EA sees dip in physical sales for Q1 2012, increase in digital

Thanks to a somewhat limited release line-up which included Portal 2, Alice: Madness Returns, Shadows of the Damned and Darkspore, EA saw sales in its packaged goods division slip during the first quarter of its 2012 fiscal year. The four titles (among other back catalog releases) raked in a net non-GAAP revenue of $195 million, a decrease from the $298 million packaged games pulled in during the same period last year.

However, a steady increase in digital sales softened the blow to the company's bottom line, pulling in a total non-GAAP revenue of $524 million, down from $539 million from last year's first quarter. EA's counting on both digital sales and packaged goods (supported by big-name releases like Battlefield 3 and the back-on-track Madden 12) to continue to grow as the year goes forward, and has increased its net revenue guidance for the entire fiscal year by nearly $100 million.