EA Announces Record-Breaking Revenue For FY10 News

The strong performance of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and the continued dominance of FIFA 10 pushed EA's fiscal year revenues to the highest in its history.

“We had an excellent fourth quarter, driving record-breaking non-GAAP revenue in the fiscal year,” John Riccitiello, EA Chief Executive Officer claimed during the conference call.

“Battlefield: Bad Company 2 outperformed, which contributed to revenue at the high end of our guidance range, and we exceeded our expectations on the bottom line.”

Five EA titles sold more than four million units during the year, including FIFA 10, Madden NFL 10, The Sims 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Need for Speed Shift.

Battlefield 1943 sold over 1.5 million units to date and is the best-selling download-only game on PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade. 

Sales from digital titles increased by 33% compared to last year, with substantial growth coming from Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

During the quarter ended March 31st 2010 over 1.6 million copies of Mass Effect 2 were sold across Europe and North America.  Dante's Inferno notched up close to 1 million units, making it the best-selling new IP for the period, and Army of Two: The 40th Day sold through over 1 million copies.  FIFA 10 has sold over 10 million units since launch.

Reporting on software sales split by format for the period, EA suggests PS3 sales have increased by 41% year-on-year, Xbox 360 sales increased by 1% however Wii software sales dropped by 9%.

The conference call that followed the release of the financials brought a scattering of further details concerning the publisher's future plans.

As expected, EA will unveil games for Sony Move and Microsoft's Project Natal at E3.  The publishing giant also announced an intention to "show a marquee title in breathtaking 3D".

The publisher reconfirmed its intention to split the Need for Speed franchise into Action and Simulation categories.  As TVG has long suspected we believe NfS: Shift's creator, Slightly Mad Studios, is currently underway at an unannounced follow-up to the 4 million+ selling debut into the sim market.  Criterion's first attempt at the series is expected to arrive later in the year and will sit firmly into the Action category.

EA's still refusing to talk too much about BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, but did confirm that it isn't included in the FY'11 slate - so don't expect it until after March 31st 2011 at the earliest.

Finally, EA's John Richitello was bullish about the publisher's plans surrounding the return of Medal of Honor.

"I would tell you that, and this is probably maybe one of the largest statements we'll make on the call, we're not going to be happy until we've taken the leadership back in the first-person shooter category."

Looking ahead, EA expects to ship 36 titles in the cuyrrent fiscal year.  By quarter, six titles are expected in Q1 (Apr-Jun); seven titles in Q2 (Jul-Sep); 16 titles in Q3 (Oct-Dec); and seven titles in Q4 (Jan-Mar 11).

For the first quarter ending June 30th 2010, EA expects GAAP net revenue to be approximately $710 to $750 million and non-GAAP net revenue to be approximately $460 to $500 million. 

For the entire fiscal year ending March 31st 2011, GAAP net revenue is expected to be approximately $3.35 to $3.60 billion, down from prior expectations of $3.45 to $3.70 billion due to revisions to the release schedule.  Non-GAAP net revenue is expected to be approximately $3.65 to $3.90 billion.

EA's Breakdown