EA Announces Support For Xbox Live

Electronic Arts yesterday announced that it will begin supporting Microsoft's Xbox Live service. The decision reverses a policy EA made several years ago after the two companies were unable to come to an agreement over control of online game services. A recent shift in Microsoft's stance that allows publishers to operate their own servers changed EA's position, precipitating the announcement. EA said that nearly its entire catalog of sports games will now support Xbox Live, as well as popular action and racing games such as the Battlefield series and Need for Speed Underground. While many industry observers predicted that EA support for Xbox Live was imminent when Microsoft recently cancelled many of its upcoming Xbox sports games, Microsoft officials denied any link between that decision and EA's announcement. Source: Electronic Arts