EA Games Europe boss Patrick Soderlund talks Mirror's Edge, Battlefield and NFS.

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Need for Speed Shift screenshot

VideoGamer.com: Why did you decide to make Need for Speed a sim?

PS: Here’s how we looked at it. We basically said, how can we get Need for Speed back to an 80 plus-rated franchise? It all comes down to the people that build the games, right? We met with the Slightly Mad guys in London and we just said, this is a team that knows how to build quality. I think we can help them reach out to a mass market by adding the Need for Speed flavour and branding to it and help them with some of the design challenges that they suffered from before. So it was actually more of a drive against quality and an opportunity to hook up with that developer that made us make that decision. It was entirely quality focused. One can argue that that was a stupid play from a consumer perspective because arguably an action game would have a broader market, but the most important thing for us was to protect the quality of the franchise. That’s the reason why we did that.

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VideoGamer.com: Because it’s a sim it’s going up against Forza 3, which was a big part of Microsoft’s media briefing. I’ve spoken to the guys at Turn 10, and they’re quite aggressive and confident in their game. Is there room for both of these games, because if you look at what Bizarre and Black Rock are doing with Blur and Split/Second, they’re doing more action-oriented racers than sims.

PS: Let me tell you this. I think Split/Second looks great. I’m going to have a good time playing that. Blur to me is completely underwhelming. I don’t understand what’s up with that game to be honest. That’s an official statement. Forza, I’m very confident we have a better game than them to be honest. Talking to the press, looking at the nominations, that’s clear. So, I’m glad that they’re confident but I’m as confident as they are.

VideoGamer.com: In terms of what you’re looking for from games developed in Europe, does every game have to get that magic 80 per cent Metacritic rating now?

PS: Listen, I’m a firm believer in that quality ultimately sells. I could not wake up every morning, go into work and have the ambition of working on something that wasn’t as high quality as we could ever imagine or get to. That doesn’t mean that we’re always going to get to a 90 rated game, but unless we have that drive and ambition I’m not going to work in this industry anymore. I can’t see the point in trying or achieving or aiming to make a 70 rated game. I just don’t get it. To me it’s all about giving the consumer, the person who spends the money on this, the best possible experience for his money. If you talk to John Riccitiello, our CEO, he’s a firm believer in the same thing. That’s why I think you’re seeing a big change at EA. The people who run the company have that passion and desire to create the best possible games out there. Again, it doesn’t mean we’re going to succeed every single time, but as long as we have that as a drive and motivator, you’re going to do a lot better than if you don’t have that.

VideoGamer.com: What’s happening with Mirror’s Edge? It’s a game that divided opinion. What’s planned for the franchise going forward?

PS: Mirror’s Edge, again, was one of those things where we took a very, very… it was a risky move. It was a bold move, a very innovative and inspiring move. The game wasn’t perfect by any means. We would have liked the game to sell better even though the game has sold better than most people think. You will see another Mirror’s Edge for sure. It’s just a matter of when that time is and what we do with it. We have a small team on it and I’m excited about what we do.

Need for Speed: Shift will be released across Europe on September 17. Battlefield 1943 will be available in June for Xbox 360 and PS3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is scheduled for release in Q1 2010 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

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