Despite stating that, "We delivered on game quality and innovation in calendar 2008, with 13 titles rated 80 or above more than any third-party publisher", EA's CEO John Riccitiello has to contend with the financial realities of his company.

He did this in a conference call following the announcement of EA's third-quarter figures. In a bald statement to analysts and stock holders, he says: "Clear and simple, our titles did not perform to our expectations".

The numbers tell us something of the story. Net revenue was up year-on-year from $1.73bn (£1.20bn) to $1.74 (£1.21bn). Net income - that is after various 'charges' have been taken into consideration - however, "was $179 million (£124.5 million) compared with $290 million (£201.76 million) a year ago.

According to Forbes, this is is due to " weak holiday sales and a slew of charges."

EA also states the following on the upside though:

- EA was the leading publisher in North America with approximately 20 percent segment share according to NPD.

- In Europe, EA was number two behind Nintendo with an estimated 16 percent segment share.

- EA had 13 titles rated 80 or above in calendar 2008 – up from seven a year ago.

- FIFA 09 was EA’s best selling title with 7.8 million copies and charted at number one across all platforms in Europe in the holiday quarter.

- Rock Band was the number one title across all platforms in North America for calendar 2008, based on NPD data.

- EA’s digital direct-to-consumer revenue, which includes online and wireless, was $313 million (£217 million) year-to-date, up 27 percent year-over-year.

- EA Mobile™ is the world’s leading publisher of games for phones – with revenue of $50 million (£34million) in the quarter – up 28 percent year-over-year.