The Coronavirus pandemic across the globe has affected the world so badly. The economy has also taken a bad hit. All the sporting events were suspended until May and is now played behind closed doors.
The rise of COVID-19 outbreak saw people staying at home which in turn has seen a steep rise in the video-game market. Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the largest video-game manufacturers. They are based in the United States.
EA Sports’ football-themed video game ‘FIFA’ is one of the most popular video games. It has seen a massive rise in popularity during the Coronavirus. EA has declared a record profit in the first quarter of the financial year of 2020-21. They had an operating income of $471 million in the April-May-June period. They described this as “an extraordinary quarter”.
EA Sports’ CEO, Andrew Wilson said: “This is an unprecedented time, and it was an unprecedented first quarter for our business at Electronic Arts, with extraordinary growth in our games and live services and record financial performance.”
According to a report by InsideSport, at the end of June 2020, EA had a year-on-year net revenue rise to $1.46 billion. Their operating cash flow more than doubled from $158 million to $378 million.
Wilson said that EA find themselves at “the intersection of two fundamental secular trends that have become increasingly clear: first, social interactions in our world are moving from physical to digital, and second, the consumption of sports and entertainment is moving from linear to interactive”.
He further added: “We’ve seen both of these trends accelerate during the COVID period. With real-world sports disrupted, EA Sports has become the centre of the emotional connection to sports…
“Player acquisition of new and returning players in FIFA grew more than 100 per cent year-over-year in [the first quarter], with more than seven million joinings during the quarter.”
EA has also generated a total of $1.49 billion through the Ultimate Team platforms like FIFA Ultimate Team in FY 2020, which is a $120 million more than last year’s revenue total of $1.37 billion.
EA Net Revenue from Ultimate Team
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 20, 2020
FY 2020: $1.49bn
FY 2019: $1.37bn
FY 2018: $1.18bn
FY 2017: $775m
FY 2016: $660m
FY 2015: $587m
EA’s net revenue from Ultimate Team game modes as of 2015:
- 2015: $587 million
- 2016: $660 million
- 2017: $775 million
- 2018: $1.18 billion
- 2019: $1.37 billion
- 2020: $1.49 billion
EA Sports is now scheduled to launch their next big game, FIFA 21 on 9th October worldwide
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