Electronic Arts’ share price has taken a beating thanks to the very ugly launch of Battlefield 4 and the potential delays it could force on upcoming releases.
It’s no secret that the launch of Battlefield 4 has been a mess, to the point that EA publicly announced yesterday that all work on future DLC expansions has been halted so DICE can focus on fixing the game. That’s good news for gamers, at least as far as it goes, but bad news in the eyes of investors: After climbing dramatically over the course of 2013 from a low of under $14 to a peak of almost $28, EA’s share value started to tumble in mid-November, dipping under $20 at one point today.
Coincidence? Probably not. As Seeking Alpha points out, weak Battlefield 4 sales caused in large part by its shoddy state at launch could keep EA from hitting its quarterly financial goals; furthermore, the all-out effort to fix the game might even lead to delays in Star Wars: Battlefront and Mirror’s Edge, two highly anticipated games currently scheduled to come out in 2015/16.
EA’s share price has begun to edge back up and at last check sat a little over the $21 mark, an improvement over its pre-noon low of $20.48 but still a far cry from its position prior to the release of Battlefield 4.
Source: Seeking Alpha
