Fares for his next game, called Hazelight.

"We will always put a lot of effort into our AAA games, but it's good for us to have a portfolio that is maybe broader than what we've had in the past," Soderlund explained.