EA reported that its Ultimate Team feature for titles such as FIFA and Madden generated $1.62 billion in net revenue in fiscal year 2021. Most of this revenue is reportedly from the FIFA Ultimate Team, and is the highest figure reported by the company since the feature was introduced.
The Ultimate Team feature in EA's titles gives players the chance to build their desired sports team through the acquisition of mystery packs of player and item cards. These must be purchased through in-game currency or real-life money and only give the purchaser a chance at acquiring the players they want. Different packs give different odds for getting players in particular rarity brackets and value levels.
EA's report details that the net revenue from Ultimate Team represented almost 30% of the company's total net revenue during fiscal year 2021. The main source of that revenue was from the FIFA offering of Ultimate Team, but EA's other sports games also assisted with growth in that area. The previous fiscal year saw the company earn $1.49 billion from this feature, which had, in turn, topped 2019's $1.37 billion in revenue.
This growth will likely continue, according to the report, into the near future. It is important to note that Ultimate Team is the company's most popular live service. Packs vary widely in price, from a variety of free packs on offer to the Ultimate pack in the promo section that goes for 125,000 coins or 2500 FIFA points.
Though it shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the FIFA, NHL, or Madden franchises, all of this points to the continuation of Ultimate Team in all of EA's sports franchise. The fact that it has reached nearly 30% of the company's revenue, though, would probably surprise fans of the feature. Any fans of Ultimate Team should likely expect more investment and focus on it by EA as the growth in this area has been impressive for years.
It is hard to argue with $1.62 billion in revenue and it absolutely makes sense that FIFA is leading the way here. As one of its most popular offerings and the sheer popularity of the sport around the world points to that franchise leading the way. This is great news for those who enjoy the loot packs, the grinding, and the act of building a better and better team as more Ultimate Team is likely on the way.
But this is likely frustrating for those who can't stand the feature or have an issue with the amount of money EA is receiving from players. As a feature, however, it is up to the individual player or the individual's guardian to participate and make the purchases they see fit. Either way, however, EA continues to succeed in growing Ultimate Team.
FIFA 21 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: EA's 10K form