EA has revealed that it is set to release a new FIFA game, FIFA Superstars on social networking site, Facebook.
The game is to be developed by Playfish and will feature multiplayer gameplay through Facebook.
EA Sports president Peter Moore explains the idea on his blog, noting that:
"Leveraging our football gaming knowledge and marrying it with the social gaming expertise of our partners at Playfish is sure to provide more great opportunities to bring hundreds of millions of new fans to compete against their friends to win the FIFA World Cup through an engaging interactive football experience."
Moore promises "more to come on FIFA Superstars soon".
Zynga changes the game
In the meantime, it looks like Zynga's hugely popular FarmVille could be pointing the way to a new economic model for games publishers.
FarmVille has attracted 78 million active monthly users on Facebook to date. Additionally, Zynga recently announced the private placement of preferred shares which suggest a market valuation of $4 billion.
Most recently, there are rumours that Zynga may well part company with Facebook and create its very own social-networking service.
The Wall Street Journal recently noted that a social videogame like FarmVille may cost in the region of $500,000 to $1 million to develop, compared with spends from mega-publishers such as Activision of more than $20 million to develop traditional $50 or $60 console games.
No wonder that Zynga's business model is becoming increasingly compelling for the likes of EA Sports and other 'traditional' videogames publishers.
