Electronic Arts’ core franchises delivered while Apex Legends reloaded

Electronic Arts had a strong first quarter of its fiscal 2020. The publisher generated $743 million in revenue, which beat Wall Street’s expectations. That’s down less than 1% from $749 million during the same period last year. EA’s share price is up around 3.5 percent in after-hours trading on that news.

EA’s positive results were due largely to the solid performance of its most familiar brands. The company noted that FIFA Ultimate Team had an in-game event that attracted 3 million daily active players. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has nearly reached 80 million lifetime registrations. And The Sims 4, meanwhile, saw a year-over-year increase of 55% for its expansion and game pack sales. This is all good news for EA, which is trying to generate regular, ongoing revenue from fewer new releases.