EA cut losses down in fiscal 2011, Battlefield 3 "superior game"

While publisher EA reveals they did post an overall loss for FY2011, it was at least down from the previous 12 month period. Sales meanwhile stayed strong.

They also reveal Battlefield 3 pre-orders are up 700% over Bad Company 2’s figures, confirming a ”superior” studio is behind it. EA out release schedule.

A loss of $276m was recorded for fiscal 2011, which began April 1st, 2010 and ended March 31st, 2011. This was better than fiscal 2010 which bleed a loss of $677m. Sale revenue hit $3.589bn, which isn’t far from last year’s $3.654bn.

Q4 profit was up to $151m faring better than last time at just $30m. Battlefield 3 has EA very excited. ”We know we have a big competitor, but head-to-head with Call of Duty in Q3, we have the superior game engine, a superior development studio, and a flat out superior game,” said EA Games’ Frank Gibeau.

“Our goal is to significantly gain share in the huge FPS category and to put the other team on defense.” FIFA 11 has reached 11m units, Bad Company 2 7m, with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Madden 11 both passing the 5m mark.

Dead Space 2 sales are 40% higher than that of the original release, although no actual numbers were given at the investor call. EA also announced their line-up which broke the news that BioWare’s Mass Effect 3 has slipped to Q4; January to March in 2012.

Need for Speed: The Run is heading for Q3, which is the holiday. Star Wars: The Old Republic remains uncertain on the EA calendar but may slip to early 2012. ”We assume that Star Wars: The Old Republic ships in the calendar year, but our guidance range accounts for a range of ship dates within the fiscal year,” noted Gibeau.

“While we fully anticipate launching Star Wars: The Old Republic in Q2 or Q3, the low end of our guidance range assumes the outside possibility of a January launch.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of fiscal 2012’s line-up:

Q1

Alice: Madness Returns

Portal 2

Shadows of the Damned

Darkspore

Q2

FIFA 12

Madden NFL 12

NCAA Football 12

NHL 12

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Q3

Battlefield 3

Need for Speed: The Run

FIFA Manager 12

The Sims Game TBA

Hasbro Family Game Night 4

Q4

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Mass Effect 3

SSX

Sports Game TBA

Sports Game TBA

Sports Game TBA

Sports Game TBA