EA making more money from iOS App Store than any other platform

Electronic Arts, the American game developer and publisher, has now revealed some starting news. The company’s Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore has now revealed that Apple is EA’s biggest retail partner, when the sales were measured in the June quarter. This is the first time this has ever happened, according to VentureBeat.

The company’s titles that have recorded a strong performance include games like The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3, and The Sims Freeplay. All told, EA has been able to rake in close to $90 million from games which are available for smartphones and tablets. The company was a bit sketchy about the exact breakdown, though, and it did not reveal the exact revenue figure that came from the iOS App Store as compared to other platforms like Android’s Google Play. 

An intriguing point that the company has revealed is that the Apple App store was able to give the company better business than its own Origin service. EA’s Origin service gives digital downloads for games which are compatible with both Mac and PC. When you look at the competition, Origin goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Valve's Steam service as well as Apple’s App Store.
EA has now revealed Apple's App Store as it's biggest retail partner (Image credit: Apple Insider)
EA has now revealed Apple's App Store as it's biggest retail partner (Image credit: Apple Insider)


Pushing the boundaries, EA was earlier seen revealing its new Frostbite Go game engine two months back which will be used to optimise the graphics for iOS games. It should be noted that Frostbite Go is a mobile edition of EA's powerful game engine which has churned out stalwart favorites like "Battlefield" and "Need for Speed" in the past.

The success that iTunes is enjoying may have some part to play in EA's mobile success. While looking at the June quarter, Apple saw revenues from iTunes, the App Store and other services jump by literally 25 percent. From the break down, it seems like the total revenue coming from Apple's iTunes Software and Services division amounted to a huge $3.9 billion, according to Apple Insider.

The success that Apple saw in the June quarter was almost equal to the $4.1 billion that iTunes raked in from the preceding three-month period. And the company has not been stingy with the money, with $11 billion being paid out to developers since the inception of the App Store, and half of that amount being handed out in the last four months alone.

As reported earlier, this month marks the fifth anniversary for the App Store, after it came to the markets in 2008. While the App Store initially looked only at the iPhone, the store has since extended its wares to include software for the iPad as well. Breaking down the numbers, there are now more than 900,000 applications available on the store, with close to 375,000 being specifically designed for the iPad.

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