Electronic Arts is living well on live services. It didn’t have a major game launch during the first fiscal quarter that ended June 30, but it still beat analysts estimates for both revenues and earnings during this period.
The reasons have to do with ongoing revenue from existing games such as Battlefield 1, FIFA 17, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, and The Sims (which saw a surge of players). The story isn’t so different from companies like Take-Two Interactive, which expects to have a good year even though it delayed its major release, Red Dead Redemption, until next year. Analyst Michael Pacther at Wedbush Securities said the results were in-line with expectations, with a slight upside to the earnings results.
“We have built strong momentum, and now we are accelerating into a year of tremendous innovation, where extraordinary new games, content-rich live services, and expanding global competitions will deliver more fun for our players and fuel growth for Electronic Arts,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson in a statement.
Chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen echoed Wilson, saying that event-driven live services drove the quarter’s revenues. For instance, FIFA Ultimate Team is a feature of FIFA 17, EA’s hugely popular soccer game, and its total unique population grew 11 percent from a year ago. That…
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