EA posts record quarter: $1.5B revenue, $33m net loss

EA announced record third-quarter revenue of $1.503 billion, up 17% from last year and a new record for the publishing powerhouse; in fact, EA CEO John Riccitiello calls it the "single biggest revenue quarter for any third party publisher in our industry." But EA isn't just any third party publisher ... it also took the opportunity to note that, with 18% market share across all platforms, it was the number one publisher in calendar '07. The especially strong quarter was driven by sales of Madden NFL 08 (duh), Rock Band (which sold 1.5m units across the three available platforms), The Simpsons (which sold 4m units), FIFA 08 (selling 4.5m units this quarter), Need for Speed Pro Street (racking up an amazing 5.5m units), and several others.

But it wasn't all Scrooge McDuck money pools at EA, they also announced a net loss of $33m for the quarter and delays of two key fourth-quarter titles: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and Battlefield: Bad Company, both pushed back to a far more nebulous "fiscal 2009" stretching from April 2008 to March 2009. But that's okay, with forecasted sales between $925 million and $1.05 billion for the fourth quarter, the suits at EA aren't out on the streets just yet.