EA CEO wants games to be a platform for socialization and self-expression

Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, said that in North America, engagement for the top 10 franchises has increased market share since fiscal 2022, or the year ended March 31, 2022.

“For a company that has some of the biggest IP in the world, this trend presents an incredible opportunity to evolve as an industry leader,” Wilson said.

With The Sims community hitting its 25th anniversary, Wilson said that since 2014, The Sims 4 has surpassed 85 million players, up double digits year over year. The Sims Online and The Sims Mobile have been downloaded more than 500 million times. Hundreds of millions user-generated content items were share in the fiscal year. Fifteen content updates are coming for The Sims 4 this year.

Of course, this growth doesn’t mean EA will knock it out of the park every quarter or year. The company’s stock price fell in after-hours trading today after its forecast disappointed industry analysts.

EA’s Motive studio, armed with the latest Frostbite game engine technology, is joining DICE, Criterion, and Ripple Effect to build a Battlefield universe across connected multiplayer and single-player experiences.

“This is the largest Battlefield team in franchise history,” he said.

He said EA launched eight games during the year, including EA Sports FC 24, which saw billions of matches played in calendar 2023. The football community watched more than a billion hours of content in and around the game.

“What we know when we look at player behavior in our games, as players spend more time with friends, they play more, they play for longer, and this higher engagement leads to more in-game spend,” he said.

He the strategy is to build a platform that deepens the connection with players, bringing the world of sport and experiences closer together, expanding the tools, modalities, and partnerships to drive enhanced socialization, self-expression and creation for sports fans.

One of EA’s biggest multi-year efforts will land this year with the summer launch of EA Sports College Football 25, which will feature 134 football bowl subdivision schools, more than 11,000 college athletes, and a bit of gameplay too.

Wilson said EA’s Apex Legends has surpassed $3.4 billion in lifetime net bookings. It continues to add features to the live services game. That has improved player sentiment for the game lately.

He said that EA continues to invest in mobile games across a bunch of franchises and it remains the largest platform in gaming, but he noted user acquisition has become tough in mobile games during Q&A.