Electronic Arts is shifting the focus of its indie-centric Originals publishing label, to instead look toward bigger projects and AAA titles.
Jeff Gamon, general manager of EA Partners and overseer of the Originals brand, said in a recent interview (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz) that in the wake of its success with It Takes Two, they are shifting "away from niche, and towards bold and audacious."
Gamon said: "We've discovered a desire for bigger, better and more innovative titles that complement the EA portfolio."
"Where we started off with smaller, indie games. We are now graduating to independently created games of all shapes and sizes and scope and budget."
This raises some concerns about the philosophy of EA Originals, with its guiding purpose of bringing smaller studios to the attention of audiences. Now, it seems as though these studios and their projects could be abandoned in favour of profit margins.
Gamon said: "We trade on our reputation. I think EA Originals is unique in the industry in the way that we partner with studios."
"We are not just invested from a business sense, but we're emotionally invested, as well."
There are some concerns about what success under the banner of EA Originals means for studios, with Respawn Entertainment notably finding success via an EA partnership and later being acquired.
With EA Originals partnerships, the intention is supposedly to bolster the areas in which indie studios are lacking, enabling them to achieve success in an increasingly competitive market, even if this is later in a title's life through EA's subscription service EA Play.
Whilst this could mark the start of a philosophical shift in EA Originals' practices, Gamon seems intent on staying true to its founding values, so we'll have to wait to see what the future holds for the label.