Electronic Arts cuts appearance of orders over ‘Star Wars’ game delay, spending slows |

Jan 31 (Reuters) – Electronic Arts Inc ( EA.O ) cut its annual bookings forecast on Tuesday as video game publisher delayed the release of a title based on the “Star Wars” franchise as consumers clawed back spending in a slumping economy.

The results added to Xbox maker Microsoft Corp’s ( MSFT.O ) dire gaming outlook last week, sending the company’s shares down nearly 7% in extended trade, fueling fears that the industry’s downturn will continue this year.

After two years of pandemic-driven growth, the gaming market will shrink 4.3% in 2022, according to analytics firm NewZoo. Part of the decline was due to a lack of major new titles.

EA on Tuesday pushed back the launch of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor by six weeks to April 28, which will fall into the next fiscal year. The game 20 is the sequel to the 2019 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order title that attracted over a million players.

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Meanwhile, the results showed that the final releases are still high inflation and is not doing enough to attract consumers who prioritize the basics in the face of rising interest rates.

The company, which released Need for Speed ​​​​Unbound and the latest installment of the FIFA series in recent months, now has 7.07 annual billion with 7.17 billion dollars waiting for order between Earlier 7.65-7.85 billion dollars predicted.

Adjusted third-quarter sales and profit also fell short of analysts’ expectations, according to Refinitiv data.

“Weak but not a disaster,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said of the results, adding that the delay of the “Star Wars” title led to “a big change in revenue” next year.

“Demand for free-to-play is down a bit, my best guess is that consumers are afraid of inflation and fear of recession,” he said.

Companies like EA monetize free-to-play games by selling people virtual items like loot boxes and characters.

Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Edited by Shailesh Kuber

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2023-02-01 02:24:29
Source – reuters

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