Electronic Arts has published its most recent set of quarterly financials, for the three-month period ending 30th June. As is customary, the firm also sketched out the coming few months in terms of prospects and releases. Investors have been happy with what has been reported, and projected, with EA shares rising sharply, up four per cent in after-hours trading.
"We've had a very strong start to the fiscal year with our incredible teams delivering experiences that continue to bring hundreds of millions of players together," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "Our new launches, leading games, and live services all had an outstanding quarter." Indeed, things have gone better than expected, though the numbers are down compared to the pandemic lockdown boost delivered to the entertainment industry this time last year.
Though it has been a rather quiet quarter, especially if you are considering highlights in the form of new releases, the millions of gamers enjoying EA Sports titles and Apex Legends have kept the tills ringing. In the post-results conference call, highlights bullet pointed by analyst Daniel Ahmad, EA also expressed its pleasure due to Mass Effect Legendary Edition performing well above expectations.
Mobile and digital download trends continued to strengthen; with console digital downloads growing six per cent to 58 per cent over the last 12 months. EA sees big growth opportunities in mobile with Glu, Metalhead, Playdemic, and Codemasters available to enhance its core sports titles, casual sports titles, and other accessible mobile genres. One specific mobile game mentioned was a new version of Need for Speed, and that game should also come back to consoles soon.
Battlefield 2042 is going to be important to EA later in the year, especially over Christmas and New Year. EA said that this is the hottest of its upcoming titles, and 210,000,000+ engagements across its social media channels is testament to this. Later today, a new standalone short film called Exodus premieres (8am PDT / 5pm CEST), which will introduce you to the world of 2042 – where it looks like war has been triggered by the climate change crisis.
In other forward-looking news, EA will continue to invest in the Jedi Fallen Order franchise, but it did not provide any further details about its Dead Space remake plans.
