Business Corpus: EA Stock Drops As Game Publisher Delays 'Battlefield 5'Video game publisher Electronic Arts on Thursday delayed its big holiday release title "Battlefield 5" and lowered its sales guidance for the fiscal year as a result. EA stock fell on the news. The post EA Stock Drops As Game Publisher Delays 'Battlefield 5' appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

[Collection]

Video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) on Thursday delayed its big holiday release title "Battlefield 5" and lowered its sales guidance for the fiscal year as a result. EA stock fell hard on the news.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based company pushed back the launch date to make some final tweaks to the game. The changes were based on player feedback from testing. It now plans to release "Battlefield 5" on Nov. 20. The World War II-themed shooter game was originally supposed to come out on Oct. 19.

EA stock tumbled 9.8% to 115.94 on the stock market today. It fell through its 200-day moving average, a key support level, in a bearish sign.

"We believe we've got one of the best Battlefield games ever coming in 'Battlefield 5'," Laura Miele, chief studios officer for Electronic Arts, said in a news release. "Tens of thousands of players have been hands on with the game so far, and we've been honored to receive best multiplayer awards at E3 and Gamescom. We've had valuable feedback from our community, and we're going to take the time to make some final adjustments and deliver a great experience for our fans."

Tough Week For EA Stock

Delaying the game will move some sales from the company's fiscal 2019, which ends March 31. They will now move into fiscal 2020, EA said. EA lowered its net bookings guidance for fiscal 2019 to $5.2 billion from $5.55 billion. The guidance change also reflects a revised mobile game forecast and the impact of foreign exchange rates, the company said.

Core businesses, including the EA Sports games and Ultimate Team, are expected to continue their strong operational performances, it said.

The delay of "Battlefield 5" will make for a less crowded start to the fall video game season. Other big releases include "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey" from Ubisoft on Oct. 5, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" from Activision Blizzard (ATVI) on Oct. 12 and "Red Dead Redemption 2" from Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) on Oct. 26.

It's been a rough week for Electronic Arts. On Tuesday, the company canceled three tournaments of its "Madden NFL 19" football game to review its security measures after a mass shooting at a tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday. A competitor who lost at the tournament shot dead two rivals and wounded 11 others before killing himself. The tragedy is a setback to EA's esports ambitions.

Video Game Publisher Take-Two Soars On June-Quarter Beat

Activision Signs Esports Broadcast Deal With Disney For Overwatch League

The post EA Stock Drops As Game Publisher Delays 'Battlefield 5' appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.