EA cuts Q3 guidance as soccer and other games “underperform”

Electronic Arts It cut its full-year order guidance on Wednesday, blaming the shortfall on underperforming games, particularly soccer franchise EA Sports FC. Shares fell 7% in extended trading.

For the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, EA said it expects to report about $2.215 billion in net bookings, up from $2.55 billion a year earlier.

Revenue for the December quarter will be about $1.88 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $1.11, the company said in a statement.

EA said it expects net bookings of $7 billion to $7.15 billion for the full fiscal year ending March 31, up from $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion previously. EA says net bookings include physical game sales as well as revenue from online games.

The warning reveals a weakness in the most popular soccer video game franchise since 1993. It used to be under the FIFA brand, but in 2022 EA’s contract with FIFA ended and the last two EA soccer games were sold as EA Sports FC.

The company also said that “Dragon Age” is a role-playing game for game consoles such as Sony PlayStation. Microsoft Xbox had 1.5 million players during the quarter, beating the company’s expectations by nearly 50%.

“During the third quarter, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson. “However, Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 fell short of our net order expectations.”

EA said its soccer franchise, which it calls Global Football, has seen double-digit growth in net bookings for two years, but began to see a slowdown in the December quarter. The company said it expects Global Soccer sales to decline year-over-year, and that orders from online sales or live services will also decline in fiscal 2025. lack of live services.

EA said the recently updated FC 25 was well received by players with new content, improved gameplay and the annual Team of the Year update.

The warning comes weeks before EA’s third-quarter earnings scheduled for February 4.