EA Earnings Report Notes: EA Sports MMA "off to slow start", EA still "optimistic" game will find a market

Last week I mentioned that it was important to look out for Electronic Arts quarterly earning report.

Here's the Wells Fargo breakdown:

"Wells Fargo Expects Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) Q2 results to at least meet its consensus estimates. However, the Q3 outlook is likely to be prove conservative given the indefinite delay of NBA Elite, the disappointing review scores for Medal of Honor, and weak demand for EA's MMA title.

Wells Fargo expects full year guidance to remain unchanged, with Q2 upside offsetting a cautious Q3 outlook. Given these factors, Wells Fargo believes EA's ability to achieve the mid-point of its full-yr outlook boils down to Q4 execution, with ship dates and game quality key metrics to keep an eye on.

Given the cancellation of NBA Elite, the slow start for EA MMA, and the in-line performance by Medal of Honor we think EA's ability to achieve the mid-point of its F11 guidance is likely to boil down to Q4 execution, with ship dates and game quality key metrics to keep an eye on. We believe EA's ability to meet or exceed its F11 outlook will come down to execution of the Q4 release slate that includes at least four AAA properties including Dead Space 2, Crysis 2, Dragon Age 2, and BulletStorm."

You can read the full transcript here.

(Note: I'll try to listen to IGN's Gamescoop podcast early next week as they typically mention quarter sales figures. Though it's hard to find them what with all the World of Warcraft autotune jokes...Update: EA Sports MMA sold 45,000 units in October)

EA acknowledge the "slow start" of EA Sports MMA and an early report from an industry analyst called the game "dead on arrival". That report plus the news of THQ's extension with the UFC led many to believe that EA Sports MMA would be in a precarious position.

Owen Good of Kotaku pens an op-ed saying it's too soon to bury EA Sports MMA due to the development the company has already invested, e.g., moving employees from a NASCAR IP to the MMA IP. Good goes on to suggest that if EA wants to cut dead weight why not dispatch with an NBA title (prescient argument as EA did just that).

EA is putting a good face forward saying that they are optimistic EA Sports MMA will find a market this holiday season. Such a public statement means that EA isn't going to go all Fox on Lone Star with the game but it does mean that this holiday season performance will be vital to the future of EA's mixed martial arts IP.