EA confirms 10 percent layoffs, fourth quarter finances

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SimCity sells 1.6 million since launch

Electronic Arts confirmed companywide layoffs of about 10 percent yesterday. The news came alongside the publishing giant's fourth quarter and overall fiscal year 2013 financial results.

Net income for the publisher was down from $400 million to $323 million over the fourth quarter of 2013 as compared to 2012, though the company's yearlong profits increased from $76 million in the 2012 fiscal year to $98 million this year.

EA says it was the No. 1 publisher in Western retail markets in the fourth quarter. Many of its highlights, however, were digital: sales of DLC season pass Battlefield Premium brought in a deferred $120 million, the FIFA franchise's total digital revenue nearly reached $350 million, and SimCity sold 1.6 million units since launch with about half as digital downloads.

No more details were shed on the five-year Star Wars exclusive game deal between EA and Disney--the company only restated that Battlefield developer DICE, Dead Space developer Visceral, and Star Wars: The Old Republic developer BioWare are all involved.

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.