A fair-goer plays a computer game at an Electronic Arts-developed game at a computer convention. US videogame giant Electronic Arts was unable to fight its way out of the red over the Christmas holidays, and has posted a net loss for the 12th consecutive quarter. (AFP/File/Barbara Sax)

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The Redwood City, California-based company behind the "Sims," "Madden" and other games posted a third-quarter net loss of 82 million dollars compared with a net loss of 641 million dollars a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter which ended on December 31 declined 23 percent to 1.24 billion dollars.

"The decline is due to several factors, including fewer titles this holiday quarter versus the 2008 holiday quarter, and a weak overall packaged goods sector in Europe," EA said in a statement.

It said sales were driven by the launches of "Dragon Age: Origins," "Left 4 Dead 2" and "NBA Live," and catalog sales of "FIFA 10," "Madden NFL 10," and "The Sims 3."

EA said it expected revenue of between 925 million dollars and one billion dollars in the current quarter.

"'Mass Effect 2' is the first blockbuster of 2010 and we are looking forward to the launch of "Dante's Inferno" and 'Battlefield Bad Company 2,'" EA chief executive John Riccitiello said.

For the current quarter, Wall Street analysts had been expecting earnings per share of up to 13 cents and were disappointed by the two cents to six cents reported by EA.

For fiscal 2011, EA said it expected revenue of 3.45 billion dollars and 3.70 billion dollars, below the 4.07 billion dollars expected by analysts.

EA shares tumbled in after-hours electronic trading, losing 8.40 percent to 16.30 dollars.

"The company cannot find its footing and cannot find its way home," analyst Jon Ogg said on 247WallSt.com.

"In fact, things are getting to the point that many holders and traders are starting to hope that the price of the stock is low enough that the company will just get acquired."

Videogame sales in the three leading markets -- Britain, Japan and the United States -- declined eight percent last year to 379.3 million units, according to a Top Global Markets report released last week compiled using figures from the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd and Enterbrain Inc.

chr-cl/sg

© 1994-2009 Agence France-Presse

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