Electronic Arts just hosted its quarterly financial conference call, and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson and Chief Financial Officer Stuart Canfield talked about some interesting topics, including The Sims, Battlefield, and the future of the company's business.
During the livestreamed event, Wilson revealed that in 2023 players have spent 1.8 billion hours in The Sims 4, up 30% year-on-year.
He also promised that EA remains "committed to the global growth and innovation of the franchise" while focusing on delivering what the fans want most, including new content and game modes for the current games to "social innovation, expansion, and connection" in the next game.
Speaking of Battlefield 2042, Wilson mentioned that the community is growing with total players up 70% year-on-year. Season 6 is also driving strong engagements with weekly average users up 37% year-on-year.
He added that EA is making investments in the future of the franchise, with world-class teams from all over the world working with Frostbite Engine to build an "expansive, community-focused Battlefield Universe for fans all over the world."
Interestingly, Canfield provided a possible hint on when these new games could come.
Looking beyond FY 2025, over the next couple of years, we expect our net bookings growth to accelerate, bolstered by a portfolio of industry-leading IP.
Compounding growth within our core sport franchises, new content and engaging experiences across our massive online communities, and iconic new releases like Battlefield, Sims, and other in-development titles, provide the inflection point that fuels net bookings growth and increases underline profitability.
Fiscal year 2025 ends on March 31, 2025, so this seems to indicate that we shouldn't expect the next Battlefield and The Sims games before then.
Canfield confirmed later in the call that the new Battlefield is "not in the FY25 outlook"
Speaking of the period beyond Fiscal year 2025, Wilson also provided further hints.
Looking further ahead, as more people spend more time playing and connecting in and around our titles, we see incredible potential for growth.
Within our online communities, we are expanding blockbuster storytelling through deep, rich characters, and new story modes to deliver bigger, broader games and live services.
The mention of "blockbuster storytelling" certainly makes you wonder whether he's talking about Dragon Age Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect, albeit they were not mentioned by name.
Funnily, Wilson was asked to comment on the rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever Nintendo will call it), and he carefully stepped around the question by mentioning that he absolutely cannot comment on anything that has not been announced, or even acknowledge it in any way.
That being said, he did mention that while this is not a comment about Nintendo's hypothetical new console, new platforms in general that offer improved CPU, GPU, memory, battery life, and/or screen resolution, when this allows developers to deliver more immersion to players, particularly across the biggest franchises like EA Sports FC, Madden, Battlefield, or Apex Legends, have typically been very good for EA's business.
You can read more about the financial performance of Electronic Arts in our dedicated article from earlier today.
