Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) recently announced that The Sims 4 Seasons expansion pack will be launched on PC and Mac on Jun 22.
Seasons is considered to be one of the most popular expansion packs in The Sims’ history. In order to provide more entertainment to players, the expansion pack will be bringing four vibrant seasons with holidays, weather and family activities.
The Sims – A Key Growth Driver
The Sims is one of the most important revenue generators for EA. In fiscal 2018, there were 80 million active Sims players across PC and mobile. The Sims 4 community, which has been growing even after four years of launch, is expected to get a further push following this launch.
The company’s mobile offerings got a significant boost with The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile recording enormous success in the last quarter.
In the last reported quarter, Live services net bookings were up 31% year over year to $679 million driven by The Sims 4 along with Ultimate Team and Battlefield 1.
The company expects The Sims 4 expansion packs for PC and console version to be one of the key drivers of live services net bookings in fiscal 2019.
Shares of EA have surged 25.1% year to date, outperforming the industry’s rally of 12.5%.
New Titles to Boost Growth
EA has a solid lineup for fiscal 2019. EA SPORTS titles are expected to keep up the momentum with innovations in Madden NFL, NBA Live and NHL this fiscal.
EA announced last month that it is giving a free 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia content update to EA SPORTS FIFA 18. The upcoming World Cup will have a positive impact on EA’s FIFA Ultimate Team.
EA has also announced that it will be launching Battlefield V on Oct 19. The game is expected to drive higher engagement amid growing competition from Fortnite and PUBG.
The company’s new Battlefield title along with the much hyped game — Anthem — is expected to release in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 and become a key driver.
These titles will also provide a competitive edge over the likes of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) , Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) and Gluu Mobile (NASDAQ:GLUU) that are stepping up their efforts to grab a share of the growing video gaming market.
Currently, EA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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