Tens of millions of new players dove into EA games during the pandemic

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said in an earnings call with analysts today that tens of millions of new players have joined the company’s games since April. This rare one-time change was caused by the global health emergency that has left many in isolation at home, but the company believes many of the new fans will be lasting players.

With other forms of entertainment and live physical events shut down, video games have seen a surge, and EA is no different — even though the company only launched two games (Command & Conquer Remastered Collection and Burnout Paradise Remastered) during its most recent first fiscal quarter ended June 30. Wilson said it was the biggest first fiscal quarter in EA’s history and the publisher was raising its full-year sales estimate by $400 million to $5.62 billion. Live services and other net bookings during the quarter were $1.1 billion, up $416 million from the prior year.