by Christopher Grant 
{ Jan 31st 2008 at 9:46PM }
EA announced record third-quarter revenue of
$1.503 billion, up 17% from last year and a new record for the publishing powerhouse; in fact, EA CEO John Riccitiello calls it the "single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry." But EA isn't just any third party publisher ... it also took the opportunity to note that, with 18% market share across all platforms, it was the number one publisher in calendar '07. The especially strong quarter was driven by sales of Madden NFL 08 (duh), Rock Band (which sold 1.5m units across the three available platforms), The Simpsons (which sold 4m units), FIFA 08 (selling 4.5m units this quarter), Need for Speed Pro Street (racking up an amazing 5.5m units), and several others.
But it wasn't all Scrooge McDuck money pools at EA, they also announced a net loss of $33m for the quarter and delays of two key fourth-quarter titles: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and Battlefield: Bad Company, both pushed back to a far more nebulous "fiscal 2009" stretching from April 2008 to March 2009. But that's okay, with forecasted sales between $925 million and $1.05 billion for the fourth quarter, the suits at EA aren't out on the streets just yet.
Tags: BreakingNews, EA, Electronic-Arts, ERTS
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
copa @ Jan 31st 2008 9:58PM
"EA announced record third-quarter earnings of $1.503 billion"
That's revenue, not earnings. Big difference. Earnings were -$33 million.
Christopher Grant @ Jan 31st 2008 10:03PM
Yup, switched that sentence up a couple times. Corrected and thanks!
fredrik @ Jan 31st 2008 10:02PM
zzzz
who cares
NACHO @ Jan 31st 2008 10:13PM
so....they lost $33 millino this quarter? i'm confused.....how is that possible, or am i reading this wrong...?
CB17 @ Jan 31st 2008 10:20PM
How do you sell 1.5B in SOFTWARE and not make any money off of it??? I mean...are their development costs really that high?
ComradeTrotskii @ Jan 31st 2008 11:22PM
Peter Moore's wage packet probably
Korova @ Jan 31st 2008 10:38PM
How did they manage to lose money? Its like fighting off a big boss only to succumb to a zombie kitten's corrosive pittle.
(image courtesy of Yahtzee)
Vegnagun bwf @ Jan 31st 2008 11:02PM
What's like that? There's nothing like that.
Virtuous @ Feb 1st 2008 12:10AM
Could EA have spent too much acquiring developers such as Bioware?
ViagraFiend @ Feb 1st 2008 10:50AM
Thats what I was thinking.
Jeff @ Feb 1st 2008 12:13AM
Despite Crysis having sold a million copies?
http://www.incrysis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612
Faar @ Feb 1st 2008 12:49AM
How can they lose money with revenue like that?
One can only wonder if they're somehow living the high life with overly opulent office environments, a la Ion Storm back in the day...
SeriousKriss @ Feb 1st 2008 5:13AM
"Jensen frequently noted that Crysis was a strong performer, stating the game went "platinum," which likely means it sold a million units worldwide despite its initially modest performance in the US. This may be due to European territories, where the PC platform has traditionally been stronger."
Oh dear, it seems all the PC haters have been owned.
Remember Joystiq?
http://www.joystiq.com/search/?q=crysis+sales&x=0&y=0
Now shut up.
ThornedVenom @ Feb 1st 2008 5:52AM
Are next-gen budgets killing the industry?
WAS NINTENDO RIGHT ALL ALONG?!!
hvnlysoldr @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:50PM
The duct tape masters were right!
mr mobius @ Feb 1st 2008 7:48AM
They made a net loss with that $1.5bn revenue? What the hell are EA at? Is the company boiler room using wheelbarrows of $100 bills to heat the offices or what?
Deck @ Feb 1st 2008 11:55PM
My guess it would be a contributing factor that EA bought Bioware and Pandemic for $860 million. That takes a big chunk on top of development costs and everything.