The global sporting world is literally struggling in the Covid19 impacted world. But one sector is booming in these times of gloom everywhere.
As LIVE sporting action stayed suspended for couple of months, the genre of Esport has grown manifolds. EA Sports, one of the world’s biggest games manufactures and partners for FIFA football themed video game has declared ‘extraordinary quarterly’ results in these Covid19 times.
Electronic Arts, the United States-based company behind the FIFA football-themed video game, has reported operating income of $471 million after what it called “an extraordinary quarter”.
Andrew Wilson, chief executive, said: “This is an unprecedented time, and it was an unprecedented first quarter for our business at Electronic Arts, with extraordinary growth in our games and live services and record financial performance.”
Net revenue for the three months to end-June climbed by a quarter of a billion dollars year-on-year to $1.46 billion.
Operating cash flow more than doubled from $158 million to $378 million.
According to Wilson, the group finds itself at “the intersection of two fundamental secular trends that have become increasingly clear: first, social interactions in our world are moving from physical to digital, and second, the consumption of sports and entertainment is moving from linear to interactive”.
He went on: “We’ve seen both of these trends accelerate during the COVID period…
“With real-world sports disrupted, EA Sports has become the centre of the emotional connection to sports…
“Player acquisition of new and returning players in FIFA grew more than 100 per cent year-over-year in [the first quarter], with more than seven million joining during the quarter.”
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