UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨  

As of May 22, 2017,21, 2018, there were 310,028,355306,832,936 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

We are a global leader in digital interactive entertainment.entertainment, with a mission to inspire the world to play. We develop, market, publish and distribute games, content and services that can be played by consumers on a variety of platforms, which includeincluding game consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets.

We haveThere are three core pillars to our strategy:

Players are the foundation of our success, and we are committed to thinking about players first in everything we do. Our goal is to build deep, on-going and meaningful relationships with our players. We aim to build these relationships by creating amazing games and services that deliver long-lasting fun and enduring value, by connecting with our players across platforms and social channels, and by delivering flexibility and innovation in our business models.

 

We have significantly increased our digital net revenue from $2.199 billion in fiscal year 2015 to $2.409 billion in fiscal year 2016 to $2.874 billion in fiscal year 2017 and $2.874$3.450 billion during fiscal year 2017.2018. It now comprises 67% of our total net revenue. We believe that our digital revenue, which generally has a higher gross margin relative to packaged goods revenue, will continue to increase during fiscal year 20182019, both relative to packaged goods

The pursuitAs a global leader in digital interactive entertainment, we have an opportunity to leverage our scale to deliver engaging games and services to more players across more platforms. Our “One EA” model provides strategic advantages. For example, we have moved substantially all of our goals requires that we operate asPC and console development to one team that is fast, focusedgame engine and constantly evolvingare working to do the same for the development of our mobile games and we have undertaken a cultural shift across our organization to become more flexible. We are transitioning from developing our console and PC products and services on over twenty game engines to developing on a single game engine.services. This transition has created operational flexibility as our development teams now code in the same language, increaseson a consistent engine and can work across titles. In addition, it has accelerated the pace of our development as content can beand technological advances are leveraged across franchises and allows us tofranchises. We also can transition our products and services to new platforms quickly and cost-effectively.

We also are also working to strengthenstrengthening our player network, connecting our players to each other and to the games they love. We are investingadopting consistent, cross-company methodologies to better understand our players’ needs and continue to invest in a technology foundation to enablethat enables us to build personalized player relationships that can last for years instead of days or weeks by connecting our players to us and to each other. This connection allows us to market and deliver content and services for popular franchises like FIFA, Battlefield and Star Wars to our players more efficiently. That same foundation also enables new player-centric ways to discover and try new games and experiences, such as our subscription-based EA Access and Origin Access services.

We develop, market, publish and deliver games and services forthat can be played on a variety of platforms, including consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets. We market and sell our games and services through digital distribution channels and through retail channels. We believe that flexibility across platforms, distribution channels and business models is critical to maintaining and growing our player base, as well as increasing engagement with our games and services. New gaming platforms, engagement models and business models are expected to continue to emerge in the future, and we intend to evaluate these opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

We also are investing in a number of long-term initiatives that we believe will allow us to better serve and deepen our engagement with our players, such as our EAfocus on esports through our Competitive Gaming DivisionDivision. We believe that the interest and enthusiasm that surrounds esports will drive sales of our games and engagement with our live services in addition to providing revenue through which we will focus our efforts in competitive gamingpartnerships with sponsors and esports.

The platform license agreements also require us to indemnify the console manufacturers for any loss, liability and expense resulting from any claim against the console manufacturer regarding our games and services, including any claims for patent, copyright or trademark infringement brought against the console manufacturer. Each platform license may be terminated by the console manufacturer if a breach or default by us is not cured after we receive written notice from the console manufacturer, or if we become insolvent. The console manufacturers are not obligated to enter into platform license agreements with us for any future consoles, products or services.

The market for interactive entertainment is intensely competitive and changes rapidly as new products and platforms are introduced. We also face competition for the right to use certain intellectual property included in our products. We face significant competition from companies such as Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Epic Games Tencent, Sony and Microsoft, primarily with respect to developing games and services that operate on consoles, PCs and/or mobile devices.

More broadly, we compete against providers of different sources of entertainment, such as motion pictures, television, social networking, online casual entertainment and music that our players could enjoy in their free time. Important competitive factors in our industry include game quality and ease of use, innovation, compatibility of products with certain platforms, brand recognition, publisher reputation, reliability, security, price, marketing, and quality of customer service.

Company Information

We were incorporated originally in California in 1982. In September 1991, we were reincorporated under the laws of Delaware. Our principal executive offices are located at 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, California 94065 and our telephone number is (650) 628-1500.

Executive Officers

Holders

Dividends

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In May 2015, our Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $1 billion of our common stock. This stock repurchase program expires on May 31, 2017. We repurchased approximately 0.3 million, 6.5 million and 6.9 million shares for approximately $31 million, $508 million and $461 million under this program, respectively, during the fiscal years ended March 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. We completed repurchases under the May 2015 program in April 2017.

In May 2017, a Special Committee of our Board of Directors, on behalf of the full Board of Directors, authorized a new program to repurchase up to $1.2 billion of our common stock. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, we repurchased approximately 5.0 million shares for approximately $570 million under this program. This program was superseded and replaced by the stock repurchase program expires onapproved in May 31, 2019. Under this program, we may purchase stock in the open market or through privately-negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable securities laws, including pursuant to pre-arranged stock trading plans. The timing and actual amount of the stock repurchases will depend on several factors including price, capital availability, regulatory requirements, alternative investment opportunities and other market conditions. We are not obligated to repurchase a specific number of shares under this program and it may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time. We are actively repurchasing shares under this program.

The following table summarizes the number of shares repurchased in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017:2018:

 

The following overview is a high-level discussion of our operating results, as well as some of the trends and drivers that affect our business. Management believes that an understanding of these trends and drivers provides important context for our results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017,2018, as well as our future prospects. This summary is not intended to be exhaustive, nor is it intended to be a substitute for the detailed discussion and analysis provided elsewhere in this Form 10-K, including in the “Business” section and the “Risk Factors” above, the remainder of this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”)”, and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes.

Our key financial results for our fiscal year ended March 31, 20172018 were as follows:

With respect to the allocated service revenue from sales of software games with a service of online activities (“online services”) mentioned above, our allocation of proceeds between product and service revenue for presentation purposes is based on management’s best estimate of the selling price of the online services with the residual value allocated to product revenue. Our estimate of the selling price of the online services are comprised of several factors including, but not limited to, prior selling prices for the online services, prices charged separately by other third-party vendors for similar service offerings, and a cost-plus-margin approach. We review the estimated selling price of the online services on a regular basis and use this methodology consistently to allocate revenue between product and service for software game sales with online services.

We evaluate and recognize revenue when all four of the following criteria are met:

The majority of our software games and related content have online connectivity whereby a consumer may be able to download unspecified content or updates on a when-and-if-available basis (“unspecified updates”) for use with the original game software. In addition, we may also offer a service of online activities (e.g., online playability) without a separate fee. U.S. GAAP requires us to account for the consumer’s right to receive unspecified updates or the service of online activities for no additional fee as a “bundled” sale, or multiple-element arrangement.

revenue the entire sales price of these online-enabled games and related content over the period we expect to offer the unspecified updates to the consumer (“estimated offering period”).

While we consistently apply this methodology, inherent assumptions used in this methodology include which online-enabled games to sample, whether to use only units that have registered online, whether to weight the number of days for each game, whether to weight the days based on the units sold of each game, determining the period of time between the date of sale to reseller and the date of sale to the consumer and assessing online gameplay trends.

We recognize revenue from the sale of online-enabled games for which we do not have VSOE for the unspecified updates on a straight-line basis, generally over an estimated nine-month period beginning in the month after shipment for physical games sold through retail and an estimated six-month period for digitally-distributed games.

Because the majority of our sales are subject to a deferral period of generally six to nine months, our deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) balance is material. This balance increases from period to period by the revenue being deferred for current sales and is reduced by the recognition of revenue from prior sales that were deferred (i.e., the “net change” in the deferred balance). However, given the seasonal sales nature of our business, the net change in the deferred balance may be material from period to period. For example, because our sales have historically been highest in the fiscal third quarter, the deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) balance generally increases significantly in the third fiscal quarter. Similarly, because sales have historically been lowest in the first fiscal quarter, the deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) balance generally decreases significantly in the first fiscal quarter of a fiscal year.

sales channels and other factors. Provided the other three revenue recognition criteria other than delivery have been met, we recognize revenue upon delivery to the customer as we have no further obligations.

We must make assumptions and judgments in order to (1) determine whether and when each element is delivered, (2) determine whether VSOE exists for each undelivered element, and (3) allocate the total price among the various elements, as applicable. Changes to any of these assumptions and judgments, or changes to the elements in the arrangement, could cause a material increase or decrease in the amount of revenue that we report in a particular period.

Sales Returns and Allowances and Bad Debt Reserves

We reduce revenue for estimated future returns and price protection which may occur with our distributors and retailers (“channel partners”). Price protection represents our practice to provide our channel partners with a credit allowance to lower their wholesale price on a particular product that they have not resold to end consumers. The amount of the price protection is generally the difference between the old wholesale price and the new reduced wholesale price. In certain countries for our PC and console packaged goods software products, we also have a practice of allowing channel partners to return older software products in the channel in exchange for a credit allowance. As a general practice, we do not give cash refunds.

When evaluating the adequacy of sales returns and price protection allowances, we analyze the following: historical credit allowances, current sell-through of our channel partners’ inventory of our software products, current trends in retail and the video game industry, changes in customer demand, acceptance of our software products, and other related factors. In addition, we monitor the volume of sales to our channel partners and their inventories, as substantial overstocking in the distribution channel could result in high returns or higher price protection in subsequent periods.

In the future, actual returns and price protections may materially exceed our estimates as unsold software products in the distribution channels are exposed to rapid changes in consumer preferences, market conditions or technological obsolescence due to new platforms, product updates or competing software products. While we believe we can make reliable estimates regarding these matters, these estimates are inherently subjective. Accordingly, if our estimates change, our returns and price protection allowances would change and would impact the total net revenue accounts receivable and deferred net revenuerelated Balance Sheet accounts that we report.

result in significantly higher or payment terms oflower fair value measurement. This fair value assessment is also required in periods subsequent to a business combination. Such estimates are inherently difficult and subjective and can have a material impact on our customers. Significant management judgment is required to estimate our allowance for doubtful accounts in any accounting period. The amount and timing of our bad debt expense and cash collection could change significantly as a result of a change in any of the evaluation factors mentioned above.Consolidated Financial Statements.

Royalties and Licenses

Royalty-based obligations with content licensors and distribution affiliates are either paid in advance and capitalized as prepaid royalties or are accrued as incurred and subsequently paid. These royalty-based obligations are generally expensed to cost of revenue generally at the greater of the contractual rate or an effective royalty rate based on the total projected net revenue for contracts with guaranteed minimums. Significant judgment is required to estimate the effective royalty rate for a particular contract. Because the computation of effective royalty rates requires us to project future revenue, it is inherently subjective as our future revenue projections must anticipate a number of factors, including (1) the total number of titles subject to the contract, (2) the timing of the release of these titles, (3) the number of software units and amount of extra content that we expect to sell, which can be impacted by a number of variables, including product quality, number of platforms we release on, the timing of the title’s release and competition, and (4) future pricing. Determining the effective royalty rate for our titles is particularly challenging due to the inherent difficulty in predicting the popularity of entertainment products. Furthermore, if we conclude that we are unable to make a reasonably reliable forecast of projected net revenue, we recognize royalty expense at the greater of contract rate or on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract. Accordingly, if our future revenue projections change, our effective royalty rates would change, which could impact the amount and timing of royalty expense we recognize.

Prepayments made to thinly capitalized independent software developers and co-publishing affiliates are generally made in connection with the development of a particular product, and therefore, we are generally subject to development risk prior to the release of the product. Accordingly, payments that are due prior to completion of a product are generally expensed to research and development over the development period as the services are incurred. Payments due after completion of the product (primarily royalty-based in nature) are generally expensed as cost of revenue.

Our contracts with some licensors include minimum guaranteed royalty payments, which are initially recorded as an asset and as a liability at the contractual amount when no performance remains with the licensor. When performance remains with the licensor, we record guarantee payments as an asset when actually paid and as a liability when incurred, rather than recording the asset and liability upon execution of the contract.