EA offers previews, business models

LOS ANGELES — For Electronic Arts, one of the E’s in E3 could stand for experiment.

The Redwood City game giant offered previews of its popular console games Monday, including “Madden NFL” and “Dead Space 3.” But it also highlighted ways that it is experimenting with new business models.

EA showed off “SimCity Social,” an updated version of the classic city-building game that will be available on Facebook. As with many Facebook games, “SimCity Social” will be free to play, but players will have to pay for virtual goods and enhancements inside the game.

The company also announced a subscription service for its popular war simulation, “Battlefield 3.” For $50 a year, players can get early access to new parts of the game, exclusive virtual goods and other features.

The move comes after the chief rival to “Battlefield,” Activision’s “Call of Duty” franchise, released a successful $50-a-year Elite service that offers similar benefits. Both represent efforts to continue generating revenue from die-hard fans who pay $60 for the game once but continue playing online for a year or more.

EA also plans to release free versions of some of its most popular games for its Play4Free website. The idea is to lure customers who do not own an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 into trying “FIFA Soccer,” “Battlefield” and other best-selling titles.