Perhaps a little harsh for what is still the #1 mobile publisher in terms of revenue, but in comparison to arch-rival Gameloft, EA Mobile has released fewer games, been more reliant on licences, been more prone to cut the prices of its games to 99c, as well as less likely to release free taster versions.
All-in-all, the past two and half years of operations haven't demonstrated a coherent philosophy. Hopefully however the release of Dead Space for iPhone and iPad will prove to be a tipping point.
All together now
As recently explained by Kristian Segerstrale, the general manager of EA casual division Playfish, the company has been gearing up so it can take advantage of its reach over console, web and mobile platforms.
"Multi-platform capability will win in future - iPhone, iPad, console and Facebook," he said, in a talk entitled Social Games: After the Revolution at the Evolve London conference, explaining how EA planned to be simultaneous across platforms.
But while the regular annual installments of mobile releases such as FIFA and Madden long have followed the cycle of their console brethren, Dead Space for iOS takes a different approach.
The console versions of Dead Space 2 are released this week, making it the ideal opportunity to bring the game to mobile.
However, with the original game released back in 2008, there was little point in revisiting it. Hence Dead Space for iOS fills the plot gap of what happens between the end of the first game and the start of the second.
Hardly rocket science, yet it demonstrates both a commitment to the franchise as well as to take mobile gaming serious; something also underlined by the time and money provided for in-house Australian developer IronMonkey Studios to produce a high quality experience.
Shooting up the charts
And the approach appears to be working.
One day after release, the $6.99 iPhone and $9.99 iPad versions are working their way up the charts - both #5 in the US top grossing chart, at time of writing.
The game is also reviewing well. It has an average of 9.4 on the Quality Index, from six reviews.
It's certainly a great improvement on attempt to bring another console title Mirror's Edge to iOS. Originally promised in early 2010, it was a launch iPad game in April, eventually slipping out for iPhone in September. Before the month was out, it was on sale for 99c.
We assume that won't happen with Dead Space.
