Electronic Arts (EA) recently released its much anticipated FIFA 15 worldwide. Per GFK Chart-Track, FIFA 15 now tops the UK Charts, replacing Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) Destiny only after two weeks.
Since its release last week, the game accounted for approximately 80% of all game sales and also managed to garner 87% of all software revenues at retail. Next generation console systems — Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One — accounted for 54% of these sales. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 accounted for a combined 45%.
The game has also received rave reviews. According to Metacritic, FIFA 15 for PlayStation 4 received a metascore of 82, while Xbox One version attained 84.
Apart from PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360, the game is also available on PlayStation Vita handheld entertainment system and Wii and Nintendo 3DS. A free-to-play mobile version FIFA 15 Ultimate Team is available for iOS, Android and Windows.
FIFA has been one of the top revenue-generating franchises for EA over the years. In 2014, FIFA 14 represented 15% of the revenues. Per EA, the demo version of the new FIFA 15 has already been played by more than 5.5 million players, which reflects the franchise’s popularity.
The new game promises to be much more life-like, with EA innovating on authentic player visuals, agility and control and player emotions. The pitches will be more like real-world turfs as marks from boots and slide tackles becomes visible.
As the match progresses, the playing surface will show signs of wear and tear that happens during a real football match. For the first time in FIFA’s history, all 20 premier league stadiums are included in the game.
We believe that innovative product pipeline will continue to boost EA’s market share over the long run. Titles like FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15 and The Sims 4 on new consoles are expected to boost its top line for the rest of fiscal 2015. However, the postponement of Battlefield past the holiday season will negatively impact top-line growth in the near term.
We believe that EA’s strong digital portfolio and continuing growth in the tablet and smartphone market are the key growth catalysts. Moreover, the company’s efforts to optimize costs through overhead reductions will be beneficial over the long term.
However, the company faces a number of headwinds that include significant competition from other game makers such as Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO).
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