Electronic Arts revised its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast significantly downward from $7.4 billion to $7.7 billion to $7.7 billion to $7.15 billion in its preliminary earnings release as both EA Sports FC and Dragon Age: The Veilguard did not live up to expectations.
We don’t cover much business news here at PC Gamer, but this is compelling for two reasons: the sudden drop in expected revenues – potentially over half a billion dollars, and I’m not an industry analyst but it certainly seems like a huge change in one fiscal quarter – and also its causes. EA said that after two years of double-digit growth in net bookings, the Global Football franchise “has seen a slowdown” in the current fiscal year, while Dragon Age: The Veilguard “attracted approximately 1.5 million players this quarter, a decline of almost 50% compared to company expectations.”
“During the third quarter, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio,” said Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson. “However, Dragon Age and EA Sports FC 25 underperformed our expectations in terms of net bookings.
“This month, our teams performed a comprehensive gameplay refresh in addition to our annual FC 25 Team of the Year update; Positive player feedback and initial results are encouraging. We remain confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26 as we execute on our plans.”
The poor performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is more disappointing to me personally, but the bigger surprise is the demise of EA Sports FC. EA’s FIFA franchise had been hugely profitable for years, and the transition to EA Sports FC after losing the FIFA license seemed to go relatively smoothly, although some fans weren’t entirely happy with it. However, the company now expects net bookings for live services – essentially the money made from DLC sales and microtransactions that have historically been largely driven by Ultimate Team – to see a “mid-single-digit decline.”
Electronic art share price dropped sharply after the release of the preliminary financial report. More details will likely be revealed on February 4 when EA announces its full third-quarter financial results.
