EA closes gap on year-end losses, sees substantial growth in Q4 FY11

Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

Electronic Arts has released its fourth quarter and 2011 fiscal year report, announcing a substantial increase in both net income and revenue over last year's results. Net income for the publishing giant jumped to $151 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, from only $30 million a year earlier.

For the final quarter, EA saw revenue jump to $1 billion versus $970 million in the same period a year ago. Reuters notes that EA's shares closed at $19.92 on the Nasdaq earlier today.

Though the company saw solid growth in the final quarter for the 2011 fiscal year (ending March 31), EA ended the year with a GAAP net loss of $267 million. The loss, however, pales in comparison to the $677 million drop that EA saw during the end of its last fiscal year close.

Highlights for EA included Crysis 2, Dead Space 2, and Dragon Age 2, which all sold over two million units since launch. Another division closing the loss gap for the fiscal year was EA's digital arm, which was up to $211M (up $67M). Physical retail increased $44M to $838M.

Over the course of the year, EA revealed it has shipped 12 million units of FIFA Soccer 11 and five million units each of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Medal of Honor, and Madden NFL 11.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 shipped seven million units in the reported year, which helped solidify EA's big news that pre-orders for its upcoming Battlefield 3 are up "more than 700% vs. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010."