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The Sims and Steam drove "unprecedented growth" for EA in Q1

The Sims and Steam drove "unprecedented growth" for EA in Q1

US publishing giant Electronic Arts reported "unprecedented growth" during the three months ending June 30th.

Speaking to investors, as reported by Seeking Alpha, CEO Andrew Wilson (pictured) said that The Sims 4 had attracted over 30m players since its 2014 launch. Furthermore, the title has seen record engagement, likely due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In June, EA reported that The Sims 4 had around 10m monthly active users.

EA's decision to bring some of its games back to Steam is also paying off, with the chief exec reporting "substantial" growth in its PC audience. The company has brought over 30 titles to Valve's platform after boycotting it from 2011 in favour of releasing games on its own Origin platform.

"The Sims continues to resonate with more players around the world," Wilson said.

"The Sims 4 now has more than 30 million players life-to-date across all platforms, and daily, weekly and monthly active player totals in the game all reached record highs for a first quarter. Our Sims mobile games had an excellent Q1 as well. The creative and inclusive nature of The Sims experience on any device is truly unique in all of gaming, and we’re especially proud of the way it helps players find community and express themselves during culturally challenging times.

"During Q1, we also launched nearly 30 titles on the Steam platform. Bringing our games to Steam enables us to substantially grow our PC audience. Our Origin business grew 75 per cent year-over-year as well, and by opening up the ability for Steam and Origin players to play together, we’re now positioned to harness the full power of the PC community. Bringing titles to Steam is also foundational to our EA subscription service that will go live on the platform later this summer."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.