Electronic Arts' very own CEO Andrew Wilson revealed that the company really enjoyed "an excellent second quarter" in their latest earnings release. The “excellent” quarter is reportedly driven by significant growth in FIFA Ultimate Team, Madden Ultimate Team, and The Sims 4, as well as the ongoing success of Apex Legends. Interestingly, the latter has now managed to reach at least 70 million players since its release.
FIFA Ultimate Team's unique player count increased 22 percent year-over-year and the Madden Ultimate Team player count is up 19 percent. The Sims 4, on the other hand, has seen its monthly average player total also growing, and is even up to more than 40 percent year-over-year.
Digital net bookings—defined by EA as "the net amount of products and services sold digitally"—reached $3.883 billion for the past 12 months. The figure is an eight percent year-over-year increase, which is believed to account for nearly 78 percent of total net bookings (both digital and physical).
Obviously, the things mentioned above are all about business. But, at the end of the day, it only means that EA is making a huge amount of money. Even more so, the company sees live games as a big part of its continued success in the future.
"The strong results this quarter illustrate the power of our live services and our core franchises. Strength in Ultimate Team, The Sims 4 and FIFA Online drove live services performance above our expectations," COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen said in the release.
Existing in the same universe as Titanfall and Titanfall 2, Respawn's battle royale, Apex Legends, has proven to be a massive game ever since its release. The game hit one million players within the first eight hours of being released. It would then increase to 2.5 million a day after its release and 25 million in a week. The second season, called Battle Charge, saw the battle royale title’s map undergo a lot of changes, including the addition of limited-time events. Season 3: Meltdown upped that with a whole new map and the first of the game’s holiday-themed celebrations: Fight or Fright.
