Is EA Sports Pulse a social network for sports games?

Is EA Sports Pulse a social network for sports games?
David Scammell Updated on by

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UPDATE: An EA Sports representative has told VideoGamer.com that Pulse is “an internal team name for the easports.com and web teams”, rather than a name for any future product or service. Maybe Pulse isn’t FIFA’s Battlelog after all…

ORIGINAL STORY: EA Sports appears to be developing a new online portal called ‘EA Sports Pulse’.

A couple of job ads for the mystery project appeared online late last month, which suggest that the publisher/developer is building a “next-generation” social network that it aims to turn into the “premier sports gaming online community”.

“EA SPORTS Online is building http://www.easports.com into the premier sports gaming online community,” reads an advert for a senior web developer at EA Sports Pulse. “We are the primary destination for the EA SPORTS label on the web.”

“We represent the EASPORTS franchises and are building features that integrate the console to the web,” the description continues, “letting users become the centre of their own online sport play experience, participate in challenges, and improve their stats 24/7.”

The description suggests that Pulse could act as an online hub where players can keep tabs on on their gameplay stats, similar to Activision’s online service Call of Duty: Elite.

Oddly, Pulse is only referenced within the job titles themselves, including the listing mentioned above, and another for “Sr Software Engineer – EA SPORTS Pulse”.

“Want to build new features and improve existing products like easports.com and easportsfootball.com?” reads the second job ad. “Want to solve unique, large scale, highly complex technical problems?

“EA SPORTS is seeking an experienced Software Engineer (web) to join the easports.com team. You can help lead the development of next-generation experiences, create web applications that reach millions of people, and be a part of a team that’s working to help gamers connect with each other around the globe.”

EA Sports has regularly hinted at web service integration and cross-platform connectivity being at the forefront of its business in the future.

In October, EA Sports president Andrew Wilson told IGN that a pillar of the business was “connecting gamers to each other.

“It’s connecting gamers to the sport they love,” he continued. “It’s connecting the experience they have across platforms, so that you can engage with your game even while you’re away from your 60 inch television. And it’s really coming around to a point where it connects gamers with us, so that we have a better sense of what to deliver them tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.”

And EA itself, of course, has already invested in multiple online portals for its titles, including Battlelog for its shooter franchises, and Autolog for Need For Speed. It also owns digital distribution platform Origin.

Could EA Sports Pulse be FIFA, Madden and NHL’s equivalent to Battlelog?

VideoGamer.com has contacted EA Sports for comment.

Source: EA Careers, LinkedIn