EA's quarterly revenue totaled a record $2.58 billion, despite the failure of Battlefield 2042

Electronic Arts reported for the third fiscal quarter (ended December 31). Total cash receipts turned out to be a record, despite disappointing sales of Battlefield 204 2. The franchise is not being written off, but Apex Legends has now become the flagship shooter for the publisher.The main thing from the financial report

Quarterly receipts (bookings)

• * amounted to $2.577 billion — an increase of 7% in annual terms.*EA defines revenue as the sum of all products and services sold digitally or physically over a certain period (net revenue is combined with deferred revenue from online games)

Most of this amount came from various services and online games – $1.677 billion (an increase of 9%).

• And the proceeds from the publisher’s premium games alone amounted to $900 million (an increase of 5%).If we take a period of 12 calendar months, the growth will be much more impressive.
• The total revenue amounted to $7,254 billion (22% more in annual terms).EA’s quarterly revenue was $1.79 billion, an increase of 7% year—on-year.
• However, net profit for the third fiscal quarter reached only $66 million, which is 219% less in annual terms.
• Revenue for 12 calendar months amounted to $6.5 billion — an increase of 14.8% compared to 2020.
• And net profit fell by 84% and reached $640 million.Quarterly revenue from premium games fell by 15% year-on—year to $616 million, but revenue from game services increased by 23% to $1.1 billion.
• The growth of revenue from EA services is explained by the success of Apex Legends and purchases of GLU Mobile and Playdemic mobile studios.
• As for the platforms, most of the revenue came from consoles — $1.1 billion.
• Next are PC ($374 million) and mobile ($277 million).Game Data

Over the past calendar year, the user base of EA games has grown to 540 million active accounts.

• The average number of active players per month has reached 180 million.By the end of the third fiscal quarter, MAU Apex Legends grew by 30% year-on-year.
• In total, 28 million new users have registered in the game over the past 12 months.The average time that users spend in EA games has increased by almost 20%.
• Most EA game users are in Europe — 30%.
• This is followed by the USA (25%), the Asia-Pacific region (22.5%) and South and Latin America (15.7%).The future of Battlefield 2042 and investments in the mobile market

Interestingly, in the financial report itself, Electronic Arts did not say anything about the results of the DICE shooter.

• But the company commented on the situation during a separate conversation with investors.The CEO of the company, Andrew Wilson, bluntly said that Battlefield 2042 did not meet expectations.
• Among the main reasons are problematic development in remote work and the fact that the team underestimated the scale of technical problems before launching.The shooter’s sales were called nothing less than “disappointing.”
• Because of this, EA has reduced its annual revenue forecast for the next fiscal year by $100 million.However, the Battlefield franchise itself accounts for less than 10% of EA’s revenue (in the next fiscal year, its share will drop below 5% altogether).
• Therefore, the failure of the new game should not significantly affect the growth of the company.They are not going to throw support for Battlefield 2042 at the same time.
• Small patches will be released regularly, but it was decided to postpone the full start of the first season for the summer.EA continues to believe in the new general manager of the franchise, Byron Beede, and the head of Respawn Entertainment, Vince Zampella, who will now be responsible for the development of the entire series.
• They have to take Battlefield to a new level.The main growth drivers for EA will be the console versions of FIFA and Apex Legends, as well as Apex Mobile (a soft launch is being prepared), Golf Clash and FIFA Mobile.
• It was mobile that Wilson called the main growth point for the company.The next major project in this direction will be Battlefield Mobile.
• A closed beta version is due to be released at the end of February to test the game on a live audience.