Battlefield 3 Boosts EA's Coffers

EA's financial results for Q2 of the current financial year show titles in its key franchises have performed strongly. Pre-orders for Battlefield 3 sat at almost 3 million units, with the total number shipped to retailers standing at over 10 million and retailers requesting further shipments as they become available.

FIFA 12 has shipped almost 8 million copies, with the number of units purchased by consumers up 25 percent on FIFA 11's for the same period last year. Madden NFL 12 - the release of which was threatened by the running pay dispute affecting the NFL – shipped 3 million units in Q2.

"EA had a strong quarter on the strength of FIFA 12, Madden NFL 12, and The Sims Social," noted CEO John Riccitiello. "Battlefield 3 is off to a fantastic start on sales and quality, and we are preparing to launch two more blockbusters: Need for Speed The Run, and Star Wars: The Old Republic."

EA's biggest year-over-year success was in the digital sector, as headline title The Sims Social quickly becoming the number 2 game on Facebook with close to 40 million Monthly Active Users (MAU). Smart phone related revenue jumped 87 percent, thanks mostly to EA's strong performance on Apple's iOS devices and digital revenue as a whole was up 37 percent. To date, over 6 million consumers have downloaded EA's digital download service, Origin.

The publisher's share of the Western market sat at around 25 percent, making it the top publisher in the region with 6 of the top 20 selling games – 5 of which were sports titles. Full fiscal year revenue is now expected to come in slightly higher than previously predicted, at around $4 billion to $4.2 billion.

EA is expecting Q3 net revenue to hit around $1.6 billion with both Battlefield 3 and The Old Republic expected to perform well.

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