Despite all the scandals around loot boxes, the Ultimate Team mode in sports games like FIFA remains one of the main sources of income for Electronic Arts. The company itself noted that it makes up a “significant part” of its revenue. Over the past year alone, EA has earned over $1.5 billion on it, which is almost 30% of the publisher’s total revenue.The exact revenue of the Ultimate Team mode became known from the annual report that Electronic Arts provided to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Nikko Partners, drew attention to this.
Over the past seven years, Ultimate Team’s revenue has almost tripled. If in the 2015 fiscal year it amounted to “only” $587 million, then in 2021 it was already $1.62 billion. This is 29% of the publisher’s total revenue, which earned $5.6 billion last fiscal year.
How much does EA earn from Ultimate Team across FIFA, Madden and NFL?
EA Net Revenue from Ultimate Team:
FY 2021: $1.62bn
FY 2020: $1.49bn
FY 2019: $1.37bn
FY 2018: $1.18bn
FY 2017: $775m
FY 2016: $660m
FY 2015: $587mThe majority is from FIFA Ultimate Team ofc. pic.twitter.com/xUbNUx6R62
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 26, 2021It is worth noting that we are talking about revenue from all games that have the Ultimate Team mode.
Among them are the Madden NFL, NHL and FIFA series. According to Ahmad, most of the revenue comes from FIFA Ultimate Team.
Ultimate Team is a special mode in which players can assemble their team and play it online. Monetization is based on a system of cards that can be obtained through loot boxes for in-game currency or real money. EA itself, in a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, claims that this mode “was invented for players who are motivated to compete and improve themselves.”
However, Ultimate Team has provoked scandals more than once. In March, the so-called EAGate occurred when Electronic Arts employees were accused of selling rare cards in FIFA Ultimate Team. Also in April, the American media published an internal document of the company, which deals with ways to motivate users to buy more loot boxes.
In addition, governments of different countries are increasingly paying attention to loot boxes in video games. For example, the German authorities discussed a ban on the sale of games with similar mechanics to minors. And Brazil in April launched an investigation against 13 companies in order to possibly ban loot boxes in the country.
The Ultimate Team managed to achieve an almost complete ban in Belgium. Residents of the country can still play this mode, but it is allowed to buy player cards only for in-game currency, not real money.