The Electronic Arts (EA) company's stock has recently surged to an all-time high after a successful year's worth of games to wrap up this year's fiscal year. Many analysts believe that EA benefited by using microtransactions in the "right way."
EA, who has developed triple-A game titles such as "FIFA," "Madden," "Battlefield," and "Star Wars Battlefront," has had several problems with fans and their game's microtransactions. However, EA finally learned and was able to generate a massive income from these.
For example, EA's blunders with microtransactions were apparent during "Battlefield 2." Many fans complained about the in-game transactions, especially since the transactions were required for the players to progress. This has caused an uproar among "Battlefield" fans, to which EA immediately resolved by removing all microtransactions instantly.
"We never intended to build an experience that could be seen as unfair or lacking clear progression, so we removed the feature that was taking away from what fans were telling us was an otherwise great game," said EA chief executive Andrew Wilson in EA's report for the third half of 2018's fiscal year.
However, the CEO went on to say that microtransactions are not necessarily bad, pointing out that EA just made a mistake in "Battlefield 2," and has learned from it ever since. "Going forward, we believe that live services that include optional digital monetization, when done right, provide a very important element of choice that can extend and enhance the experience in our games," Wilson added.
While microtransactions for games like "Battlefield 2" and "Star Wars: Battlefront II" have excited investors because it may lead to a "swell" in revenue, most of EA's 1.16 billion revenue success is rooted to its sports titles, something that EA has dominated in.
Recent games of FIFA, Madden, and NFL have all generated more income enough to offset EA's blunders in "Battlefield 2," and their unexpected low sales on the recent "Star Wars Battlefront II" game. Coupled with the fact that the 2018 World Cup in Russia is fast approaching, FIFA alone has been a major success for the company.
Expect EA's stock to climb up higher or sustain its current one, as the return of microtransactions coupled with upcoming games such as BioWare's "Anthem" will give the company a bigger boost.
