Electronic Arts (EA) Expands VR Game Portfolio With New Launch
Electronic Arts’ EA studio, Respawn Entertainment, recently partnered with Facebook FB Reality Labs’ Oculus Studios team to unveil the highly-anticipated Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
The new virtual reality (VR) title in the Medal of Honor franchise provides the players with twelve maps and five multiplayer modes built for VR. Further, the game’s single-player campaign is expected to enhance user experience with the captivating setting of World War II.
Moreover, with the Steam Platform, the players have access to cross-platform play across multiple different devices. The title is available for $59.99 in Oculus Store for Oculus Rift and Steam, with OpenVR support.
Expanding Franchise Portfolio Drives Growth
Notably, Electronic Arts’ shares have increased 26.5% year to date compared with the Zacks Toys - Games – Hobbies industry’s growth of 29.7%.
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Electronic Arts Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Electronic Arts Inc. Quote
Electronic Arts benefits from the growing popularity of its well-known franchises, such as FIFA, Battlefield, Star Wars and The Sims. Further, the company continues to expand its franchise portfolio to boost player engagement on its platform.
The company recently announced the launch of It Takes Two, a co-op gender-bending gameplay, in collaboration with Hazelight Studios. The game will be available on consoles and PC from Mar 26, 2021. Additionally, earlier this month, the company introduced Madden NFL 21 and FIFA 21 on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 worldwide.
Moreover, EA launched UFC 4, Madden NFL 21, Rocket Arena and Star Wars: Squadrons during the second quarter of fiscal 2021. Further, it introduced Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered on PS4, Xbox One and PC as well as EA SPORTS NHL 21, which delivers an authentic Be A Pro career experience.
Notably, these launches bode well for the company’s gaming portfolio and drive player base expansion. Additionally, EA benefits from accelerated demand for video games owing to the coronavirus-led shelter in place guidelines, which have confined people to their homes.
Intense Competition to Hurt Prospects
However, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company faces strong competition from the likes of Take Two Interactive Software TTWO and Activision Blizzard ATVI in the gaming industry, which might hurt its growth prospects in the near term.
Take Two’s second-quarter fiscal 2021 results were largely benefited by significant contributions from Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Online and GTA V, NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K21, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online. Moreover, net bookings from recurrent consumer spending (64% of net bookings) soared 43% year over year in the September-end quarter.
Furthermore, Activision’s World of Warcraft: Shadowlands and the Call of Duty franchise have been huge successes. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, which was launched on Nov 23, sold 3.7 million units globally and became the fastest-selling PC game as of Dec 8.
Nevertheless, Electronic Art’s continuous efforts to attract gamers with new additions to its robust product portfolio are expected to aid player acquisition and drive top-line growth.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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