Digital Arts CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned EA “reignited momentum” for EA Sports activities FC within the fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2025, after a “short-term slowdown” in fiscal Q3.
The January gameplay replace – which was the largest stay service replace EA ever launched in FC —
mixed with outreach to the participant group and our Crew of the Yr occasion, “resulted in a real model constructing second with our followers,” he mentioned. Suggestions improved and the cadence of flow-up updates helped the momentum proceed.
That helped internet bookings got here in effectively above expectations with participant engagement up double digits following the January replace. EA’s engagement with followers returned to regular ranges and ended the quarter up. EA’s inventory value rose 5.45% to $162.96 in after-hours buying and selling.
Cell progress helped by internet retailer
FC Cell additionally exceeded expectations with engagement and acquisition up yr over yr because of our continued give attention to hyperculturalization, an online retailer launch final quarter driving extra significant internet bookings, and a profitable Crew of the Yr program, he mentioned.
That remark a few internet retailer launch is important, as Epic Video games gained an antitrust courtroom battle with Apple about whether or not sport firms can promote inside their App Retailer apps that they’ve decrease costs off the App Retailer. Internet retailers can add a number of traction to cellular video games, as they imply the sport maker now not has to pay as much as 30% of income to Apple or Google.
Even because it does this, EA additionally works carefully with the platforms. Wilson mentioned FC Cell will play a key position in deepening participant engagement beginning with the recently-announced partnership with Apple and MLS round built-in streaming and cross-platform fandom with the primary match streaming subsequent week.
EA Sports activities FC Cell new participant acquisition and every day lively customers had been up over 20% yr over yr. FC Cell stays a key strategic initiative to develop the attain of the soccer franchise.
“A fantastic demonstration of how we’re rising our viewers by FC Cell is the truth that the 4 largest cellular markets, together with territories throughout the Center East and Southeast Asia, are totally different from our 4 largest HD markets,” Wilson mentioned.
Not solely is the soccer sport enterprise frequently the highest online game within the western hemisphere, it’s also one of many largest sports activities leisure platforms on the planet, he mentioned.
EA’s American soccer video games throughout Madden NFL and Faculty Soccer throughout console and PC grew double digits. Hours performed had been up 68%, resulting in internet bookings of over $1 billion {dollars} — up over 70% yr over yr, Wilson mentioned.
This quarter, American soccer continued to carry out well-beyond the faculty season-ending nationwide championship in January and the Tremendous Bowl in February, Wilson mentioned.
Put up-season engagement and monetization proceed to play a extra significant position as gamers and followers look to EA for his or her sports activities leisure within the low season. For instance, the current NFL Draft was a first-rate alternative to proceed to attach Madden NFL and Faculty Soccer by excessive worth, well timed content material to generate ongoing engagement, join with followers yr spherical, and drive participant retention as EA heads head into the subsequent fiscal yr.
As well as, UFC 5, F1 24 and NHL 25 delivered constant high quality and deepened participant connection throughout the portfolio. The EA SPORTS App, presently in smooth launch with La Liga in Spain, is delivering constructive early indicators of engagement and retention reinforcing the imaginative and prescient to develop into the world’s main interactive sports activities platform.
“Wanting forward, we plan to broaden our attain into further markets with new strategic companions, whereas steadily enhancing the app expertise by expanded options and extra personalised content material,” Wilson mentioned. “Our focus stays on driving every day engagement, fostering group interplay, and supporting long-term international progress.”
In an analyst name, Wilson mentioned, “Now we have an enormous ambition round constructing the most important soccer group on this nation and actually being a number one digital soccer fan platform by interactive leisure. The launch of school soccer this previous yr was simply step one.”
Wilson added, “And once more, I acknowledge that there was nearly definitely up demand, having not launched the franchise for 10 years. However I’d additionally say, given the standard of the sport that our staff constructed, given the extent of engagement that we had from the fan base.”
He mentioned the groups are constructing a deeper connection between faculty and the NFL sport this yr, in addition to constructing out a lot larger ecosystems across the mixed franchise in future years.
“We’ll proceed to develop this enterprise in step with the expansion of the game and profit from the continued uptake of younger followers with interactive
leisure,” he mentioned.
Non-sports leisure
Whereas FY2025 was the largest internet bookings yr ever for EA ports, it was additionally good for the leisure pipeline, as Wilson calls the remainder of the corporate. The Sims hit double-digit year-over-year progress in internet bookings in This fall on the sport’s twenty fifth anniversary.
EA acquired followers to reengage by a brand new growth pack – Companies & Hobbies — the return of The Sims 1 and a couple of, and the discharge of creator-made kits. This marks the very best fourth quarter internet bookings efficiency for the franchise ever and paves the best way for the continued growth of The Sims universe over the subsequent a number of years, Wilson mentioned.
As for Break up Fiction, the brand new IP from Josef Fares’ Hazelight Studios offered 4 million copies, which CFO Stuart Canfield mentioned was twice the expectations. Even so, EA laid off individuals through the quarter at Respawn and different components of EA because of “realigning sources, managing prices, and specializing in our largest alternatives.”
In FY26, EA is launching two of our most iconic franchises, Skate (which EA spells skate.) and Battlefield.
Constructed as a dynamic stay service, Skate is designed to develop alongside its group, providing new methods to precise creativity, fashion, and development over time, Wilson mentioned. Early entry is coming within the fiscal yr 2026.
Battlefield testing
Turning to Battlefield, EA is taking a contemporary, player-first method to constructing, testing and advertising this subsequent stage expertise. By Battlefield Labs — the largest playtesting initiative in franchise historical past — EA is participating gamers earlier and extra meaningfully than ever earlier than, testing at scale, and validating core gameplay experiences, Wilson mentioned.
“A whole lot of 1000’s of individuals have weighed into this and actually given us suggestions which can be going to assist us tune and steadiness this unimaginable scale sport. And as we now transfer into the subsequent part, we’ll begin to divulge heart’s contents to a wider viewers, bringing in additional throughout North America and Europe, and beginning with Asia,” Wilson mentioned within the analyst name.
By play periods with a core group of Battlefield gamers throughout Europe and North America, EA has accomplished 1000’s of hours of gameplay, and the response has far exceeded expectations: over 600 thousand gamers have signed up for Labs to this point, alongside an incredible 350 million views of Battlefield
content material since our announcement.
“We stay firmly on monitor for a FY26 launch, with a significant international reveal later this summer time,” he mentioned. Fortunately, Rockstar Video games mentioned GTA VI is launching on Could 26, 2026, effectively out of vary of Battlefield.
Wilson mentioned this about AI: “I additionally wish to take a second to speak about how AI is powering our future. We view AI as a robust accelerator of creativity, innovation, and participant connection. Throughout our groups, we’re investing in new workflows and capabilities to combine AI to boost how we construct, scale, and personalize experiences — from dynamic in sport worlds, to delivering genuine athlete and staff likenesses at unimaginable scale.”
He added, “Our builders are utilizing AI to push the boundaries of what’s potential in design, animation, and storytelling, serving to us ship deeper, extra immersive gameplay. That is about amplifying the ability of this know-how to unlock new prospects for the way forward for interactive leisure.”
Canfield mentioned that fiscal yr 2025 outcomes included internet bookings of $7.36 billion, down 1%. The American soccer video games surpassed $1 billion in internet bookings, up 70% from a yr in the past. That progress was offset by softness in Apex Legends.
Full sport internet bookings was $2.02 billion, up 1%, pushed by energy in EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer 25 and new blockbuster releases together with Break up Fiction and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which offset prior-year contributions from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and softness in EA Sports activities FC 25 full sport gross sales.
Reside companies internet bookings had been $5.34 billion, down 2%, reflecting an approximate 4 level headwind from Apex Legends along with an approximate three level headwind from the December and January softness in FC Final Crew. These headwinds had been partially offset by the energy of American Soccer.
EA has lined up Skate and Battlefield for launch through the fiscal yr that ends March 31, 2026. That’s on high of releases together with EA Sports activities F1 25 on Could 30, and 4 different EA Sports activities titles for the quarter ending September 30 — EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer 26, EA Sports activities Madden NFL 26, EA Sports activities NHL 26 and EA Sports activities FC 26.
The macro envrionment
One encouraging factor: Wilson and Canfield didn’t blame headwinds created by tariffs or a tricky economic system for something.
Wilson did get a query concerning the macroeconomic setting and if that might soften demand. Would he pursue larger value factors and study pricing energy for the IPs?
He mentioned that the corporate’s largest franchises have carried out effectively over the a long time, although they haven’t any been immune macro occasions. However he mentioned the manufacturers have been “extremely resilient” even in powerful macro occasions.
“Usually, we’ve seen our largest franchises carry out very effectively, and there’s actually good motive for that. Leisure is a basic human want. It’s been witnessed at first of time. At this time limit, our type of leisure is the primary type of leisure for a lot of the worldwide inhabitants, and that grows yearly as our business continues to develop,” Wilson mentioned. “And we symbolize unimaginable worth. When you consider the amount of cash a sport value the amount of cash it prices to increase and improve that over the course of three hundred and sixty five days, it nonetheless represents unimaginable worth to get that leisure repair.”
He mentioned EA believes it may well proceed to ship “unimaginable leisure experiences, even in a world the place we will not be immune from a significant macroeconomic downtime. We do consider that we are going to be resilient, and we do consider that we are able to develop over the course of time by that by way of pricing energy.”
Requested about GTA VI’s delay, he mentioned, “I’m undecided I can touch upon the remainder of the business and their launches or launch timing, apart from to say sometimes immediately, video games take a few years to construct and develop, and it’s unlikely that if you happen to weren’t already able to launch on this window, it could be arduous to prepare and benefit from what could be in any other case a much less aggressive window that we could have anticipated earlier relative to Battlefield. What we’ve mentioned all alongside as we’ve been constructing in the direction of a window that we thought made probably the most most sense of Battlefield, however we wouldn’t launch right into a window that we thought truncated the worth that we’ve invested into the franchise, or the worth that we predict our gamers will derive from it as soon as they soar in and begin taking part in. I believe now, with out going too far, we consider that window is clearer than it was earlier than, and we really feel superb about launching Battlefield” and different video games.
Canfield Battlefield was constructed over greater than 4 years by a number of sport studios. EA has carried that value over time, and shortly the payoff from that funding will come.
