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Visitors play the ‘EA Sports FC 25’ match with England midfielder Jude Bellingham in front of a poster at the Electronic Arts stand during the Gamescom trade fair on August 21, 2024 in Cologne, Germany.
Ina Fassbender AFP | Getty Images
Electronic Arts On Wednesday it reduced its guidance for full-year bookings, blaming the shortage on underperforming games, particularly its soccer franchise, EA Sports FC. Shares were down 7% in extended trading.
For the fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 31, EA said it expects to report net reserves of about $2.215 billion, up from previous forecasts of $2.4 billion to $2.55 billion.
Revenue for the December quarter will be about $1.88 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $1.11, the company said in a statement.
EA said it expects net bookings for the full year ending March 31 to be between $7.0 billion and $7.15 billion, down from its previous forecast of $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion. EA says net bookings include both physical game sales and online game revenue.
The warning reveals the weakness of the most prominent soccer video game franchise since 1993. It was under the FIFA brand, but in 2022 EA’s deal with FIFA ended and EA’s last two soccer games were sold as EA Sports FC.
The company also said that “Dragon Age” is a role-playing game for game consoles such as Sony PlayStation and Sony PlayStation. Microsoft Xbox had 1.5 million players during the quarter, which dwarfed the company’s expectations by nearly 50%.
“During the Q3 period, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in the statement. “However, both Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 underperformed our net booking expectations.”
EA said that while its soccer franchise, which it calls Global Football, posted double-digit growth in net bookings, it began to see a slowdown in the December quarter. The company said it expects Global Football sales to decline year-over-year, and said bookings from online sales or live services would also decline in fiscal year 2025. The company’s football franchise was the majority. lack of direct services.
EA said it recently updated FC 25 with new content, improved gameplay, and the annual “Team of the Year” update, which it says was well received by players.
The warning comes just weeks ahead of EA’s expected third-quarter earnings on February 4.
