The company reported revenues of $365m, a fall of 16% from last year’s figure of $432m. It is citing slow software sales as the reason behind the $58m loss, after experiencing stronger sales a year earlier.
Electronic Arts (EA) managed to shift more then one million copies of its European Assault, Battlefield 2 and Batman Begins games during the first quarter, but this didn’t match up to the success of last year’s releases, which included a game based on a Harry Potter movie.
Warren Jenson, EA’s chief financial officer, is also reported to have blamed the delay of the eagerly anticipated God-father game. The firm decided to postpone its release after finding the graphics not up to scratch.
The disappointing Q1 results still impressed analysts, who had expected a bigger loss.
EA remained positive about future revenues, although it reduced its original estimates. The company now predicts a net revenue of $600-$630m for the next quarter and $3.3-$3.4bn for the fiscal year 2006, lower than the previous forecast of $3.4-$3.5bn. This is being put down to its strong Christmas run up, combined with the launch of Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox 360.
