The gaming company has launched websites for three of its latest releases in China - FIFA Soccer 2005, NBA Live 2005 and The Sims 2 - which each share the same bulletin board in order to build up a communal gamers' community. EA hopes the new sites will extend brand loyalty and drive sales of non-pirated games.
Each site contains functions that enable gamers to communicate with each other and share gaming experiences. The website for The Sims 2 for example enables users to post videos of favourite episodes they encountered in their virtual worlds that can be viewed by other gamers.
The websites, which were developed by digital marketing specialist 21 Communications, use rich multimedia downloads and regular news notices, as well as online contests and events, to help build an audience and encourage repeat attendance.
"Gamers in China have high expectations," commented Gavin Ho, director of Starcom's specialist gaming unit Play. "By fostering a good Chinese gamer community it will allow EA to learn more about the gamers in China and help build hype around their games," he added.
EA, which produces entertainment software for PCs and games systems such as PlayStation and Xbox, is also facing stiff competition from internet gaming, the most popular form of gaming in China. EA has started to offer its own internet games, which take the sting out of piracy by collecting revenues through subscriptions, but so far outside the Chinese market.
Last year the company revealed plans to develop a China Development Studio, thought to be located in Shanghai, that will start producing games catering for local tastes some time this year. The company, which is anticipating that China will become a global hub for games developments, said last year it could be employing as many as 500 engineers, designers and artists in China within the next five years.
Ho said the increasing popularity of online casual games suggested that China's gaming industry is growing beyond a hardcore audience to attract a more varied following. "Companies like EA bringing in new genres of games like The Sims and its sports franchises will simply give gamers more diverse gaming options," he said.
EA markets its products under three main brands: EA Sports, EA Games and EA Sports Big. Other titles recently launched in China include Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, Need for Speed Underground 2 and Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth.