EA has announced that the majority of its future mobile games will be free-to-play titles monetised by in-app purchases.

Speaking to AllThingsD at E3, SVP and group general manager Nick Earl admitted the publisher had been slow to grasp the potential of the model on mobile, but was now getting its act together.

Playing catch-up

"We started to see that freemium was coming in, and it took us a long time to move over," he told the site.

"In all candour, we are behind."

The company's transition to freemium will begin with the summer launch of The Simpsons mobile game, although EA has no plans to abandon the premium pricing model altogether.

Step by step

"There will be a few one-time download games in the future, but they are such the exception, and the norm will be freemium games," Earl explained.

Interestingly, Earl also argues that the move to freemium will also lead to better games.

"Over the last three years, we reengineered the console business. There was a lot of mediocre stuff and we moved to making a lot fewer good titles.

"Basically, we are taking that approach to fewer, bigger and better from console to mobile and social, and adapting to freemium."

[source: AllThingsD]