Electronic Arts property fell 16. 7 % on Thursday—the largest cut for a single moment since 2008—after the video game company announced that its star product, EA Sports FC 25, failed to deliver expected income as part of its preliminary statement for the next fiscal quarter. EA’s annual football match represents nearly half of the business ’s total gross bookings over the past five years, according to The Wall Street Journal, carrying large influence on the organization. Overall, EA said that full year total net bookings, the firm’s preferred sales metric, are now expected to be between$ 7 billion and$ 7. 15 billion, less than the previous forecast of$ 7. 5 billion to$ 7. 8 billion. The company originally projected single-digit progress in total life services revenue but revised its projection to a mid-single-digit decline, with EA Sports FC accounting for the majority of the change. Online orders for EA’s football franchise are expected to drop year-over-year. The statement marks a dramatic shift from its Q2 earnings statement, in which the company wrote, “[EA Sports FC] saw life service growth across all platforms in Q2, and full franchise net bookings in FY25 are on track to expand over a record FY24. ” Results for the roleplaying game Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was released in October, also contributed to the stock’s dip. The game’s 1. 5 million players during the quarter missed the company ’s expectations by around 50 %. In 2023, EA rebranded its soccer franchise to EA Sports FC after calling it FIFA for roughly three decades. The gaming company ’s relationship with the global football governing body FIFA ended following the 2022 World Cup when FIFA reportedly increased its asking price to more than$ 250 million per year, in addition to other requests. EA survived the breakup, as EA Sports FC 24 had more than 14. 5 million active accounts within four weeks of launch. In Q3 2024, the game delivered 7 % sales growth over a prior year that included the World Cup. Reviews of the newly branded games, however, have been middling. The two FC games have user scores on Metacritic of 2. 5 and 2. 6, as opposed to the 3. 6 and 3. 7 grades earned by FIFA 22 and FIFA 23, respectively. The company maintains a positive outlook with regards to its game quality. “This month, our teams delivered a comprehensive gameplay refresh in addition to our annual Team of the Year update in FC 25,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said. “Positive player feedback and early results are encouraging. ” Microtransactions, subscriptions, in-game rewards and additional revenues outside of base game sales represent the majority of EA’s business. The “live services and other ” segment accounted for more than 73 % of the company ’s$ 7. 56 billion in 2024 revenues, up from 66 % in 2020. eFootball, a competing soccer game made by Konami that substantially trails EA Sports FC in market share, is free to download and relies on microtransactions to generate revenue. FIFA, meanwhile, will lend its name to a separate free-to-play soccer game, FIFA Rivals from Mythical Games, which is planned for a summer 2025 release. EA will release its full earnings report on Feb. 4.
