EA to Make $1 Billion on DLC Alone

Bloomberg has revealed that EA have forecast astronomic earnings from 'add-on content'. Otherwise known as DLC, a writer for GameGrin had even recently written an article about the cost of DLC.

With the release of Madden 15 as the first in a host of titles coming in the next couple of months, analysts have reported to Bloomberg they expect EA to earn up to $1 billion in DLC alone. They forecast Madden 15 to earn $350 million on title sales, and more than $50 million on DLC for the Ultimate Teams mode.

For those who aren't familiar, Ultimate Teams allows you to create a team of your favourite players, past and present, to play matches.

“The margins on Madden Ultimate Team are through the roof,” said James Hardiman, an analyst with Longbow Research LLC 

In their end of year financial report, released in May, EA stated that the various Ultimate Team services (Madden, Fifa, NHL...) had earned them $380 million March 2013 - March 2014. Earnings from Madden Ultimate Team had grown by 90% over the previous year.

So following that upwards trend and looking to The Sims 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Battlefield Hardline, it's easy to see where financial analysts get the $1 billion estimate from.