NeoGAF

EA makes more money from mobile games than PS3!
Wednesday 28-Nov-2007 10:46 AM
£10 million more from mobile games than PS3 in Q3 2007 says financials

Us DS-loving types mostly see mobile games as running on underpowered processors with rubbish buttons, and don't give them the time of day. Yet, shockingly, EA is making more money from mobile games than both the PS3 and PSP.

In a recent financial report for the third quarter of this year, figures revealed that EA made $37 million (around £18m) from mobile gaming, beating by a large margin PS3 profits of $17 (£8m) million. Even the equally portable PSP couldn't match up to mobiles, making EA $21 million (£10m) in the same period.

Clearly, the sheer size of the mobile user base has a lot to do with it, but it's surprising nevertheless.

Xbox 360, meanwhile, has no problems, raking in a massive $218 million (£106m) of EA's total $640 million (£311m) profit. PS2 comes in second ($73m, £35m), Wii third ($59m, £29m), and DS fourth ($47m, $23m).

These figures, on the not-so-good side of things, only show a 5.7 percent growth for EA, compared to its fast-growing rivals Gameloft (51 percent) and Glu (34.5 percent),

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=176488


On the flip-side, I'm reckoning that Burnout Paradise PS3 will make more money than all those mobile games put together. Possibly.

If the Half Life 2 port is anything to go by it's their own fault.

I thought EA's games were doing pretty well on PS3? Better than Wii anyway

Originally Posted by pswii60

On the flip-side, I'm reckoning that Burnout Paradise PS3 will make more money than all those mobile games put together. Possibly.

No.

:lol I fear for this thread.


And i seriously doubt Burnout will change things. It's not like the 5% of buyers that know the PS3 is the lead platform will matter.

Even ea cant milk money from the ps3?
what about other 3rd parties

Misleading topic title FTL. The article clearly says "EA is making more money from mobile games than both the PS3 and PSP.", not just the PS3.

Us DS-loving types mostly see mobile games as running on underpowered processors with rubbish buttons, and don't give them the time of day.

...because the ds is already satisfying your need for underpowered processors and rubbish buttons?

Originally Posted by xfactor

Misleading topic title FTL. The article clearly says "EA is making more money from mobile games than both the PS3 and PSP.", not just the PS3.

Works better on GAF.

Considering all the effort they are putting on PS3 such figures don't really surprise me.

Give it time. It isn't doing so hot now, but my guess is Ps3 is going to start selling like gangbusters with the price drop, just give it time.

Don't kid yourselfs though, inferior ports are hardly the reason for this, odds are...Ps3 gamers aren't even aware of it.

Err, isn't mobile software extremely popular anyway? SQEnix use it almost exclusively. Its like itunes vs CD. Of course mobile will have better revenues. Doesn't change the fact that PS3 is still only a year in.

Originally Posted by Hesemonni

Considering all the effort they are putting on PS3 such figures don't really surprise me.

.

Originally Posted by Crusade

I thought EA's games were doing pretty well on PS3? Better than Wii anyway

Clearly not, though this is probably due to the low hardware sales in the US and the good sales of My Sims than anything else

Nevermind.

Originally Posted by WrikaWrek

Give it time. It isn't doing so hot now, but my guess is Ps3 is going to start selling like gangbusters with the price drop, just give it time.

Don't kid yourselfs though, inferior ports are hardly the reason for this, odds are...Ps3 gamers aren't even aware of it.

A majority of the people out there aren't buying PS3s because it doesn't seem worth it. Why doesn't it seem worth it? Because it's more expensive than the 360 and people say the 360 is more powerful even because the same games run better on it. Why do people say that? Because they read it somewhere, like the internet. Why does the internet say that? Because the internet read it from major sites and forums. Why do major sites forums say that? Because of inferior ports. The exclusive line-up is less appealing (from a public perception), the price is higher, and the same games run worse? It doesn't take a genius to see why PS3 is struggling right now, and as a result of it the software.

I believe this is revenue rather than profit, which makes the Wii and DS numbers even better than they appear considering the lower development costs and game prices.

We all knew the PS3 and its games tank in the US, and apparently the EU and Japan don't help much. If EA makes barely any money, many other publishers probably lose money on it.

Certainly worse than I expected, and it doesn't bode well for the future of the PS3. It's future as the next Gamecube is almost assured now.

Originally Posted by Hesemonni

Considering all the effort they are putting on PS3 such figures don't really surprise me.

Keep telling yourself that.

Ports so far have been very good so far, with few major differences. Given the amount of money they apparently make (next to nothing), expect that they will only become worse, or stop being made whatsoever.

I'm not surprised one little bit (Actually I am surprised that EA aren't making that much money from mobile games!)

Originally Posted by Anth

We all knew the PS3 and its games tank in the US, and apparently the EU and Japan don't help much. If EA makes barely any money, many other publishers probably lose money on it.

Certainly worse than I expected, and it doesn't bode well for the future of the PS3. It's future as the next Gamecube is almost assured now.

You're new here, yes?

Originally Posted by Anth

Keep telling yourself that.

Ports so far have been very good so far, with few major differences. Given the amount of money they apparently make (next to nothing), expect that they will only become worse, or stop being made whatsoever.

:lol

"Keep telling yourself that."

It's EA dude...

I don't think you can directly compare these figures. Their mobile games will be ports of their home franchises, and will sell on the back of the interest generated there where all the brand awareness work is done. I doubt if they could port a cellphone-originated title to the PS3 and expect shit to happen. Utterly different markets with radically different cost structures, barriers to entry and delivery methods.

Originally Posted by herod

I don't think you can directly compare these figures. Their mobile games will be ports of their home franchises, and will sell on the back of the interest generated there where all the brand awareness work is done. I doubt if they could port a cellphone-originated title to the PS3 and expect shit to happen. Utterly different markets with radically different cost structures, barriers to entry and delivery methods.

It doesn't matter to EA anyway since they only look at profits.

Originally Posted by Metalmurphy

:lol

"Keep telling yourself that."

It's EA dude...

Always remember the Gamecube. Ports could have been made, but at some point, the publishers just didn't bother anymore. The PS3 may or may not be different, but these numbers really don't bode well.

(Well, yeah, I know stuff like Madden will always be ported in some way, it should cost pretty much nothing. But EA publishes more than just Madden.)

Mobile as in cell phone games or mobile as in DS, PSP, GBA?

ea has made only 2 high profile games on the ps3, madden 08 and fifa, 08. both sold really well. the rest are nothing but crappy late ports that no one cares about. anyway rockband and burnout will sell well on the triple

Originally Posted by Borys

Mobile as in cell phone games or mobile as in DS, PSP, GBA?

Mobile as in phones, we don't call them 'cell' phones over here. People get confused with the PS3.

Originally Posted by mabuza

ea has made only 2 high profile games on the ps3, madden 08 and fifa, 08. both sold really well. the rest are nothing but crappy late ports that no one cares about. anyway rockband and burnout will sell well on the triple

There's this driving game you might have heard of.

Originally Posted by Jokeropia

I believe this is revenue rather than profit, which makes the Wii and DS numbers even better than they appear considering the lower development costs and game prices.

EA's total $640 million (£311m) profit

I don't understand how media fucks up this simple distinction, but even though they clearly state profit, you are right, it's revenues. Check the link: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=16152

I would absolutely love the see actual figures of profit per game/platform and their overheads breakdown. I'm a software business nerd...

Originally Posted by Borys

Mobile as in cell phone games or mobile as in DS, PSP, GBA?

Cellphones

My first EA game will be Burnout Paradise and I got my PS3 for a year by the time it's released. To be honest, I would be a lot more happy with Criterion being independent and yes, I don't care much for EA.

Wow. Thats awfull


Oh and im expecting Rock Band to bomb on the Triple btw.

Originally Posted by Metalmurphy

Publish != Porting. Which one is it now? And you're still wrong.

Whether EA ports a game in one of its one studios or gives a developer the money to port the game doesn't make much difference.

And tell why the PS3 will magically be spared of the Gamecube's fate of no ports when it sells about as much or less than it?

EA used to do really, really well on PSP. But since next gen, there's little to no effort on such games. It goes to show, you can only expect to get back from what you give

I did my part in getting the ps2 madden instead of the ps3 version. Bought a new NCAA before that though, and Madden 07 (sigh). Garbage .

Having worked at EA Mobile for an extended period of time, I can say a few things.

1- Mobile gaming is fucking huge, but the numbers are not increasing anymore. There was a huge boost in the past few years but it has started to slow down and now it is somewhat stagnant. The reason is that the market for cell phones is slowing down - most people have one now, so its growth is really, REALLY slowing down. I doubt it'll go back up again.

2- The mobile market, everywhere in the world except Korea and Japan, is filled to the brim with casual games. The games that sell the most, month after month, are Tetris, Bejeweled and other casual stuff. Guess who publishes those? EA Mobile. I actually worked on Bejeweled 2 (mostly on the multiplayer design) and I know from that it sold like freaking hotcakes. Tetris ALWAYS does some amazing numbers.

3- Mobile games cost a HELL of a lot less to make. Teams of 6-7 people aren't uncommon, usual period for a mobile game is 3 to 5 months, from initial design (2 people usually - one designer, one creative director) to full-blown production which involves a few more programmers. That's about it. This is a huge part of why they're seeing so much revenue from mobile games; the investment is very small, yet the payoff is massive.

However, everyone in EA Mobile's Montreal studio is fucking depressed. Most of my buddies who still work there confirm this every single day. You'd think mobile games, with low investment costs and high payoffs, would be able to afford trying to be creative once in a while, but it's typical EA business - we don't want creativity, we want crap that sells, and no risk involved at all. Yet at the same time they're madly in love with Gameloft since their numbers are bigger than EA's in Europe (mostly due to the fact that they don't mind having half-naked ladies in their games, whereas EA is anal about it).

On the flip-side, I'm reckoning that Burnout Paradise PS3 will make more money than all those mobile games put together. Possibly.

Highly doubtful

I doubt that PS3 makes mobile games

TimeKillr: That sucks. What other games have EA made? Any of them good, regardless of the lack of creativity?

Sierra's doing some pretty cool looking things for Mobile phones, like Spyro and Leisure Suit Larry.

Talking about mobile games, does this still include games for the N-Gage platform, wherever that might be? :lol

When will it stop?

Well, that's a good thing. Maybe we'll see less shit ports on PS3.

Originally Posted by xfactor

Misleading topic title FTL. The article clearly says "EA is making more money from mobile games than both the PS3 and PSP.", not just the PS3.

:lol

Hey, there's a lot of money in the mobile market. I'm surprised that their revenue from that category of software isn't double PS3 and PSP, not that those two platforms are even capable of floating any of the big third parties anyway...

Originally Posted by pswii60

On the flip-side, I'm reckoning that Burnout Paradise PS3 will make more money than all those mobile games put together. Possibly.

Thread ruined with the original post. Brilliant.

Jesus so many people here at GAF are stupid.

There are what, maybe...3 Million PS3's in the US?

If ONE THIRD of the US population has a Cell Phone, then that's 100,000,000 potential buyers for these games.

Seriously people, let's think before we type.

Originally Posted by xbhaskarx

:lol

what´s so funny?

C&VG in Euroland by any chance? That sensationalist, "OMG look what I found!" headline sure makes it sound like it.

Originally Posted by Rlan

TimeKillr: That sucks. What other games have EA made? Any of them good, regardless of the lack of creativity?

Sierra's doing some pretty cool looking things for Mobile phones, like Spyro and Leisure Suit Larry.

EA's made a bunch of stuff - they have all the licenses for Hasbro boardgames, so Boggle, Yathzee, Scrabble, etc. Never really seen anything internally that resembled an original game.

The worst was when we were working on a bowling game, then we got bigshots at EA in Europe that said "Well, we don't think Bowling is a strong enough name. Why don't we slap a The Sims license on it?". That killed the place for me - it was pretty ripe with stupidity, but this was just ridiculous. Of course, the game got destroyed in reviews - the bowling game worked pretty well, but the Sims integration was RIDICULOUS. I did my best to save it when I was dumped to the project, but it was just too late.

I think SKATE mobile might not be too bad, despite being the project that saw me leave the company. I couldn't stand the bullshit anymore, and from what I hear it's still quite rampant. It's basically a reskin of one of my old projects, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland mobile, with different controls and such.

There's basically few players in the mobile industry - EA Mobile, Gameloft, GLU Mobile and another company I can't remember. Pretty much everyone else is just DOA. Getting games on decks, as they are called (basically, a carrier's gamespace) is VERY difficult.

The single biggest problem with mobile games is that carriers (such as Verizon, T-Mobile, etc) are ALSO the people who decide on the content. Basically, it's as if Gamestop all of a sudden went to developers and said "Okay, so we want this type of game with this type of look and this type of gameplay". It's really, really screwed, and those people have no clue as to what makes a good game. If you don't do a game they really want, they just hide it in their decks and they don't sell. If a game is on the front page of a deck, it's pretty much guaranteed to sell. The market is filled with idiosyncrasies like that.