EA first-quarter earnings beat expectations

Electronic Arts today announced its financial results for the three months ended June 30, beating its fiscal first-quarter guidance with a boost from first-person puzzler Portal 2.

Digital revenue was also up strongly for the quarter, with EA reporting $209 million in sales for the quarter. The publisher's previous 12 months of digital sales have reaped $854 million in sales, up 35 percent from the year prior to that. The console digital market growth has been particularly pronounced, surging 91 percent year-over-year.

For the first fiscal quarter, EA reported sales of $999 million, up from $815 million for the same period the year before. The publisher also reported net income of $221 million for the quarter, up from $96 million for last year's first fiscal quarter.

EA said it had shipped 2 million copies of Portal 2 to retailers during the quarter to lead a new release slate that also featured Alice: Madness Returns, Darkspore, and Shadows of the Damned.

Read more of "Portal 2 leads EA to $999 million quarter" at GameSpot.