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EA's Pleasants Highlights Digital Sales As Crucial To Success
by Chris Remo [PC, Console/PC]
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June 17, 2009
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As publisher Electronic Arts works to return to consistent quarterly profitability, COO John Pleasants has pointed to the digital sales component of the business -- including full-scale digital distribution as well as alternative sources of revenue like microtransactions and social gaming -- as being a cornerstone of the company's strategy.
"We've had some successes with driving online revenue -- and we're going to keep trying, because the goal is to transform from just a game publisher into a gaming services company," Pleasants told paidContent, "and we're working our asses off to do it."
The company now has numerous revenue streams that either incorporate or are fully reliant on digital avenues -- and its goal this year is to hit $500 million in direct-to-consumer revenue.
For example, the exec said EA sold $10 million worth of digital player cards for Ultimate Team, a downloadable expansion mode for FIFA 09, through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
EA also has five million Korean customers playing a "free, microtransaction-based version" of FIFA, according to Pleasants. "We’re making more up-front revenue per user from the disc buyers -- but the micro-ransaction players are still generating around $1 million per month in revenue," he explained.
A version of that game in China has attracted a million users so far, generating $254,000 in revenue in its first four days.
And the company just launched The Sims 3 on PC, which allows players to purchase physical prepaid currency cards at retail.
All of this "shows how much potential there is, for microtransactions -- or any online payment model -- if it's unlocked on the right platform, in the right territory," said Pleasants.
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