Shares of Electronic Arts fell more than 18% on Thursday, hurt by a surprising slowdown in sales of the video game maker’s football franchise.
The company launched the football title “FC 25” in September. But this version did not receive the warm reception from fans of the franchise compared to previous editions of the game, hurting revenue in the live services segment, EA’s biggest source of revenue.
“FC 25” received mixed reviews as players lamented the lack of new features and innovations, including game physics and goal scoring mechanisms, according to analysts at Jefferies.
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The criticism prompted EA to release a comprehensive update in January that “received overwhelmingly positive feedback from players,” the analysts added.
However, as a result of the initial poor performance, EA reduced its annual revenue forecast. The company also projected a mid-single-digit decline in live services.
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Weak user spending on the role-playing game “Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” released in October, also contributed to the cut.
This Thursday, EA lost almost 6 billion dollars on its market value of 37.3 billion.
“EA FC” typically racks up sales of about $2 billion a year, of which live services revenue accounts for $800 million, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
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The franchise’s previous title, “FC 24,” was one of the best-selling games of 2023, according to data from Circana, and came after the end of a three-decade partnership with FIFA in 2022, which led to a change of brand of FIFA FC games.
