Electronic Arts Q4 FY12 Results – Mass Effect 3 Sales Exceed $200 Million at Retail


Electronic Arts revealed today their Q4 FY12 and FY12 Financial Results. FIFA 12 established the best year in franchise history – with downloads and micro-transactions totaling $108 million. FIFA Ultimate Team — a pure digital companion to recent FIFA titles was the second best-selling EA offering in the UK in fiscal 12.
Battlefield 3 had a record year, establishing itself as one of EA’s premier game services and in the process successfully took share in the growing First-Person-Shooter market. Battlefield 3 players are still deeply engaged — 6.3 million MAUs in March. New content downloads available in May and June.
Q4 full-game downloads were up 76 percent year-over-year, contributing $60 million in the quarter, driven in part by Mass Effect 3 and STAR WARS: The Old Republic. STAR WARS: The Old Republic active subscribers are 1.3 million. Two new content packs — Legacy and Allies, available in Q1.
EA’s Play4Free brands are generating an average of nearly $2 million per week. Several more EA brands will be introduced in the Play4Free portal in fiscal 13.
EA shattered its goal for digital revenue growth — generating more than $1.2 billion in fiscal 12 for a 47 percent year-over-year growth, and driving operating margin to 10%. Another 40 percent increase in digital non-GAAP revenue and continued operating margin expansion is forecasted for fiscal 13.
EA’s Origin platform for games and services has registered 11 million players and generated approximately $150 million in just ten months. EA’s Nucleus database has registered 220 million consumers.
Casual game leader PopCap — acquired by EA in August — is growing on mobile and social platforms with new games like Solitaire Blitz and Lucky Gem Casino. A new version of Bejeweled is EA’s top grossing game on the Apple App Store.
EA repurchased 27.7 million shares for $529 million through March 31, 2012, and as of the call, the $600 million share repurchase program has been completed.
Last but not least, EA revealed that in fiscal 13 they will invest $80 million in development of games for Gen4 console systems. And as you may have guessed, Gen4 stands for next-generation systems.