According to EA Games president Frank Gibeau and EA Redwood Shores general manager Glen Schofield, EA is planning on producing sequels to recent hits Army of Two, Battlefield: Bad Company and Dead Space. We'll agree that it's about as shocking as finding one's nose still attached to one's face, but it illustrates just how important original intellectual property is to the company. That's why they've been doing all that brand building recently, y'know.
In recent interviews with Variety, the two EA bossmen loosely confirmed plans for new franchise iterations, with Dead Space looking to have its property further whored out to toys, novels and even a big budget, live action movie.
It's our understanding that the next Battlefield: Bad Company is planned to ship as early as next summer, in EA's fiscal fourth quarter. A "game of the year" style edition would precede Battlefield: Bad Company 2, one that includes paid and free downloadable content.
Why so early? To keep Bad Company on the brain. Or, in marketing speak, to "settle the franchise on the console market.
As far as an Army of Two sequel, we agree with Variety that the naming convention may be the biggest hurdle. Army of Two 2? Ick. We'll go with either Army Of Too, Look Who's Army Of Two-ing Now, Army of Two Also or Navy Of Two. Or Coast Guard Of Two! How fantastic would that be?
Army of Two sequel, Dead Space movie talks, and more on EA's new approach to original properties [Variety]