EA: ‘FIFA 17 was the best-selling console title in the world in 2016’

Call of Duty might still dominate in the United States, but soccer is still the world’s game.

FIFA 17 was the best-selling game for consoles last year, according to Electronic Arts. The publisher published the results of its fiscal 2016 today, and it revealed that its soccer simulation is as popular as ever. This puts the game ahead of other console-gaming behemoths like Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which was the No. 1 best-seller in the U.S., according to data-tracking firm The NPD Group.

“For the first time ever, we generated over $1 billion in operating cash flow in a quarter,” EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said in a statement. “This is a true testament to the innovation we built into Battlefield 1 and FIFA 17 and the continued strength of our digital live services.”

FIFA and Battlefield 1 also contributed massively to EA’s digital sales. For the company’s fiscal Q3, which ended December 31, it generated $685 million in digital revenues, which was up from $569 million during the same period from the prior year. While people purchasing those games digitally was a major driver of cash at $169 million for Q3 (up a whopping 51 percent), it’s add-on content that is EA’s biggest digital-revenues engine. The company’s “extra content,” which includes downloadable maps in Battlefield and microtransactions in FIFA and other games, brought in $267 million in revenue (up 11 percent year-over-year).

But while EA is happy with its digital performance and its soccer game, its quarterly sales press release did not mention other major releases like Madden NFL 17 or sci-fi shooter Titanfall 2. That silence does not have any inherent meaning, but the company is clearly focused on the success of other games at this time.