Today Electronic Arts released its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021, related to the period between April 1 and June 30, 2020.
Firstly, the accompanying press release includes comments from Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson and Chief Operating and Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen.
Wilson boasted an “extraordinary quarter,” promising “more innovative experiences” and “more groundbreaking content.”
“This was an extraordinary quarter, and we’re deeply proud of everything our teams at Electronic Arts are doing for our players and communities.
We launched new games, deeply engaged players in our live services, and welcomed tens of millions of new players to our network. It was an unprecedented first quarter of growth in our business, and we will continue building on that strength with more innovative experiences, more groundbreaking content, and more ways to connect with friends and play great games throughout the year.”
Jorgensen claimed “exceptionally higher” player engagement.
“Player engagement through the first quarter was exceptionally high, and well above our forecast.
Our Stay Home, Play Together initiatives have been a strong tailwind for the business, as players look for safe and social entertainment in these difficult times. We are focused on delivering high quality titles for our players, combined with our incredible ongoing live services and increasing reach across platforms and geographies which should continue to expand our business over time.”
We also get a number of highlights of the publisher’s performance and financial metrics. This includes the fact that The Sims 4 has passed 30 million players across all platforms. For the same of comparison, it was at 20 million as of the end of 2019.
- Net bookings for the trailing twelve months was $5.980 billion, up 17% year-over-year.
- Launched Command & Conquer Remastered and Burnout Paradise Remastered during the quarter.
- During the quarter, EA delivered over 30 new content updates, including two major game expansions, and more than 50 mobile updates.
- Launched nearly 30 titles on the Steam platform during the quarter.
- During the quarter, Apex Legends launched Season 5 with engagement reaching its highest levels since Season 1.
- During the quarter, player acquisition for FIFA was up more than 100% year-over-year and up nearly 140% year-over-year in Madden NFL.
- Life to date, The Sims 4 has more than 30 million players across all platforms; daily, weekly, and monthly active player totals reached record highs for a first quarter.
Below you can see a table summarizing the latest financial statistics, which show sizable revenue growth year-on-year, at least in part due to the effect of the lockdowns prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you’d like to compare, you can check out the results for the previous quarter, which were disclosed in May.
