EA Reports Record Sales Gains for June Quarter | Game Rant
The worldwide pandemic has been difficult for everybody, but some gaming companies are reporting higher numbers since more people are home playing games due to COVID-19. More people playing means more people spending, and Electronic Arts is reaping those benefits with its best first quarter ever.
EA put up a press release on its website showing the numbers for the year's first fiscal quarter, which ended in June. The total revenue for this period was $1.46 billion, with a profit of $365 million. The vast majority of this revenue ($1.1 billion) came from EA's microtransactions. CEO Andrew Wilson called this an "extraordinary quarter" and thanked the EA teams as well as player communities.
Wilson credits EA's success from several things: releasing new games, involving players more in "live services" (microtransactions), and an influx of new players to the network. COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen adds the "Stay Home, Play Together initiatives" as being another factor in EA's financial success. Jorgensen says player engagement was "exceptionally high" and went beyond what the company anticipated.
Games like The Sims 4 and its recent new content have massively helped out EA gain this success. The Sims 4 has 30 million players across all platforms to date, with monthly active player totals at their highest for a first quarter. FIFA player acquisition was up 100%, and Madden NFL's was up 140%. Apex Legend's Season 5 had its highest player engagement since its first season. Content updates were also high, and helped drive player engagement to such levels.
Wilson and Jorgensen commented on what EA's next steps will be to ride the tidal wave of financial success. Wilson says EA will focus on "more innovative experiences," more high-quality content, and more options for players to connect with friends. Jorgensen concurs and adds that the company will continue to focus on improving microtransactions and expanding EA's reach across different "platforms and geographies." EA is already hard at work on adding in new content like a potential clan feature to Apex Legends, and more that might not have even be revealed yet.
EA isn't the only company that's thriving during lockdown; Microsoft also reports great numbers and both Sony and Xbox are getting ready to reveal new consoles soon. Hopefully, with the extra money, EA can continue to produce high-quality titles and provide even more options for players to connect with each other while facing less great lockdown situations.
Source: EA
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