An EA Exec has said that the term “Gamer” is outdated and useless. VP of brand at EA, Elle McCarthy said that her current mission is to reinvent and reinvigorate EA from a branding perspective.
In conversation with AdWeek, McCarthy said gaming is “no longer a medium or an industry, it is simply ‘interactive.’ You can now interact with almost everything through play, from an interesting area like the interior design to a movement like Black Lives Matter or exploring your sexual identity.”
“I often get asked about how brands can partner with gaming or talk to gamers but there’s no such thing as gamers at all and understanding that will be crucial,” she added.
“Did you know that only 14% of players self-identify themselves as gamers and that is as low as 6% for women? It might be the safety someone finds in playing with people like them, free from the shackles of identity politics that can factor less in positive gaming spaces than they do in the world.”
McCarthy had joined EA in February 2020 and as mentioned, her current main task is to help breathe new life into EA, which is now almost 40 years old. “When a company hasn’t been tending to its brand on the inside for so long, it requires a huge amount of innovative thinking and works to revive it,” she said.
“EA’s basis is that gaming wakes up your brain and it’s the most connective entertainment medium on earth. Our company has grown through incredible innovation, bringing this purpose back to the center of the company. This is brand innovation in action.”
In other news, EA officially announced the rumored Dead Space remake and Battlefield 2042’s Portal mode. Also, comment down your views on McCarthy comments and stay tuned for more updates.