Electronic Arts sees opportunity in games on the Apple Watch

Any new gaming platform "is compelling for us," at Electronic Arts, said Frank Gibeau, the publisher's chief of mobile gaming. That includes the Apple Watch that was announced yesterday.

"We have two teams prototyping wearable experiences that are not only standalone," but also tie into mobile games played on other devices, Gibeau told CNET. This would include using a smartwatch's fitness tracking capability to unlock features in a game on an iPhone or other device. "Or you could do crafting, or some other auction trading on your watch that goes back into your tablet game that you might check out later when you get home.

"So, we're pretty excited about it," Gibeau added, even if EA sees gaming on wearables as in "very early days" right now.

That said, Electronic Arts considers mobile and wearable devices to offer distinct experiences, even if their storage and processing power are approaching "next-gen consoles in terms of what's possible in gaming." It's unlikely something like EA Sports' Madden NFL or FIFA series would be ported directly to mobile devices anytime soon.

"The user experience is different," Gibeau reasoned. "The session lengths on console are an hour, the session lengths on mobile are two minutes, so there needs to be profound differences between the two for them to be successful."