Star Wars Battlefront helps fuel a strong holiday quarter for EA

The holiday season seems to have treated Electronic Arts well, as the company reported an increase in both its sales and profits over the period as part of its most recent earnings report.

EA’s third quarter of fiscal 2016 ended December 31st, 2015, and in that quarter the company reportedly reaped $596 million in profit on $1.8 billion in sales revenue (all figures are non-GAAP.)

That's a bit better than the same period last year, when EA reported $682 million in profit atop roughly $1.43 billion in sales revenue.

Though its latest revenue number is higher than what EA itself had predicted it's lower than what some Wall Street analysts were expecting, leading EA’s share value to drop in after-hours trading.

EA’s major sales drivers were the usual suspects -- Madden, FIFA and Need for Speed -- alongside newcomer Star Wars Battlefront, which EA claims surpassed its expected 13 million sell-in rate. In the year ahead, developer EA DICE seems intent on walking a careful line between paid and free DLC drops.

When EA’s 2016 fiscal year ends in March, the company predicts it will report (non-GAAP) sales revenue of $4.52 billion and $987 million in profits.