Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, said in an analyst call that EA is “entering the most exciting release cycle in our history.”
Indeed. EA is gathering with creators and game press (incuding me) this week in Los Angeles to show off Battlefield 6 — the first Battlefield since Battlefield 2024 came out in 2021. EA is also launching Madden NFL 2026 on August 14, and it will have its College Football on a regular cadence going forward with annual releases.
In an answer to a question, Wilson said that the company is extremely excited about the Battlefield 6 reveal in two days. How was Wall Street’s grade for EA’s performance? Well, in after-hours trading, the stock price is up 1.5% to $147.79 a share.
Wilson made the remarks during an analyst call about the company’s first fiscal quarter results for the three months ended June 30. EA beat expectations on Wall Street.
“When we look at our portfolio of massive online communities —from Global Football to
American Football to The Sims—we are seeing our core communities of players more
deeply engaged and staying with us for longer. This is the result of deliberate, sustained
focus: years of commitment to our biggest opportunities are now compounding as we scale our communities and expand our reach,” Wilson said.
He added, “Looking ahead, we are entering the most exciting release cycle in EA’s history—scaling our massive online communities and pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment. This year brings the highly anticipated launch of Battlefield 6, and continued innovation across EA SPORTS with FC, Madden NFL, and NHL. We will continue to expand The Sims’ iconic franchise and launch skate. as the foundation of a new creator-driven platform rooted in street culture.”
During the quarter, EA saw that its business continues to be a pillar of strength, fueled by innovation, authenticity, and deep fan connection. In Global Football, player engagement remained strong, with net bookings up year over year with FC Online up double digits and FC Mobile having a record quarter.”
FC Mobile’s community events game the mobile game engagement with over 50 million installs and DAU growth year over year.
“A highlight this quarter was the integration of select matches from Apple’s MLS Season Pass into FC Mobile—bridging real-world football with interactive entertainment,” Wilson said.
Global Football is succeeding as a result of responding to players, Wilson said. The next installment in the game comes out on September 26. Coupled with innovative gameplay advancements — from refined physics and handling to an enhanced career mode — the title delivered a 27% year-over-year increase in net bookings.
“Following an extraordinary 2025 title re-introduction, fueled by a decade of pent-up
demand, we expect College Football to settle into a more normal demand curve while
establishing its place as a core franchise in our portfolio and across the industry,” Wilson said. “While it’s early, College Football 26 is delivering strong competitive cohort retention. As a result, we are seeing deeper engagement in Ultimate Team versus prior year life to date. This momentum sets the stage for the next Madden NFL, launching worldwide August 14th.”
Wilson noted how “EA’s long-term partnerships across our College, NFL, FC, F1, UFC, and NHL franchises are some of the most valuable in sports entertainment — and we’re continuing to unlock their ever-growing potential. These iconic sports look to EA SPORTS to more deeply and directly connect fans with their favorite teams and athletes through new ways to play, create, watch, and connect across our experiences.”
Yep, Wilson continues to tout the intersection of the real world of sports (like F1) and EA Sports’ digital communities.
“Whether it’s bringing real-world content into our games, amplifying highlights through creator tools, or building new social touchpoints round the biggest moments in sport, these partnerships are a powerful engine for deeper engagement and cultural connection.”
I’d like to see how much crossover EA is getting from real-world sports fans and the EA Sports community. Wilson touted mobile expansion, creative tools, and deepening fandom across massive online communities. He called EA Sports the “most valuable sports business in the world.”
Beyond sports, Wilson said the broader entertainment portfolio remains a key growth driver for EA — driven by blockbuster IP, creative excellence, and vibrant communities.
Apex Legends performed well across the quarter. Q1 saw sequential growth in engagement driven by strong player retention. The current season, Prodigy, also marked a notable rise in player satisfaction driven in part by the positive reception of new legend Sparrow — whose popularity spans all skill levels across the community.
Wilson said EA expects momentum to continue as the team operates with agility and focus on what matters most to the community: evolving gameplay, listening to players, and strengthening the core experience that defines Apex as a best-in-class live service.
He noted the next season, Apex Legends: Showdown, is launching next week with an all new way to play.
“Looking ahead, we remain firmly on track to launch skate. and Battlefield 6 this year.
We’ve reached over a million registered players for the skate. playtests as we prepare for
launch,” he said.
He said there was an “incredible player response to the Battlefield 6 reveal trailer last week,” and “we are just days away from ushering in a new era for the franchise.”
He said that this Thursday, “fans can tune in live for a massive multiplayer showcase — our most ambitious reveal yet — featuring epic maps and modes, and a behind-the-scenes look with developers. Immediately following, top content creators around the world will stream the first-ever Battlefield 6 gameplay from live events in Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and London, with a special event in Hong Kong the following weekend.”
He said Battlefield 6 has been built to supercharge a passionate community and ignite a new generation of fans.
“From day one, we’ve been deeply focused on delivering the experience players have been asking for—iconic all-out warfare, innovative destruction, unmatched scale – and more. With a global launch ahead, Battlefield 6 is poised to become a cornerstone of our vision for dynamic, continually expanding experiences—where community engagement shapes the future of play,” Wilson said.
He said EA’s company vision and strategy is in full flight — focused, dynamic, and built for scale.
“We’re delivering across our first strategic pillar of building massive online communities:
global football and American football, blockbuster shooters, and creator-powered
ecosystems. These aren’t just growth areas — they are massive online communities at scale, powering our business today and accelerating our ambition to build in, around, and beyond our games. This is EA—connected, creator-led, and defining the future of interactive entertainment,” he said.
Stuart Canfield, chief financial officer, talked about strong execution across Global
Football, Star Wars, and Apex Legends franchises.
In Q1, EA delivered net bookings of $1.30 billion, up 3%, exceeding the high end of th
guidance range. Canfield said there were strong contributions from Split Fiction and Global Football and better than expected performance from catalog and Apex Legends.
Full game net bookings were $214 million, up 27%, led by ongoing momentum from Split
Fiction and a resurgence in Star Wars: Battlefront II — a game that came out in 2017.
Live services net bookings were $1.08 billion, down 1%. Excluding Apex Legends, whose
impact was two-points better than originally expected, live services grew in the low
single digits—underscoring the resilience and ongoing growth of our core franchises, led by Global Football.
Canfield said EA is building on a solid foundation from Q1, carrying positive momentum into Q2. And he said EA is well positioned for an exciting back-half of FY26, which is underpinned by upcoming launches within EA Sports and growing anticipation around Battlefield 6.
For Q2, he said EA expects net bookings to be $1.800 billion to $1.900 billion, down 13% to down 9%. This includes a four-point headwind related to phasing of the EA SPORTS FC 26 Ultimate Edition content, which will largely be recognized in Q3.
First, last year’s launch of EA Sports College Football 25 delivered an exceptionally strong
quarter that reflected pent-up demand for the fan favorite franchise. This drove an atypical phasing of net bookings with around 50% of units sold occurring in the first week.
This year, EA is approaching the title with a more normalized demand curve, similar to broader sports titles’ historical patterns, leading to a tougher comp for front line sales.
While it’s still early, EA is encouraged by strong retention, positive player sentiment, and
healthy live service performance.
As a result, EA expects College Football full game sales to be a headwind in the quarter,
partially offset by the growth of Madden NFL 26. Putting it all together, Canfield sees the
American Football ecosystem to be an 8-point headwind year over year for the quarter,
with the ecosystem returning to growth in the second half of the fiscal year.
Second, with FC 26, EA applied key learnings from last year and sharpened its focus on
driving deeper engagement and value for the core community. Early sentiment has been
encouraging, reflecting strong alignment with the community. With the title launching the
last week in the quarter, EA remains appropriately measured in near-term assumptions.
EA’s expenses are likely going to go up, thanks to marketing related to upcoming launches, notably Battlefield 6. Overall fiscal year guidance remains unchanged, Canfield said.
In closing, Wilson said, “I want to reiterate how energized I am by the progress we’re making and the opportunities that lie ahead. Our momentum is the result of years of intentional investment and focused execution across our massive online communities in Global Football, American Football, Battlefield, and The Sims.”
“As we look forward, we are just beginning to unlock the full potential of our strategy. We’re expanding our approach to blockbuster storytelling, building bigger worlds and deeper character-driven experiences that connect players to our IP in powerful new ways,” he said.
In other words, triple-A isn’t changing. It’s all about making bigger bets on bigger games and bigger communities.
“And we’re innovating around community—beyond the bounds of play—by launching new tools and platforms that amplify user-generated experiences, social connection, and
participation in the broader fandom of our games,” Wilson said.
“We’re shaping what comes next—where play, create, watch, and connect converge in more immersive, interactive, and transformative ways than ever before. This is the future of entertainment. And EA is leading the way,” Wilson said.