Frank D. Gibeau
Analyst · BMO Capital Markets
Thanks, Ken. I'll begin with an update on EA's subscription business. Our philosophy is to give players maximum choice by offering premium subscription services, alongside a la carte micro transactions. We believe this makes our games more accessible and attracts the largest possible audience. First, the game many of you have been tracking closely, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Although it launched well, subscriptions have been on the declining trajectory and have now slipped below 1 million. Last year, we announced that the breakeven point was roughly 500,000 subscribers. And while we are well above that today, that is not good enough. The message from players exiting the game is clear, 40% say they were turned off by the monthly subscription and many indicate they would come back if we offered a free-to-play model. Our plan now is to pivot and provide a 2-tiered pricing plan, which will make the game more accessible and grow the audience. The new pricing will go into effect in November. The first tier is a Premium Players membership for Star Wars fans who want everything the game has to offer. For $15 a month, Premium Players will receive comprehensive access to the game plus monthly infusions of in-game currency which can be used for boosts, customization and for moving more quickly through each level. The second tier is a free-to-play option which allows consumers to experience the first 50 levels at no charge, but with some restrictions on content and advanced player features. Upgrades to the experience can be purchased with in-game currency. Players will move at their own speed and comfort level. And if and when they're ready, they can easily switch to the Premium tier. Additionally, we are introducing new pricing next week in North America and Europe. Beginning August 6, Star Wars: The Old Republic will retail for $14.99, essentially offering the first month for free. As John mentioned, the disappointing performance of Star Wars is largely offset by the great performance of our Battlefield 3 Premium service. The core game, Battlefield 3, launched 10 months ago and has shipped over 15 million units to date. The Premium service introduced in June has sold roughly 1.3 million downloads in just 2 months, offering both a Premium subscription and an ala carte option that's proven to be enormously popular with consumers. We couldn't be more pleased with how the diversity of our business allows us to make up for a miss on one franchise with a big hit on another. Next, I'll quickly review EA's major releases for Q2, the holiday and Q4. I'll start with Madden NFL 13 because this year's game represents a huge leap in innovation. Powered by the all-new Infinity Engine, every impact is more intense and no 2 plays ever look the same. Madden 13 also includes Connected Careers mode, a new feature which allows you to create a player or coach in a league with 32 of your friends. The presells for Madden NFL 13 are up 25% versus last year. And purchase intent based on weekly Nielsen surveys is also up significantly. Next is our FIFA Soccer franchise, a connected universe that continues to grow with new markets, formats and devices. This year the core product, FIFA 13 for PCs and consoles, transforms the way players control the ball. We've upgraded the online features with better multiplayer and a rich social network, where fans can compete and share with millions of other players around the world. And earlier today in Seoul, South Korea, we announced a partnership with Nexon to publish FIFA Online 3 there. Our current game, FIFA Online 2, continues to be a smash hit in Korea, with internal estimates suggesting 80% of all men in that country aged 16 to 19 play this game. The agreement with Nexon gives us a big advantage with a clear platform leader in that country when the product goes into beta testing later this year. Another FIFA title is attracting a big audience in Japan. FIFA World Class Soccer, which is running on the GREE network. Together with FIFA Online 2 in Korea, these games generated $25 million in the quarter. Viewed as a whole, our FIFA franchise validates 3 fundamental assumptions in our digital strategy. First, big brands have global appeal and can attract mass audiences in multiple markets. Second, high-quality free-to-play games can generate impressive revenue and profitability. Third, our digital strategy is not beholden to a single product, platform, geography or business model. Congratulations to the global team that creates and sustains this fantastic game franchise. Two more highlights for EA SPORTS. First, watch for NHL 13 in September, a title many critics feel is the best-looking sports game on the market. This year's game includes an all-new skating engine and a GM Connected mode that allows you to manage, coach or play online against friends. Second, we are incredibly excited about our new partnership with the UFC. The team is already hard at work on creating a connected universe of fighting games for consoles, PCs, mobile and tablets. In my opinion, this franchise could easily grow to be one of the top 3 EA SPORTS brands worldwide. Other big titles scheduled to ship this fiscal year include Medal of Honor Warfighter. Built on the Frostbite 2 engine with a direct involvement of Special Forces combat veterans, the game drops players into real-world hotspots. This is an especially competitive holiday for shooters. The primary competition in this category, Halo and Call of Duty, are both sci-fi games this year. We believe the authenticity of Medal of Honor Warfighter will help us extend the positive trend line we have established with this franchise. Next, Need for Speed Most Wanted is being developed by our renowned Criterion Studio in the U.K. Most Wanted had a strong debut at E3. It won Best Racing Game and was the only non-shooter nominated for Best Online Multiplayer. Jumping into Q4. Presells on our sci-fi core franchise Dead Space 3 are tracking almost 5x higher than Dead Space 2 in the same time frame in 2010. We believe the new co-op gameplay feature is attracting a lot of attention and a broader audience. SimCity earned 36 award nominations and 17 wins at E3 and it's tracking with good demand metrics, great awareness and solid purchase intent. Crysis 3 is a highly anticipated title we are publishing in partnership with Crytek in Frankfurt. Preorders are roughly 3x what they were for Crysis 2 at this time in 2010. Those are our major releases for the balance of the year. Now I want to offer some perspective on our fast-growing free-to-play games, a portfolio that includes social network games as well as browser-based experiences for PCs, consoles and mobile. Free-to-play is EA's fastest-growing business model, with year-over-year revenues that are up 156%. And while this already makes up 17% of our overall revenue in Q1, the compounded annual growth rate is significantly outpacing the overall market. EA's strategic focus on big brands fits comfortably in this business model. In fact, the worldwide recognition of our brands provides a powerful competitive advantage in attracting large audiences at a lower cost of acquisition. I've already highlighted the success of our free-to-play FIFA games, but let me give you a couple more examples to prove a point. The Sims Social continues to perform well, averaging roughly 3 million daily active users in the past month. The game has generated more than $50 million in revenues since it launched last summer. SimCity Social launched in June and hit 1.6 million DAUs last week. While it is still early, the game is monetizing well and on track to exceed our internal projections. Need for Speed World, a browser-based free-to-play title, has already registered 15 million players. And Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap was once again EA's top-grossing game on iOS. A clear trend line is emerging here. While I look at the quality of these games and the revenue they produce, I'm convinced that free-to-play will emerge as the leading business model for PC and mobile gaming. Back to John.