Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Electronic Arts (EA) Announces Details of EA SPORTS FC 25

Read MoreHide Full Article

Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) recently announced the details of its next football game, EA SPORTS FC 25, which is set to release globally on Sep 27. The game comprises a host of innovations by Rush and FC IQ. 

Electronic Arts has already released the trailer of EA SPORTS FC 25, featuring the cover star Jude Bellingham and his football skills through the game’s Frostbite Engine. 

The game also introduces Rush, a new 5v5 game that uses the same gameplay controls and mechanics as a normal game. This new mode will be available across Football Ultimate Team, Clubs and Kick-Off. The game also revamps team tactics, making it a more realistic collective movement and modernizing positioning at both ends of the pitch. It also changes how every team plays based on the real-world style, delivering greater variation from match to match.

In Career mode, Live Start Points also adds real-world storylines as they take place, such as managerial shifts or taking over a club after mid-season transfers. Additionally, women’s football will come to Career Mode for the first time ever, achieving equality with men’s football across all modes.

EA’s Upcoming Games to Boost Net Bookings

EA has a strong slate of upcoming games in the rest of 2024. So far this year, the company has launched EA F1 24 and Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. Upcoming games are expected to aid the company’s net booking growth in the upcoming quarters. 

For fiscal 2025, Electronic Arts expects net bookings between $7.3 billion and $7.7 billion. The company expects revenues in the range of $7.1-$7.5 billion.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EA’s fiscal 2025 net bookings is pegged at $7.5 billion, indicating a rise of 1% from the prior-year actuals. The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $7.5 billion, indicating an increase of 0.98% from the year-ago levels.

Upcoming games include College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25, which are set to release on Jul 19 and Aug 16, respectively. EA also recently released the trailer of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is set to release worldwide in the Fall of 2024. The game includes rich storytelling and strategic combat. 

Electronic Arts has been focusing on building new immersive games with relevant features. The company has used the latest gaming technology, which has garnered a lot of excitement among gamers. 

However, EA faces tough competition in the gaming market from giants like NetEase (NTES - Free Report) , Take-Two Interactive (TTWO - Free Report) and Roblox (RBLX - Free Report) . 

Shares of the this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 7.4% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s growth of 0.5%. The stock has also outperformed NTES, TTWO and RBLX’s decline of 0.2%, 6.9% and 12.5%, respectively, in the same time frame. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Conclusion

Although EA has been expanding its gaming portfolio, softness in demand for live services and stiff competition are likely to hurt the company’s growth prospects in the near term.

As the video game industry is evolving continuously, Electronic Arts’ ability to navigate these challenges will be crucial in shaping its future and the competitive landscape of the video game market.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EA’s first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at 41 cents per share, which has remained unchanged in the past 30 days. The consensus mark for fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.54 per share, which has remained unchanged in the past 30 days.

Published in