Madden NFL and FIFA 08 weren’t enough to keep Electronic Arts from posting lower sales and a net loss for its fiscal second quarter, but the firm still beat guidance.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based megapubisher reported revenues of $640 million, down 18 percent year-on-year for the quarter ended September 30. Guidance was set to be between $465 and $570 million.
Net loss for the quarter amounted to $195 million versus net income of $22 million a year ago. Loss per share was 62 cents, which likewise beat Q2 guidance.
EA said that August’s Madden NFL 08 was the prime seller for the quarter with 4.5 million units sold. FIFA 08 sold 2.9 million copies worldwide. The new MySims for Wii and DS sold over 1 million copies, according to the company.
The biggest news for EA during the quarter was the October announcement of plans to acquire revered independent duo-studio BioWare/Pandemic for $860 million. Following the announcement, EA shares hit a two-year high.
"We think this will be a great holiday season for consumers," said CFO Warren Jenson in a statement. "We plan to launch over ten titles including The Simpsons Game, Need for Speed Pro Street, Hellgate: London, Rock Band, NBA Live 08, SimCity Societies and Crysis."
For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, EA expects revenues of $3.35 to $3.65 billion, up $150 million from previous guidance. Loss per share is expected to be between $1.60 and 91 cents, a greater loss than implied by previous guidance of between 63 cents and 10 cents.
For the big holiday December quarter, EA expects revenues of $1.3 to $1.6 billion and loss per share between 28 cents and income of 12 cents.
EA also announced plans to close down facilities including EA Chertsey over the next two years as part of restructuring plans that may amount to charges between $90 and $110 million. Most of these charges will be felt this fiscal year.
The new NBA Live 08 Demo is available for most regions to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
NBA LIVE 08 Demo
[ESRB: E (Everyone)] Download the demo.
- Price: Free
- Availability: All regions except Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden
- Size: 562.57 MB
Dont forget to add the game to your wishlist on 360-hq.com..
One of the exciting things about E3, if not the most exciting thing, is the games. Getting to try out a long list of games from various companies before anyone gets to play them is the one of the pleasures of geekdom that can't quite be matched.
IGN regularly hosts a constantly updated list of all the games that will be present at E3 and even thought this year is "scaled down" and "invite only" it hasn't put a hurt on the amount of games that will be playable. The list is far from complete, but there's enough there to get your blood pumping in anticipation. I've posted some of the bigger company's lists after the jump, but to see all the titles currently confirmed, check out IGN's ever growing list. Flynn De Marco
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Washington Wizards All-Star Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete and spokesman of EA SPORTS™ NBA LIVE 08. This season Arenas displayed tremendous determination to emerge as one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players, rising to No. 3 in league scoring and leading the Wizards into the playoffs for the second straight season. NBA LIVE 08 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver, BC, and will ship to stores worldwide this fall.
“This is a dream come true,” said Arenas. “I’m a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame.”
Arenas finished the 2006-07 regular season averaging 28.4 points and 6.0 assists per game. Arenas was the first player from the 2001 draft class to be named to the All-Star team in 2005 and now has three consecutive All-Star appearances. In the ultimate salute to his climb from relative unknown to NBA All-Star, fans voted Arenas a starter on the Eastern Team at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.
Fueled by a combination of talent and a larger-than-life personality, Arenas has risen from below the radar into the spotlight. His breakout 2007 season included authoring a blog on NBA.com that established a direct relationship with his fans, and a well-known catch phrase (Hibachi!). Dubbed “Agent Zero” in reference to his jersey number, Arenas chose zero as a reminder of his underdog mentality that drives him to succeed. Off the court, Arenas is devoted to many charitable organizations including Scores for Schools, the NBA Cares program, and created the Zer0 2 Hero Foundation to promote the well-being of children.
The EA SPORTS™ NBA LIVE franchise was the #1 selling basketball game in 2006*. The game is not yet rated by PEGI or the ESRB; visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. For more information, log onto www.nbalive.com.
Predator: Hunting Grounds coming to Xbox Series & PS5 in 2024/25! Predator: Hunting Grounds, the 1v4 asymmetrical multiplayer experience from the asymmetrical multiplayer masters ILLFonic, Inc. (@IllFonic), expands the jungle onto Xbox Series X|S and PS5 alongside m..
HQ Network: 10,973 | 
Guests: 5946 |
Members: 0
EA said that August’s Madden NFL 08 was the prime seller for the quarter with 4.5 million units sold. FIFA 08 sold 2.9 million copies worldwide. The new MySims for Wii and DS sold over 1 million copies, according to the company.
Arenas finished the 2006-07 regular season averaging 28.4 points and 6.0 assists per game. Arenas was the first player from the 2001 draft class to be named to the All-Star team in 2005 and now has three consecutive All-Star appearances. In the ultimate salute to his climb from relative unknown to NBA All-Star, fans voted Arenas a starter on the Eastern Team at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.
