Electronic Arts just ended the Q4 FY16 financial conference call. CEO Andrew Wilson praised the results in the following statement:
Y16 was a phenomenal year for Electronic Arts as we connected hundreds of millions of players to great new games, and helped them connect with each other through rich and dynamic live services. The year ahead is packed with excitement. Fans are thrilled with the intense action and epic scale of Battlefield 1, our EA SPORTS titles will take major leaps in innovation, and we’ll bring new experiences from our most popular brands to more players on more devices.
The release schedule confirmed what we already knew: Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 will both release this Fall. An investor asked about the two games, both first person shooters, potentially cannibalizing each other but Wilson dismissed the concerns and added that EA feels very strong positioned within the genre with two AAA games that use very different settings.
As for Star Wars, the release of a new Star Wars game, possibly the action/adventure one being developed by Visceral Games with the help of Motive, has been confirmed for FY18. EA also stated that a brand new IP will launch next year. Mass Effect: Andromeda, as reported earlier, has been confirmed for an early 2017 release and a new Star Wars Battlefront has also been confirmed for 2017 (probably for the Holiday period, to coincide with the Star Wars VIII movie).
Among the financial highlights, there's surely EA being the first publisher in the Western for FY 2016 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
• EA was the #1 publisher on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in the Western World for fiscal year 2016 based on available sources and EA estimates.
• EA was also the #1 most downloaded mobile game publisher in calendar year 2015, according to App Annie.
• More than 54 million unique players engaged with our EA SPORTS console titles during fiscal year 2016, up 65% from last year.
• Star Wars Battlefront expanded our player base as more than 15% of Star Wars Battlefront players were new to the EA ecosystem.
• In Q4, there were 9.4 million unique players across EA’s Battlefield titles.
• The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds throughout the fiscal year, and The Sims FreePlay on mobile reached 200 million installs life-to-date.
• Madden NFL Mobile monthly active players grew 30% in Q4 over the same quarter last year.
• Star Wars Battlefront, a successful new franchise, sold in more than 14 million units in fiscal year 2016.
During the conference call, it was also confirmed that Electronic Arts expects 25 million new consoles (PS4 & XB1) to be sold in 2016 in addition to the 55 million sold in 2015.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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