Holy sh#* EA is making so much money from microtransactions. That term has a rather nasty ring to it by now, so instead of “microtransactions” I’m going to call it what they call it over at EA: extra content. Call it what you want, investors are calling it profitable. DLC, season passes, map packs, skins, in-game currency… the market for extra content is varied and booming, and EA has always been on the leading edge of this trend. At a recent investor conference, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen proudly reported that “The extra content business is a billion-three a year.”
$1.3 billion dollars from “extra content” is insane, and what’s even more astounding is half of that is coming from EA’s “Ultimate Team” business. I don’t play the sportsing games, but Ultimate Team seems to be where you draft your personal all-star team to compete in special modes, and it’s a big deal in EA’s Madden, NHL, and FIFA games (it began with FIFA ). So you guys spent about $650 million last fiscal year on Ultimate Teams in EA games. I just can’t wrap my head around that, but then again, I’ve spent a few dollars here and there on weapon skins, so I suppose I can’t talk. Do your thing, EA.
Source: Push Square