loss for EA.

Dark88

Dark88

Dark88

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7074716.stm

'EA saw a loss of $195m (£93.6m) in the three months to the end of September against a $22m profit a year ago, which it said was down to accounting changes.

The firm has been criticised for not investing enough in games for the highly successful Nintendo Wii.'

seems a bit weird that a big gaming name such as EA is making a loss. Although can't think what they've released in the last few months upto September, apart from probably 5 sims2 expanions.

(hope this isn't a repost)
 
Probably mainly down to all the studios they've been buying up recently, I really hope this is a serious knock that may eventually get them to start releasing better quality games rather then banging out the same old thing.
 
Buying studios shouldn't affect the P&L.

My feeling is that EA have made a rod for their own back - everyone mistrusts them now and I know I think twice before buying an EA game now (last one I bought was C&C3 though lol).
 
scorza said:
Buying studios shouldn't affect the P&L.

My feeling is that EA have made a rod for their own back - everyone mistrusts them now and I know I think twice before buying an EA game now (last one I bought was C&C3 though lol).
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on how they are reporting their P&L. If they are including acquisitions of stuido's then they were always going to show a loss for this reporting cycle.

If EA break into the MMO market properly those figures will soon go into the black, unless they do an SOE special and shaft it up royally, which by the sounds of things is what they are doing anyway !!
 
Agreed, if business acquisitions and expenditures are included in the P&L, which they quite likely are (as they are where I am working), then with that amount of outgoing funds they were pretty much always destined to have a loss for this quarter. Myself I am surprised its only as little as 200 million
 
Tombstone said:
Agreed, if business acquisitions and expenditures are included in the P&L, which they quite likely are (as they are where I am working), then with that amount of outgoing funds they were pretty much always destined to have a loss for this quarter.
Click to expand...

Hence why companies never do that :p Companies would never buy other companies if they make a loss by doing so - companies are bought to make more profit for the buyer, not less ;) Besides, EA are not going to have $900m in cash sitting around, so when they bought Bioware and Pandemic it was almost certainly though borrowing the money to pay off the shareholders. The only "cost" that will appear on the EA P&L is the interest payable on that loan.

Seriously though, on the EA website there's a statement about their results, where they give the reason for the loss. It looks like a technical accounting glitch which I don't mind admitting I don't understand, and their acknowledgment that they missed the boat with the Wii.
 
Yeah, thats entirely feasible I guess, we're in the educational sector so we arent out to make a commercial profit each annum anyway which probably accounts for why we include acquisitions on our finances.

Still, if it is indeed just down to a technical accounting glitch then that seems ok to me too, in fact better probably :)

Course the anti-EA masses will still no doubt light torches and storm the castle at the news !
 
I don't mind EA, but i really would wish they would patch their games to stop crashing before they move on to release another title.

There's just no support, and i think that's the gripe most people have with them.
 
Agree, propbably because they've gone on a spending spree when it comes to studios :p

Like a kid in a candy store...
"Um no that one, no wait, that one, ah hell you give me 'em ALL!"
 
Maybe they'll have to sell off some of their titles.

EA have really destroyed some great games in the past so it wouldn't hurt for a new studio to get the rights to them.

Splinter Cell jumps painfully to mind.
 
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