“EA FC” Falls Short of High Expectations
Electronic Arts (EA) has warned investors of disappointing financial results ahead of its earnings report in February. The company attributes the underperformance to the lacklustre reception of two major releases: EA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
“Dragon Age: The Veilguard” Underperforms
According to preliminary figures, Dragon Age: The Veilguard attracted only 1.5 million players last quarter—half of EA’s internal expectations. Despite receiving solid critical reviews with an 82% score on Metacritic, fans were far less enthusiastic, giving the game a disappointing user score of 3.9 out of 10. Frequent complaints included weak dialogue and an underwhelming story, with many fans feeling the game deviated too far from the essence of the Dragon Age franchise.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson stated in the preliminary report: “In the third quarter, we delivered high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio. However, Dragon Age and EA Sports FC 25 did not meet our expectations for net bookings.”
Mixed Results for “EA Sports FC 25”
As the successor to EA’s iconic FIFA franchise, EA Sports FC 25 was expected to dominate. Despite being practically unchallenged in the football gaming market, the title has shown signs of declining performance. EA now expects net bookings of $2.215 billion for the last quarter, slightly below initial projections.
While EA Sports FC 25 remains a commercial success, particularly in Europe and Germany (where it was the top-selling game of the year according to the game industry association), analysts noted slight declines in its high-level sales.