EA Announces Record Holiday Quarter, Battlefield, Mercs 2 Delay

EA has announced holiday quarter results of $1.5 billion in sales -- the largest in its history, driven by sales of Madden, Rock Band and The Simpsons, but losses of $33 million, and delays for Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames to an undetermined time after spring. The publisher's sales were up 17 percent over the year prior driven by the above titles as well as Need for Speed Pro Street, FIFA 08, The Sims 2 Castaway, and NBA Live 08. Its losses come after profits of $160 million in 2006. The company released a number of quarterly sales figures, with Need for Speed Pro Street selling 5.5 million copies, and FIFA 08 selling over4.5 million copies in the quarter, making it the publisher's top-selling title year-to-date. It also said it saw sales of 1.5 million copies of Rock Band across the Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2 platforms, and 4.0 million copies of The Simpsons Game. EA also notes that in calendar 2007 it was the number one global publisher with an 18 percent share in North America and 19 percent in Europe, and was the number one third-party publisher on the Wii in Europe with a 15 percent share. For its coming fourth quarter ending March 31st the company says it expects sales between $925 million and $1.05 billion, despite the delay of Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which have moved into fiscal 2009 -- some time after spring of this year. No mention of a recently rumored Spore delay was made in its press release. For the entire fiscal year, EA says it expects between $3.462 and $3.587 billion, up slightly from its previous guidance of $3.35 to $3.65 billion. Said CEO John Riccitiello, “This was a record revenue quarter for EA and the single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry. While we are disappointed that two titles slipped out of the March quarter, Burnout Paradise is off to a terrific start and we are looking forward to the upcoming launches of Army of Two and FIFA Street 3.”