EA generated $90m through digital distribution in Q1

by Christopher Grant { Jul 29th 2008 at 7:58PM }

While NPD reports are great for tallying up the sales of actual physical games – you know, like on discs and what not – a rapidly growing segment of the video game industry operates outside their purview, performing the mysterious (and often times lucrative) alchemy of turning bits slung digitally over the internet into cold, hard cash.

Electronic Arts shared some figures during their fiscal Q1 conference call, announcing it generated over $90 million in revenue through digital distribution in that three month period. Those figures are ostensibly gathered from digital sales of PC games on the EA Store, not to mention downloadable content for video game consoles (insert your own joke here about Battlefield weapons here). Sized up against EA's overall quarterly revenue of $804m, digital distribution accounts for an impressive 11% of that total and, we're quite certain, will continue to grow.

Tags: BreakingNews, EA, Electronic-Arts, Q1, Revenue

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

David @ Jul 29th 2008 8:01PM

Ho boy! Only 70% more to go!

Chase @ Jul 29th 2008 8:02PM

Generally speaking, I can't support digital distribution. After my external hard disk drive died, I just need physical copies.

GenBanks @ Jul 29th 2008 8:49PM

Except with steam, where you don't lose your digital property when you lose your hard drive.

Chase @ Jul 29th 2008 9:38PM

Solid point.

GoldenS1104 @ Jul 29th 2008 8:07PM

Isn't "Totally Awesome EA Game" oxymoronic?

JK, it just seemed to easy to poke fun at the corporate giant. :P

Bleu @ Jul 29th 2008 8:14PM

Why cant EA go away...I guess we still have some mindless gamers out their.

Brym @ Jul 29th 2008 10:51PM

This coming from the guy who can't spell "there". Well done, sir.

umm....hello??? @ Jul 29th 2008 10:19PM

ummm.....RockBand, anyone? hard to escape the big corporate giant when they publish some pretty damn compelling games, no?

GenBanks @ Jul 29th 2008 8:50PM

This is impressive and strengthens the argument of PC gamers who argue that the claims of that platform's 'decline' are inaccurate because of the fact that they don't account for digital distribution.

mundox @ Jul 29th 2008 11:21PM

ZOMGBBQ!!! PC gaming is dying!!111oneoneonenoe

I wonder how much does Valve do in 3 months :P

SeriousKriss @ Jul 30th 2008 4:38AM

I actually wish people wouldn't download from the EA electronic store so much. That might force them to release their games on better platforms like Steam or Gamersgate.

Pyjamarama @ Jul 30th 2008 7:01AM

I don't understand why EA doesn't use other digital stores besides their own, they would easily increase this number on steam alone. Sure the profit margin is higher using their service but still competition is good even in the digital world. This is like doing a exclusive deal with Gamestop or other chain for higher profit margin, doesn't make economic sense on the long run.

Nate @ Jul 30th 2008 12:53PM

FY09 Q1 Platform Net Revenue Mix (as a % of Total Net Revenue)

PLAYSTATION 3 17%
Xbox 360 10%
PlayStation 2 10%
Wii 7%
PC 11%
PSP 7%
DS 3%

PS3 owners DO buy games! (at least from EA)

Yazzer @ Jul 30th 2008 4:10PM

That is EA's prediction for next year (FY09 Q1). We all know how accurate predictions are.

This is the actuals from last quarter, a much different picture.

Q1 FY08

PLAYSTATION 3 3%
Xbox 360 12%
PlayStation 2 16%
Wii 7%
Xbox 1%
Total Consoles 39%

PC 23%

PSP 5%
Wireless 8%
Nintendo DS 6%
Game Boy Advance 1%
Total Mobility 20%