Electronic Arts Continues to Lose Money

Electronic Arts, one of the biggest videogame publishers in the world, has announced that it has lost no less than 42 million dollars in the last fiscal quarter of 2009, which is quite a big sum but a narrower loss than analysts expected. In the similar period of the previous year, the company had reported a loss of 94 million dollars.

Electronic Arts is saying that it has managed to keep costs down and has reported a 15% increase in the revenue it has taken in during fiscal 2009, as opposed to 2008. The figure has reached 4.2 billion dollars but the overall losses for the entire year have gone up to 1.08 billion. Still, its manager remains upbeat about the prospects for 2009.

According to Electronic Arts, in the previous year, 31 of its videogames went over the 1 million sales barrier, which is an increase of 4. The company is also saying that FIFA 09, Madden NFL 09 and Need For Speed Undercover moved more than five million copies. Spore proved to have less of an impact than initially thought, selling 2 million copies and having around 100 million creatures created by players. Some of the biggest sellers in the last quarter were Skate 2, Rock Band 2, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Left 4 Dead and Need For Speed Undercover.

John Riccitiello, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts, stated that “EA’s strong cost actions in Q4 FY09 together with our investments in our digital service businesses will set us up for a stronger FY10,” adding that “EA is well positioned with the right strategies in a growing industry.” The company is continuing its strategy of expanding on the Nintendo Wii, with 14% of the revenue coming from that market, and with more money coming in from online releases and the Pogo online casual portal.