By Chavi Mehta
(Reuters) -Videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc beat fourth-quarter booking estimates on Tuesday as gamers stuck with familiar titles such as “FIFA” and “Madden NFL”, sending the company’s shares up about 3% after the bell.
Elevated levels of inflation have forced gamers to get picky with the titles they choose to buy, with many returning to their favorite franchises because of tight budgets, a trend that EA and its rivals including Take-Two Interactive Software Inc and Activision Blizzard Inc have turned their focus on.
“Typically, our brands like FIFA, like Madden, like The Sims have performed very well at these times,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said.
The company said “Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth” and “Madden 24” will join “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” in its slate of titles for fiscal 2024.
“Console and PC dollars are gradually shifting towards the most high profile franchises and EA has some of the most high profile IP there,” Wedbush Securities analyst Nick McKay said.
EA reported net bookings of $1.95 billion in the fourth quarter, above Refinitiv estimates of $1.76 billion, driven by record live services and strong engagement, particularly from the “FIFA” franchise, Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh said.
Three of EA’s titles including “FIFA 23” and sci-fi horror game “Dead Space” were among the top 10 best-selling games in the first three months of the year, according to data from market research firm Circana.
With the decades-long EA-FIFA partnership coming to an end, the company is looking to launch a rebranded version of the game, “EA Sports FC”, this year. The company expects the rebranded game to deliver low single-digit net bookings growth in fiscal 2024.
EA forecast fiscal 2024 net bookings between $7.30 billion and $7.70 billion, compared with estimates of $7.52 billion. Bookings outlook for the current quarter was in line with expectations.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
