May 9 (Reuters) – Videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) beat fourth-quarter booking estimates on Tuesday as the latest installments in its “FIFA” and “Madden NFL” series kept gamer interest strong.
The company’s shares rose 3.5% in trading after the bell.
Elevated levels of inflation have forced gamers to get picky with the titles they choose to buy, with many returning to their favorite franchises because of tight budgets, a trend that EA and its rivals including Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O) and Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) have turned their focus on.
“Record live services performance and increased engagement, particularly from our EA Sports FIFA franchise, drove better-than-expected Q4 net bookings,” Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh said.
Three of EA’s titles including “FIFA 23” and sci-fi horror game “Dead Space” were among the top 10 best-selling games in the first three months of the year, according to data from market research firm Circana.
EA posted net bookings of $1.95 billion in the quarter, compared with Refinitiv estimates of $1.76 billion.
Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
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