EA profits rise by 51%

EA has seen its earnings rise by 51%. The full figures from April to June show that profits for the publisher rose to $335 million from $222 last year. The report from EA reveals that strong sales from titles such as Titanfall and FIFA 2014 has helped to increase profits. The publisher also stated that the release of new consoles, such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, has also driven demand for games higher than the previous year. The full figures from the quarter can be viewed online here.

In-depth details also showed that PC and console downloads had risen dramatically to $71 million, a 90% increase over the previous year. One of the biggest areas of growth was in the mobile sector. Revenue from content sold on smartphones and tablets climbed to $120 million in the same time. EA explained this was largely down to the free-to-play model adopted by many mobile games. Out of that $120 million, $105 million of it came directly from extra digital content and advertising revenue. Blake Jorgensen, the chief financial officer at EA said: “We continue to view mobile as a business with tremendous opportunity as the market is experiencing significant global growth in smartphones and tablets.”

Yesterday EA CEO, Andrew Wilson, spoke to Kotaku. He spoke about how the company plans a fundamental shift in the way it develops games in the future. Part of this involves having games playable at a much earlier stage in development so that stability can be tested. The publisher will also be looking to test games much more thoroughly and be willing to delay games if they still need further work. This practice already seems to be in place. News emerged yesterday that EA was delaying Battlefield Hardline until early 2015 and pushing back the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition until November.