Despite once again being in the middle of a controversy, Electronic Arts continues to do well in the realm of the stock market. According to a recent report by GameSpot, the publishers stock price has reached an all-time high yesterday following the release of its most recent financial results. The stock rose by just under 7% over the course of the day, which equals out to about $8.26 per share.
While the likely surge in price was the result of EA’s revelation that revenues for their third quarter rose, it’s also believed that the announcement that loot boxes and microtransactions will soon be reintroduced into Star Wars Battlefront II played a role in the jump in price as well. Despite the negative feedback from the gaming community, loot boxes and microtransactions are still a huge source of money for publishers, and with Star Wars slowly getting them back, investors might feel ready to start buying into EA once again.
The announcement of the publishers stock price comes just a day after the company had said it was learning from the backlash of Star Wars Battlefront II:
“This was definitely a learning opportunity,” Wilson said. “You’ll remember that we brought three of our top studios together on this project, and the result was a massive game with a new Star Wars story, space battles, and huge multiplayer variety.”
According to Wilson, the company wanted a game that met the needs of the passionate Star Wars fanbase, referring to the fact that DLC was offered without the need to buy a Season Pass. However, the inclusion of loot boxes and the concept behind them quickly angered the community, resulting in a lot of negative feedback that EA is obviously still trying to deal with.
What do you think about the reintroduction of loot boxes and microtransactions into Star Wars Battlefront II? Will it help or hurt the company in the long run?
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
