Keeping Active: EA Sports Releasing New Fitness Videogame
By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
 |
EA Sports Releasing First Fitness
Videogame Today |
EA Sports today will release “EA Sports Active,” its first fitness title and a significant attempt by the videogame publisher to broaden its overall base of consumers beyond its core young male following. The game most overtly will compete against other videogame-based trainers such as the highly successful Wii Fit and Ubisoft’s “My Fitness Coach.” But the EA title seeks to differentiate itself through a more Western-style, aerobic style of exercise, a regimen developed in partnership with Oprah Winfrey’s trainer Bob Greene, and a more encouraging tone of presentation. The game’s release is being heralded through a series of national media appearances and extensions into social media networks, with EA showcasing a dozen people to whom it gave early copies of the title performing the “30 Day Challenge.” The month-long fitness circuit forms a centerpiece of “EA Sports Active.” “This is so much more instructive and interactive than anything else I’ve seen,” said Renee Ross of Atlanta, who lost 10 pounds in a month using “EA Sports Active” and as a young mother represents the title’s core target demographic. “Thirty days ago, these clothes on me totally don’t fit.” While no subsequent releases have been announced, EA intends to turn the fitness title into its own platform with future plans for downloadable content, expansion packs and other materials to supplement the core product.
|
