Surprise: EA is profitable
by Kyle Orland 
{ Nov 3rd 2006 at 10:00AM }
Reuters has a report on Electronic Arts' recent earnings statement, which showed a surprising profit of seven cents per share for the quarter. This is much better than the loss of 23 cents per share analysts expected, but still worse than the 16 cents per share profit the company showed a year ago. EA shares shot up 8 percent on the news, reversing a 12 percent fall over the last year.Not surprisingly, EA Sports was behind much of the good news -- Madden 07 sold 5 million copies, while NCAA Football 07 and Fifa 07 both sold 2 million copies in the quarter. But the results also reflected an unexpected rise in overall U.S. game sales, which tend to lag in the run up to major console launches. This year might be different for publishers, though. As EA president Larry Probst told Reuters, "the tough times are over."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OtakuCODE @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:11AM
Too bad we can't tell how much of that profit is from people who really dig the games and how much is from people who would prefer a better game, but just can't summon the psychological fortitude to go without in order to help save everyone from EAs crapfests.
Matt @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:13AM
Probst clarified, "The tough times when we, y'know, actually had to come up with *new games* are over. Thank God for microtransactions and a lazy public."
KineticOnline @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:26AM
As EA president Larry Probst told Reuters, "the tough times are over."
What Reuters didnt hear was the internal monologue saying "yup we can cut the ammount of content in a game and charge more for them, but the best part is we can charge the stupid ones twice for stuff thats already there, ha ha ha!"
Rich @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:45AM
They didn't get a read cent from me. The only thing I'll be getting with an EA stamp on it is Half Life 2 for the 360. Damn them!!
Todd @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:47AM
I think EA should taken some of that new found money to improve Madden to actually be a good game.
Kinmar @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:50AM
Dont be suprised if your HL2 comes with the first 5 levels and you have to shell out extra $ for the rest of the game. Or you get HL2 for your $50-$60 with Portal and TF2 on the disk but only unlocked after a microtransaction for each...
DWells55 @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:52AM
Of course EA is profitable, they make all their money by exploiting and screwing over the average gamer, whether it be through micro-transaction, in game ads, or spyware. Not to mention they don't even make good games and keep the smaller developers down. Boycott EA.
-D. Wells
Join me in boycotting EA's spyware and if you'd like, their games altogether: http://www.petitiononline.com/bf2142ad/petition.html
Evan @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:53AM
You want EA to make new games instead of sequels? Like what, water polo? Football, basketball, hockey, soccer... those are the games people want to play.
You want EA to be innovative? How, add new rules to football? Football fans want to play real NFL football, not some kind of vaguely football-like sport.
You don't understand WHY people buy the same game every year. Fans want to play with the current teams and stats! Football fans follow player stats and play in fantasy football leagues. Having the correct players and stats is important enough to football fans that they'll buy the game each year just to get the updated rosters, even if nothing else changes in the game.
I suppose, what EA could do, is allow consumers to download updated rosters. That would let players play 2007 teams on the 2006 version of the game. Now, that would be a reasonable microtransaction.
Tack @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:11PM
I like the positive spin when profits are 57% less than a year ago, but then again, I'm a glass is half empty kind of guy.
ashton @ Nov 4th 2006 11:10AM
Here's what actually happened from a business perspective.
It's called "Good Will"- the value of the companies brand in equity terms. Take a look at their financial statements it adds almost 1Billion to their value and is essentially a vapor good (that cannot be supported by anything tangible.
Many public companies do this as there are currently no accounting standards to check for the actual value of "good will".
Scott Krueger @ Nov 4th 2006 6:11PM
Yeah, If I could buy exclusive rights to be the ONLY Company allowed to Engineer anything Electrical...
I would be Profitable too!
As the ONLY Maker of NFL and NCAA Football games EA has Proudly pumped out inferior games and made a profit.
Way to go EA, It takes superior intellect to Make a profit in a market with no competition.
Yes... That is Severe Sarcasm.