Origin generates $100m for EA, SWTOR subs hit 1.7m

Electronic Arts has revealed that its digital games service Origin generated $100 million in the 2011 calendar year, from more than 9.3 million consumers.

Releasing its third quarter financial results, the company also said that MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic has more than 1.7 million active subscribers since launching in December, with 2 million units sold.

The company managed to trim its losses for the quarter down from $322 million in 2010 to $205 million. Net sales were $1.061 billion, compared to $1.053 billion the previous year.

Battlefield 3 and FIFA 12 have both sold more than 10 million units, while Madden NFL 12 has sold almost 5 million units life-to-date. The publisher claims it is number one in the Western markets with a 20 per cent share of Europe and 17 per cent share of North America.

"We are pleased to report a strong holiday quarter driven by Battlefield 3, FIFA 12 and a strong showing by our digital games and services," offered CEO John Riccitiello. "Star Wars: The Old Republic is developing a committed community of players with more than 1.7 million active subscribers and growing."

PopCap, which joined the company in August, has grown sales by 30 per cent on a twelve-month basis and the EA Nucleus registration system has more than 168 million consumers on its database.

"We recorded our highest operating cash flow in 31 quarters and grew segment share in both Europe and North America," said Eric Brown, CFO.

"Third quarter non-GAAP digital revenue grew 79 per cent year-over year, and we achieved our goal of generating over $1 billion in non-GAAP digital revenue on a trailing-twelve-month basis."

EA said that revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be between $925 million and $975 million.