Two major game studios, EA and Remedy, have recorded big losses in their latest financial reports, albeit under very different circumstances.

It’s unclear whether the buyout of EA will impact its overall output, but it’s interesting that it should happen just as the the company hits unusually rocky ground in terms of its financial results.

The deal, worth approximately $55 billion (£40.9 billion), is expected to close in Q1 of the 2027 financial year (between April and June next year), with long-running EA CEO Andrew Wilson still left at the helm.

In EA’s second quarter financial results, ended September 30, however, sales and revenue decreased despite sales growth in its sports games.

The company recorded a 13% drop in sales to $1.81 billion (£1.36 billion) compared to the same three months last year, ‘driven largely by the extraordinary release of College Football 25 in the prior year period’.

Similarly, net income was down 53% year-on-year to $137 million (£103.5 million), while overall revenue was down 9% to $1.83 billion (£1.38 billion).

Despite these widespread drops, Madden NFL 26 ‘delivered net bookings growth year-over-year’ during the second quarter – although there are no specific numbers. Similarly, EA Sports FC 26 sales were ‘up mid single digits year-over-year’ versus its predecessor ‘after adjusting for differences in deluxe edition content timing’.

The Christmas bump will help (EA)

If these were perhaps marginal wins, Apex Legends had ‘double-digits’ sales growth in the second quarter, something EA ascribes to ‘new experiences that drove deeper engagement’.

It’s a mixed picture overall, but EA is optimistic for the next quarter due to the success of Battlefield 6 and Skate. The former sold seven million copies within its first three days, while the free early access version of Skate attracted over 15 million players.

These two games ‘underscore the strength of EA’s long-term strategy to build community-driven experiences centred on creativity, connection, and long-term growth,’ according to the report.

With the pending buyout, EA said it will not host an earnings conference call for this quarter and ‘will no longer provide forward-looking guidance’ – although it’s unclear if this will resume after the acquisition goes through. Since they’ll no longer be a public company at that point, probably not.

However bad EA is doing, it’s nothing compared to Alan Wake and Control creators Remedy in their latest financial results, where they recorded a huge 32% revenue decrease to €12.2 million (10.7 million). Operating loss grew to €16.4 million (£14.4 million), compared to €2.4 million last year too, despite a ‘rise in game sales and royalties’.

These results were expected considering Remedy CEO Tera Virtala stepped down last week, following ‘weak sales’ for Control multiplayer spin-off, FBC: Firebreak. Markus Mäki stepped in as the interim CEO, until the company appoints a new leader.

FBC: Firebreak’s failure is noted in this latest report, with sales having ‘improved only marginally’ after its latest Breakpoint update.

‘We continue working on features which enhance player value, and which are justified by our updated long-term sales expectations,’ says Remedy.

‘We have moved development resources to our other in-development titles while respecting our communicated roadmap for FBC: Firebreak.’

Alan Wake 2 took a year to turn a profit (Remedy)

Remedy say its future projects, Control 2, the Max Payne 1&2 remake with Rockstar, and an unannounced ‘new project’ in the ‘proof of concept’ stage, are ‘progressing according to plan’.

They added: ‘We aren’t satisfied with our recent financial performance, but we remain confident in our ability to create great video games that resonate with players and which are commercially successful, leading us back to profitability.’

Neither Control 2 or Max Payne 1&2 remake, which are both in ‘full production’, have an actual release date yet – but the studio’s current financial position will certainly put a lot of pressure on them to succeed. Sales of the original Control have topped five million units worldwide, while Alan Wake 2 hit over two million sales by the end of 2024, which is worryingly bad for such a heavily hyped title.

It’s unclear what the other unannounced ‘new project’ might be, but considering how much of a failure FBC: Firebreak was, we doubt it’ll be another multiplayer live-service offering.

A Max Payne remake is on the way (Rockstar)

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