Electronic Arts has posted financial results from the final quarter of 2011, revealing that last year's holiday season saw the company operating at its highest cash-flow in almost eight years. CEO John Riccitiello cited Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 as key factors in the company's positive results, with both titles selling over 10 million units.
Riccitiello also cited “a strong showing by our digital games and services,” with the company's Origin platform having generated more than $100 million and 9.3 million registered users since its June 2011 launch. Star Wars: The Old Republic, launched to capitalize on the 2011 holiday season, sold more than 2 million copies and generated 1.7 million active users in just over a month of sale, the company says (it's previously projected the title would become profitable with less than half that player-count). Overall digital revenue exceeded $1 billion for the calender year of 2011.
EA reports that it held the #1 market share in both European and North American territories, with 3% growth in the former and 1% in the latter region. The company also reports that it was the top game publisher on Apple's App Store for the month of December, driven by the company's first free-play mobile title, The Sims: FreePlay.
Overall revenue exceeded the company's high-end projection by $1 million, with the company posting a net earning of $1,651 million.
