EA profits soar
Harry Potter brings some magic to EA's latest financial results
Electronic Arts has revealed its financial results for the three months to December 31st, showing revenues leaping by 30% and profits by 50% compared to the same period the previous year. The runaway success of the Harry Potter games and continued milking of the ever-popular Sims franchise on the PC contributed to the success, as well as rapid growth in both Europe and the Far East. All of which leaves EA in a dominant position in the gaming industry. "We are well positioned to enhance our leadership position over the next few years", CEO Larry Probst boasted. "In 2001 we were the most prolific third party publisher on next generation consoles with 17 titles on the PlayStation 2, six on the Xbox and three on the Nintendo GameCube. According to independent sources, in North America during 2001 we had a 27.4% share on the Playstation 2 and were the leading third party publisher on both the Xbox and Nintendo GameCube during the month of December. On the PC we increased our market share for the calendar year to 22% and had four of the top five titles." Looking ahead, EA already have a raft of Harry Potter titles planned for all three next generation consoles, as well as the impressive looking Medal of Honor : Allied Assault and yet another Sims add-on for the PC. Then of course there's the small matter of The Lord Of The Rings, with EA expected to release the first games based on the valuable license around the time the second movie arrives in cinemas just before Christmas. It looks like this could be another bumper year for EA.