Another financial quarter has finished, and it's the time for most of the publishing companies to start declaring their financial results from the last three months to their shareholders. Publisher EA was the first to lead the way, and they're exceptionally pleased with the results.
As well as an extremely profitable mobile performance, FIFA 17 was the top-selling console title in the world for 2016. More than 10 million players have tried out the game's The Journey mode, while the number of FIFA Ultimate Team players has increased by nearly 10% year-over-year. Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 were also big draws. Of course, these two titles will also be offering free content updates and paid DLC over the future months.
Moving on to their future titles, Mass Effect: Andromeda will lead the way with a release worldwide beginning on March 21st. In the holiday 2017, we will see the first of many Star Wars titles that EA has in development. The next Star Wars Battlefront game will be a collaboration between DICE, Motive, and Criterion. EA's CEO Andrew Wilson went into further detail:
We’ve listened closely to our passionate Star Wars Battlefront community, and expanded our existing game with more great content and experiences since its launch. As that game continues to thrive, we have also heard our players’ desire for even more depth and progression. Our next Star Wars Battlefront will be even bigger, taking players into more locations, and allowing them to play with more heroes and characters across multiple Star Wars eras. There will be new ways to play, including an all-new single-player campaign, and much, much more that we are excited to share with our players in the months ahead.
Fiscal Year 2018 (April 2017 to March 2018) will also see the release of a new Need for Speed title. The game has been afforded a longer development cycle than normal to allow the developer to innovate and produce the "most exciting and best-looking Need for Speed game" ever.
As we mentioned a couple of days ago, Bioware is developing a new IP. Wilson didn't give us much more to go on than Bioware did then, but here it is if you want to be teased:
[...] a clean-sheet design with new concepts, new gameplay mechanics, and new stories set in a unique new universe. This game has the potential to fundamentally disrupt the way people think about an action title, bringing friends together to play in exhilarating new ways. We’re very excited about the future of this new franchise and its ability to attract a large global audience.
In the least surprising news of the article, several sports franchises will be returning. We'll get NHL 18 and a new UFC title. The NBA LIVE title that had previously been promised for release between January and March 2017 will now be arriving in the fall. Madden NFL 18 will be upgraded to the Frostbite engine, promising "major visual advancements and new gameplay experiences". Finally, we'll also be getting FIFA 18. Players will be able to take part in Season 2 of The Journey with new characters and storylines. Ultimate Team will also be one of the modes that is getting "deeply innovative new experiences".
While the details on all of these titles may be thin on the ground right now, we'll be sure to let you know when we hear more.