To say that it has been a rough few months for publisher Electronic Arts would be putting things mildly. For a company that has never occupied the best light when it comes to the perspective of gamers, the recent controversies surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2 have done a lot to sour the public’s perception of the publisher and now its financials are suffering as a result as well.
In a new report from analyst firm Cowen, Electronic Arts’ financial projections have been slightly lowered for the quarter despite market trends showing a 6 percent return for investors. Most notably, Cowen has dialed back its Star Wars Battlefront 2 sales estimates from 14 million down to 11 million for 2018. Moreover, Electronic Arts stock is now expected to pay out $4.08 per share in earnings while original projections had that number around $4.24/share.
Across the board, things are looking lower than expected for Electronic Arts but that is not too surprising for those that have been following the conversation surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2’s development. Since the game entered Early Access players have been frustrated with how the game encourages spending on microtransactions, limits progress without that spending, and offered gameplay advantages through random loot boxes. EA was not the first to use loot boxes (in this fashion or otherwise) but a growing discontent with the publisher’s business practices boiled over into a full-blown backlash.
To EA and Battlefront 2 developer DICE’s credit, the focus on loot boxes has been dialed back and microtransactions were removed indefinitely, but the damage was done well before those changes were made. So much so, in fact, that even mainstream news outlets were covering the controversy and non-gamers knew Star Wars Battlefront 2 had a controversy surrounding it.
All that being said, the financial numbers are by no means bad for Electronic Arts; they are just lower than the initial projects. EA still believes that the game is a success and expects that sales will be strong when all is said and done. But the fact that analysis firms and shareholders are taking notice is enough to prove that gamers can enact change with their purchases.
Source: CNBC