Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has commented on what impact, if any, there might be on the video game industry due to growing concerns about the global economy due to tariffs and other factors.
As part of EA’s latest investor briefing, Wilson said he’s personally witnessed many “twists and turns in the macro environment” in his 25 years with EA. In that time, he’s learned that EA and its core franchises have remained “incredibly resilient through macro-challenging times.”
The reason for this, Wilson said, is that he believes “entertainment is a fundamental human need.”
“At this point in time, our form of entertainment is the first form of entertainment for much of the global population, and that grows every year as our industry continues to grow, and we represent incredible value,” he said.
Wilson went on to say video games, despite growing costs, represent “incredible value” relative to other things that people can spend money on.
“While we are always prudent and pragmatic and thoughtful as we navigate macro uncertainty, we do believe that if we continue to deliver incredible entertainment experiences, we continue to invest behind our biggest franchises that remember, aren’t just about entertainment, but are also about connection,” he said. “This is where people spend their best time with their best friends where they connect with them every day to enjoy their best moments of the day that even in a world where we may not be immune from a meaningful macroeconomic downtime, we do believe that we will be resilient and we do believe that we can grow over the course of time through that.”
Wilson also pushed back against the idea that EA might raise game prices to $80, following Nintendo and Xbox. He said the business today is very different from what it was a decade ago when core revenue streams came from selling discs on shelves. That’s still part of EA’s business, but it’s significantly smaller. Today, EA has multiple other revenue streams, including microtransaction-based free-to-play games and more expensive deluxe editions for games that help offset growing production costs.
“Our objective is always to deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our player base. And what we’ve discovered over the course of time is whether we can marry quality and value together our business is strong, resilient and continues to grow,” he said.
To be sure, EA is making much more money these days from microtransactions and live-service elements than full-game sales. For the past three months, EA made $437 million form full-game sales and $1.458 billion from live service. For the full fiscal year, EA made $2 billion from full-game sales and $5.461 billion from live service.
Not everyone would agree that EA is getting the “quality-to-value” equation correct, though, as EA’s games–and its sports titles in particular–are often criticized for their ubiquitous microtransactions. EA also just recently released the first paid season pass, and people quickly voiced their concerns about it.
EA has a number of big games in development, including Battlefield 6. With GTA 6 now delayed to 2026, some believe EA might release the game this fall, but nothing is confirmed yet. The game will be revealed properly at some point this summer.
