EA Sports
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Documents about EA Sports
ViewSonic Partners With FATE Esports
ViewSonic has entered into a strategic partnership with FATE Esports, an organization based in Amman, Jordan.
- ViewSonic has entered into a partnership with Amman, Jordan-based esports organization FATE Esports to provide premium gaming monitors for the organization's headquarters.
- The gaming monitors supplied by ViewSonic will be utilized by FATE Esports players for training and during local gaming events hosted at their facility.
- Financial terms and the specific duration of the partnership agreement were not disclosed by either party.
Apex Legends Joins the Esports World Cup
Electronic Arts’ battle royale title, Apex Legends, has been confirmed as an official participant in the 2024 Esports World Cup, a multi-week gaming festival held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Electronic Arts has added Apex Legends to the official title list for the Saudi Arabian government-backed Esports World Cup, scheduled to take place in Riyadh this summer.
- The Esports World Cup is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and facilitated by the ESL FACEIT Group, a subsidiary of the state-owned Savvy Games Group.
- While financial terms of the inclusion remain undisclosed, the Esports World Cup Foundation is providing direct financial incentives to professional teams that sign rosters for games featured in the tournament.
Why Older Games Rule - and New Games Drool - in Discoveryland
Analysis of the 2024 PC and console market reveals a significant shift in player behavior, characterized by the overwhelming dominance of older titles over new releases.
- Games six years or older accounted for 61% of total playtime in 2023, a significant increase from 45% in 2021.
- Five established franchises—Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto V—collectively captured 27% of all industry playtime.
- New releases struggle to gain traction, with only 8% of total market playtime available for non-annual titles released within the last two years.
TEKKEN 8 Joins the Esports World Cup
The Esports World Cup Foundation has officially confirmed that Namco Bandai’s fighting game, Tekken 8, will be featured as a key title at the 2024 Esports World Cup.
- Bandai Namco’s TEKKEN 8 has been confirmed as an official title for the 2024 Esports World Cup, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this July.
- The Esports World Cup is a multi-week, multi-title festival funded by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
- Tournament operations for the event are being managed by the ESL FACEIT Group, a subsidiary of the Saudi-owned Savvy Games Group.
Helldivers 2: Highest-Grossing Game in US and UK Markets
Helldivers 2 emerged as a significant commercial success in early 2024, securing its position as the highest-grossing title on PC and PlayStation 5 during February.
- Helldivers 2 was the highest-grossing game on PC and PlayStation 5 in the US and UK during February 2024.
- Total sales volume for the title is estimated to have exceeded eight million units, following an initial milestone of one million units sold within the first week.
- The game maintained the top-grossing position on Steam for five consecutive weeks, reaching a peak of over 450,000 concurrent players.
EA Sports FC 24 Joins the Esports World Cup
The Esports World Cup Foundation has officially confirmed that EA Sports FC 24 will be a featured title at the upcoming Esports World Cup, scheduled for July in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- EA Sports FC 24 has been confirmed as a featured title for the 2024 Esports World Cup, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this July.
- The Esports World Cup is a multi-title competition funded by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and facilitated by the ESL FACEIT Group.
- While financial terms for the inclusion of EA Sports FC 24 were not disclosed, the title follows the precedent set by the 2023 Gamers8 event, which featured the FIFAe Nations Cup with a $1 million USD prize pool.
UK Video Games Market: Annual Report 2023
The 2023 UK video games market demonstrated resilient growth, with total revenue reaching £4.73 billion, a 2.9% increase over the previous year.
- The UK video games market grew 2.9% in 2023 to reach a total revenue of £4.73 billion.
- Digital revenue rose 3.8% to £4.24 billion, while physical sales declined 4.4% to £495 million.
- Hardware spending increased by 10.8% to £934 million, largely driven by the PlayStation 5, which saw unit sales jump 55.2% to 1.2 million.
Thief Simulator 2 Hits Now, Lords Of The Fallen Later?
Analysis of recent video game market performance reveals a highly competitive landscape where even high-quality titles struggle to achieve significant breakout success.
- Lords of the Fallen is positioned as a major upcoming release with over 77,000 Steam followers, indicating strong market anticipation for the Souls-like genre.
- Thief Simulator 2 outperformed other early October 2023 Steam releases, achieving over 3,200 peak concurrent users (CCU) and 25,000 units sold on its first day due to influencer engagement.
- The video game market is increasingly saturated, as evidenced by anticipated titles like The Lamplighters League and Wargroove 2 debuting with fewer than 1,000 CCU.
Plus: Cyberpunk DLC and EA Sports FC Go Huge
The primary focus of this analysis is the commercial performance and market reception of major video game releases and downloadable content during late September 2023.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty successfully revitalized the base game, driving it to 250,000 concurrent users (CCU) and generating 3,300 positive Steam reviews.
- Counter-Strike 2 maintained a massive player base of 1.5 million CCU during its transition, demonstrating the stability of established competitive titles.
- EA Sports FC 24 debuted with over 80,000 CCU on Steam, proving the resilience of major sports franchises despite receiving mixed user reviews.
Plus: Which Recent PC Games Have the Most 'Staying Power'?
This analysis examines the retention and market performance of PC and console games, with a primary focus on Steam launches from September 2023.
- Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) sports titles like EA Sports FC and NBA 2K exhibit the highest retention, maintaining 0.64x to 0.66x of their peak concurrent user (CCU) counts.
- Most premium 'play once' games suffer rapid player decay, frequently dropping below 100 CCU shortly after their initial launch.
- Lies of P demonstrated strong single-player retention by holding 20% of its peak CCU six weeks post-launch, while Payday 3 struggled significantly, retaining only 4% of its peak.
Plus: Lords of the Fallen Knocks Down the Doors
The fourth quarter of 2023 is marked by a high volume of PC and console releases, characterized by strong initial sales figures but tempered by mixed player reception due to technical performance issues and perceived lack of innovation.
- High-profile Q4 2023 releases are suffering from a disconnect between strong initial sales and poor user sentiment, exemplified by Lords of the Fallen reaching over 43,000 concurrent users (CCU) while receiving 'Mostly Negative' early reviews due to technical issues.
- Technical instability and perceived lack of innovation are recurring themes in recent major launches, with titles like Total War: Pharaoh and Forza Motorsport struggling to maintain positive player reception despite respectable CCU counts.
- Established sports franchises, including NBA 2K24, EA Sports FC 24, and Madden NFL 24, continue to dominate console sales charts on PlayStation and Xbox.
Exclusive: The Making of the PlayStation Portal
The PlayStation Portal serves as a specialized peripheral designed to extend the PlayStation 5 console experience rather than function as a standalone handheld gaming device.
- Sony classifies the PlayStation Portal as a $200 peripheral rather than a dedicated handheld console, intentionally designing it to stream PS5 games without requiring additional development work from game creators.
- Demand for the PlayStation Portal has consistently exceeded Sony's internal expectations, leading to persistent supply shortages since its November 2023 launch.
- The device features an eight-inch screen and full DualSense controller functionality, specifically developed to expand the PS5 experience for users who want to play away from their primary television.
