Electronic Arts has released financial results for its third fiscal quarter '99, which ended December 1998. Revenues for the third quarter were US$520.2 million, an increase of 33 percent compared with the $391.2 million in revenue EA reported for the same period a year earlier. Net income for the quarter was $72.5 million, which marks a 42-percent increase compared with EA's net incomefor the quarter a year ago, $51.2 million.

　　For the nine months from April to December 1998 (the first nine months of EA's 1999 fiscal year), revenues were $944.1 million, compared with $704.8 million (an increase of 34 percent) for the same period a year ago. That covers the time period when EA acquired Westwood, and including the price EA paid for Westwood and the consolidated operating results of the two companies, EA's net income for the nine month period was $51.0 million.

　　"This was a banner holiday season for the interactive entertainment industry, and we are pleased to report record quarterly results," said Larry Probst, EA chair and CEO. "We continue to be encouraged with the success of Ultima Online, our first product designed specifically for play on the Internet, which now has more than 100,000 paying subscribers. Also, the EA Square joint venture in Japan is moving in a very positive direction with strong revenue comparisons and its third consecutive quarter of profitability. On a worldwide basis strong hardware system sales significantly grew the installed base of game consoles which historically has been a leading indicator of future software sales. We believe that Electronic Arts is well positioned in the expanding interactive entertainment category with strong product franchises combined with global marketing and distribution capabilities."