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Electronic Arts is "taking Medal of Honor out of the rotation" after its poor critical and commercial performance, the company announced today. Overall, the company saw net losses of $45 million through its third quarter which ended December 31, 2012, though that's much improved from the $205 million loss reported for the same period last year.
"We're in a hit-driven business... and frankly we missed on Medal of Honor," president of EA Labels Frank Gibeau said in a conference call with investors.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter performed "well below [EA's] expectations," as predicted in the company's last financial statement. COO Peter Moore said in the call that the company has other plans to keep up yearly military shooter franchises, though EA won't say more until after it unveils Battlefield 4 in coming months.
Sales of Battlefield 3 Premium generated more than $108 million with a total of 2.9 million subscribers, leaving little doubt as to which of EA's military FPS franchises is top dog. That profit's being deferred from this quarter into the next when the Endgame expansion DLC is released, if you're keeping score.
FIFA 13 has also enjoyed decent growth, with 23 percent increased sales over FIFA 12. Need for Speed: Most Wanted also outperformed 2011's entry, The Run.
EA continues to see significant returns from its digital efforts, and is the No. 1 publisher on the iOS store. The company's digital sector saw an 17 percent increase in digital net revenue from $274 million in 2012's third quarter to $321 million this year.
The free-to-play transition for Star Wars: The Old Republic has been successful so far, EA said, but it's still too early to see its measure of success.
