EA confirms 10 percent layoffs, fourth quarter finances

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.

EA CEO John Riccitiello left the company in March, just before the quarter ended on March 31. A series of cuts before and after his departure were a result of "sharpening EA's focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile," according to the PR messages which accompanied many of the layoffs.

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.