EA’s Last Quarter Was One Of Its Biggest Ever Thanks To Apex Legends, Fifa, And Madden (2024)

FAQs

What is EA's biggest game? ›

Electronic Arts (EA) and FIFA are ending their decades-long partnership. Their last installment, FIFA 23, will be the final between the two. EA Sports wants to create its own game called EA Sports FC by ending its licensing agreement with FIFA.

EA and the NFL announce that they have renewed their Madden esports deal, allowing the Madden NFL Championship Series to continue. Way back in 1988, EA released its first Madden football game, titled John Madden Football. As the years went on, the series became the dominant football video game in the medium.

The game reached more than 10.3 million players during its first week, setting a record for the "biggest launch period" in the history of the FIFA series. Of note, FIFA 23 is the final entry in the series from EA bearing that name. 2023's game will be called EA Sports FC due to EA and FIFA breaking up.

This means that Madden is already the best-selling sports game of the year, though EA does have FIFA 23 on the menu this fall.

The game mode is available across EA's “Madden,” “FIFA,” and “NHL” franchises, but “FIFA” is leading the charge. “FIFA 21” has amassed more than 25 million console and PC players since its October 2020 release. The title helped EA generate $1.34 billion in revenue in its fiscal Q4 2021.

FIFA, one of the most popular video game franchises, will be renamed EA Sports FC after the game's publisher, Electronic Arts Inc., failed to reach a new licensing agreement with the world soccer governing body of the same name.

Video games publisher Electronic Arts says it is going to stop making Fifa branded football titles. It is one of the most profitable brands in gaming history, but the cost of the licence was one reason why the decision was made to ditch the partnership.

(NASDAQ: EA) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA) have announced an extension of their existing licensing agreement until December 31, 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, EA SPORTS maintains exclusive rights to release FIFA-branded action and management videogames.

IGN revealed that EA will not host an EA Play event in 2022, and the publisher will seemingly focus on sharing information separately for each game. In a statement to IGN, EA states that it won't be possible to have a singular show that features all the major games currently under development.

What is EA's best selling game? ›

FIFA — EA Sports

EA Sports sold more than 325 million copies across 50 countries, and the series has produced $20 billion in sales over the past two decades.

Is FC 24 free to play? No. As with the previous Electronic Sports titles, you will have to buy it.

The latest installment of FIFA 23 will be the last under the partnership between the two entities. After this release, all future games will cease using the FIFA name or branding, and the World Cup will also cease being a part of it as an official FIFA event. Instead, the game will be renamed EA Sports FC.

FIFA 22 is now available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The World Cup champions unarguably make more money than the Super Bowl winners, as FIFA is known to be one of- if not the most- powerful entities in the world with a total worth of $1.52 billion. But it is important to keep in mind that the NFL has 53 players on its roster, while FIFA has 23.

This year's Madden 22 did well, too, and the series continues to be the best-selling sports franchise of all time.

Branding and licensing

FIFA also draws in cash through the licensing of its brand. The best known of these is Electronic Arts' series of FIFA football games, which reportedly generated sales of $20bn for EA over its 20-year partnership with FIFA.

Still, it's a notable rebrand for a series that's reportedly generated more than $20 billion in sales over the past 20 years. According to Panja, FIFA received $150 million per year from EA Sports, and was seeking to more than double that payout.

Do FIFA players get paid? ›

FIFA will pay clubs with players on World Cup teams a total of $209 million. Some teams pocketed millions this way in 2018.

Origin is a digital distribution platform developed by Electronic Arts for purchasing and playing video games. In October 2022, Origin ceased operations for its Windows platform, directing players to EA Play. The Mac and mobile versions remain online.

EA says the new app, simply called the EA app, will be easier to navigate and has improved social features. Players will now be able to link their account with other platforms such as Xbox, PlayStation and Steam - making cross-play much easier than before.

EA Sports will rename their popular FIFA game series after they failed to extend their partnership with world football's governing body. The Athletic revealed in October that EA Sports were considering renaming their gaming series and it has now been revealed it will be called EA Sports FC from 2023.

Since the 2010s, the video game company Electronic Arts has been at the center of numerous controversies involving acquisitions of companies and anti-consumer practices in their individual games, as well as lawsuits alleging anti-competitive practices on EA's part when signing sports-related contracts.

That's because India, home to 1.4 billion people, has been temporarily suspended from international football. Last week, FIFA said the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had been banned after “flagrant violations of the FIFA statutes” because of “undue influence from third parties”.

FIFA Suspends Nigeria Football Federation for Governmental Interference. After a disappointing 2010 World Cup in which they picked up only one point from a group that they were expected to advance from, President Goodluck Jonathan decided to ban the national side from all international competition for two years.

BOSTON - Several World Cup teams were ready to take a stand against LGBTQ+ discrimination until FIFA took a stand against them.

EA Sports College Football

"College Football is coming back," EA announced in 2021.

Does EA perma ban? ›

We often issue a ban on your EA Account due to repeated or extreme violations of our Terms of Service or Rules of Conduct. Account bans are typically permanent.

To date, the best selling video game of 2022 is Elden Ring.

You won't lose your save files, but you will lose the ability to play those games. As long as you hold on to the save files, you should be good to pick up where you left off if you purchase those games or subscribe again.

The Secret To EA's Success

The simple secret to EA's success is in the figures. The EA Sports franchise has over 90 million active players, The Sims has 80 million and Battlefield 54 million. Those are huge figures and it's this loyal player base who help EA continue to grow.

Players that are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass can now play FIFA 22 for free after its inclusion in June's release of free titles, along with Narak: Bladepoint and Far Cry 5. Players will be able to access all game modes including Career Mode, FIFA Ultimate Team, Pro Clubs and Volta Football from June 23, 2022.

*FIFA World Cup™ FUT Campaigns will launch in-game beginning on 10 AM PT, November 11, 2022. The Your FIFA World Cup™ mode will be available starting November 21, 2022. **Requires FIFA 23 (sold separately), all game updates, internet connection & an EA Account.

Final Thoughts

FIFA 23 is a modest final hurrah for one of the most iconic game series of all time. It feels like EA Sports is saving the big advances for its EA Sports FC replacement coming next year, with FIFA 23 only offering marginal flourishes of something great and a lot of repetition.

Electronic Arts has announced that it will cease making Fifa-branded football games next year. From 2023, the series will continue under a new brand, EA Sports FC.

In addition, Electronic Arts will still be able to use real teams and real players thanks to a unique licensing portfolio which includes partnerships with 700+ footballers plus exclusive deals with leagues such as the Premier League, LA Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, the MLS, and more to be revealed.

Can PS4 play FIFA 23? ›

Available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC.

The answer is quite straight forward, as the game runs well on both current-generation platforms to the point where they are virtually identical.

Unfortunately for fans, no – FIFA 23 will not be free. This comes after EA announced Pre-Order packages for the game on the 20th of July 2022, which has confirmed that you will need to pay to obtain FIFA 23. The prices for each version depend on the platform you're playing on. They're all showcased below.

Since going public this week, Roblox has amassed a market cap of $40.6 billion. To put that in context, the current market caps for other industry rivals include: EA (FIFA, Madden, Battlefield, Apex Legends) – $37.4 billion.

Just to compare relative sizes, EA has a market cap valued at around $40 billion, while Activision Blizzard is around $64 billion.

Though, a disclaimer before we start, this will not be an extensive list. EA has shut down 14 studios overall, and not all of them were acquired externally.

FIFA by entire worlds. Madden is only really popular in the continental United States. You wanna know where FIFA is popular? Literally everywhere else.

Is Roblox a billionaire? ›

By early 2021, he was a billionaire, thanks to a funding round that valued Roblox at $29.5 billion. He took the business public on the New York Stock Exchange two months later in a $38 billion IPO.

Roblox itself generated about $924 million in revenue those same months—nearly double the company's $2019 revenue. “It's as if we're running 'American Idol' for up-and-coming game developers.” he biggest winner is Baszucki, 58, now worth $2.8 billion after a January funding round that valued Roblox at $29.5 billion.

Grand Theft Auto V is the world no. 1 mobile game and reimagines the open-world game in a number of ways.

EA has put up strong returns over the years -- the stock is up 27,000% since going public a little over three decades ago. A large reason is the consistent growth in consumer spending on video games. In 1990, right around the time when EA went public, the video game industry was $31.4 billion worldwide.

EA is said to still be pursuing a sale in the wake of major mergers and acquisitions. Electronic Arts is reportedly pursuing a sale or merger, and it's claimed that the video game publisher and developer has held talks with Disney, Apple, Amazon, and Comcast - NBC Universal over a possible deal.

EA: $38 Billion Market Cap

It shouldn't surprise you that EA finds themselves relatively high on this particular list, but the company's estimated $38 Billion market cap compared to Activision Blizzard's reported $64 Billion cap may leave you wondering if someone could actually buy them out.