EA Report: The quarter was worse than expected; after the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the company will focus on "more promising" projects
Electronic Arts (EA) reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, which ended on December 31, 2024. The outcomes did not meet the company's expectations.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
General Data
- Net revenue for EA was 3.2% lower than the previous year, totaling $1.88 billion.
- Net bookings also dropped year-over-year by 6.4% to $2.2 billion.
- Games-as-a-service generated 71.4% of quarterly bookings, amounting to $1.58 billion.
- In terms of platforms, the majority of bookings came from consoles—67.3% or $1.49 billion, followed by PC (19.2%) and mobile (13.5%).
- Meanwhile, EA's net income increased by 1%, reaching $293 million.
Game Data
- Over the past five years, EA's total revenue from soccer games grew by 70%.
- EA SPORTS FC 25 had a strong start, but interest significantly waned during the winter holidays. The situation improved after a patch was released in mid-January, leading to the Ultimate Team mode exceeding 2 million active users.
- During a conference call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson acknowledged that Dragon Age: The Veilguard did not resonate with a broad audience. According to him, developers need to heed the growing demand for games featuring "shared worlds, deep immersion, and high-quality stories" to attract more users.
- EA CFO Stuart Canfield added that the poor sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard illustrate the intense competition in the single-player RPG market. EA is convinced it must continue to "redirect resources toward the most significant and promising opportunities."
- While not explicitly stated, there is speculation online that EA regrets its decision not to develop Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a live-service game.
- The release of Battlefield is scheduled for fiscal year 2026—which will run from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. The response to Battlefield Labs—a test program for the game—was very positive and exceeded EA's expectations.