Dead Space 2 helps reanimate EA quarterly earnings
Undead outer-space thriller, Dragon Age II, Crysis 2 each ship more than 2 million; company posts quarterly profit of $151 million, annual loss of $276 million.
Though the holiday quarter is traditionally when publishers make the lion's share of their money, the January-March period proved a profitable one for Electronic Arts. Today, the company reported that it had net income of $151 million for the quarter on $1.09 billion of revenue. That's up from the $30 million in net income and $979 million in revenue the company reported during the same quarter the year prior.
There were several reasons EA started off 2011 in the black, and they were called Dead Space 2, Dragon Age II, and Crysis 2. All of the titles were released in the January-March quarter, and each has shipped more than 2 million units, according to the megapublisher. Sales of Dead Space 2 were 40 percent higher than for the original game during a comparable period, the company reported.
All in all, EA launched seven titles during the quarter, which shipped more than 1 million units each, leading it to claim the title of number-one publisher in the "Western world" on high-definition consoles and the PC. The period also saw digital revenue for the quarter climb to $211 million, up from $144 million during the same time frame the year prior.
The January-March period was the fourth quarter of EA's fiscal year, which saw improvement over the prior fiscal year. For the 12 months ended March 31, the company saw revenue of $3.59 billion, down from $3.65 billon the year before. However, the company's losses narrowed from $677 million in fiscal 2010 to $276 million in fiscal 2011.
EA gave a rundown of some highlights of the fiscal year, which saw FIFA 11 ship more than 12 million units. In addition, the FIFA franchise itself generated over $100 million in digital revenue during the fiscal year. Meanwhile, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 shipped more than 7 million units, and Medal of Honor, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, and Madden NFL 11 each sold more than 5 million units.
Looking ahead, EA expects to take in revenue of $910 million to $950 million during the current fiscal quarter. For the entire 2012 fiscal year, the company expects revenue of $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion.
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