Electronic Arts’ (EA) financial report showed significant growth and CEO Andrew Wilson believes the future for the company lies in “Games as a Platform”.
Following a financial report that showed extensive growth for Q4 of the 2022 fiscal year, EA CEO Andrew Wilson hopped on a call with investors to discuss the future of the company, and he believes it may lie in “games as a platform” like Apex Legends and incredibly popular sports franchise FIFA. The fiscal year earnings report published yesterday revealed: “Net bookings for Q4 was $1.946 billion, up 11% year-over-year.”
Electronic Arts CFO Chris Suh said “Record live services performance and increased engagement, particularly from our EA SPORTS FIFA franchise, drove better-than-expected Q4 net bookings, capping a strong finish to the fiscal year,” regarding the overall increase in net bookings. Suh also mentions “Our strategy is focused on enhancing player experiences by connecting our largest brands across platforms, delivering blockbuster mobile experiences and optimizing our portfolio for profitable long-term growth.”
This may feel like EA is shifting its focus away from single-player experiences after the critically acclaimed release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. CEO Wilson assures this isn’t the case by saying the company will invest more in “blockbuster interactive stories.”
It’s worth mentioning during the financial call, the elephant regarding the FIFA licensing was addressed, as EA makes the transition towards EA SPORTS FC. CFO Suh said while FIFA 23 has already surpassed the lifetime sales of the 22 release, he “would not anticipate it being materially different year-on-year.” While Electronic Arts as a company seem to value the live service model, the financial call was determined to focus on ‘player experience’ as the company’s driving point.
While overall the big wigs at EA seem primed to focus on live service titles such as Apex Legends, massive single-player experiences such as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf are still in the works, and with the success Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has seen, fans can let out a sigh of relief that Electronic Arts will continue to develop strong standalone single-player experiences in the near future.
