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Electronic Arts had a strong first quarter of its fiscal 2020. The publisher generated $743 million in revenue, which beat Wall Street’s expectations. That’s down less than 1% from $749 million during the same period last year. EA’s share price is up around 3.5 percent in after-hours trading on that news.
EA’s positive results were due largely to the solid performance of its most familiar brands. The company noted that FIFA Ultimate Team had an in-game event that attracted 3 million daily active players. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has nearly reached 80 million lifetime registrations. And The Sims 4, meanwhile, saw a year-over-year increase of 55% for its expansion and game pack sales. This is all good news for EA, which is trying to generate regular, ongoing revenue from fewer new releases.
“We had a strong start to fiscal-year 2020, bringing rich new experiences to our growing communities for Apex Legends, EA Sports, The Sims, and more,” Electronic Arts chief executive officer Andrew Wilson said. “From great new games to live services with longevity, subscriptions on more platforms, and competitive gaming for more franchises, we’re pushing to lead with innovation, quality and choice for our players.”
What about Apex Legends?
While Wilson mentioned Apex Legends, the company’s quarterly report barely mentioned it. It did note that Respawn Entertainment launched its Season 2 on July 2. That will show up on the next financial disclosure.
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But this is likely good news for EA. If Season 2 is better at getting players to spend time and money on Apex Legends, the company could see some major growth during Q2. That is especially true if all of EA’s other games and services continue to chug along the way they did in Q1.
“We delivered operating results significantly above our expectations, driven by broad strength across our core franchises,” EA chief financial and operating officer Blake Jorgensen said. “This quarter shows how the power of our portfolio strategy, combined with live services, delivers strong results.”
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