Q3 2022 Was Electronic Arts’ Biggest Quarter, Battlefield 2042 ‘Did Not Meet Expectations’

February 3, 2022 Marc Marasigan Comments

2021 has been a great year for Electronic Arts Entertainment as shown in their Q3 2022 financial report. According to the report, the fiscal quarter ending in December 31, 2021 was the company’s biggest quarter to date with a total net revenue of $1.789 billion, up by 6.9% quarter-over-quarter. Net revenue for the whole of 2021 also saw a 22% increase year-over-year at $7.254 billion with majority of revenue generated by live service games, like Apex Legends, and mobile games.

“Q3 was the largest quarter in the company’s history for net bookings, underlying profitability and cash generation,” said Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen. ““Our portfolio approach will enable us to deliver organic growth in the double digits this year, continue to deliver strong cash flow, and provides a strong foundation for growth as we look to the future.”

“FY22 has been a year of outstanding growth for Electronic Arts, and we’re proud that our franchises were among the most-downloaded, most-played, and most popular titles over the last year and the holiday quarter,” said CEO Andrew Wilson. “Our network of more than 540 million unique active accounts continues to expand, players are spending more time in our games, and with our amazing IP we are well-positioned for continued growth.”

The only blemish on what would have been a spectacular quarter was the poor performance of Battlefield 2042. Wilson admitted to investors during the Q3 2022 earnings call that the shooter ‘did not meet expectations” and suffered from unexpected performance issues and faulty design decisions.

During the earnings call, Wilson also touched on subject of blockchain gaming, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. “Right now it’s not something we’re driving hard on,” he said. Quite the opposite of his statement during the Q2 2022 earnings call when he said, “Anything that brings more people in and engages those people for more time in a context with the extent that I think it’s a good thing over time.”