Soccer game's popularity is delivering for EA — and creating a higher bar to clear for growth

Videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc. saw a modest uptick in gaming demand during the holiday season, helped by gains in its “EA Sports FC” soccer franchise, but signaled a slowdown in a key demand metric for its fourth quarter. Executives said they expected fiscal fourth-quarter net bookings, a gauge of physical and digital sales, of between $1.625 billion and $1.925 billion. EA EA, -0.74%, when it reported fourth-quarter results last year, said net bookings were $1.946 billion, results that were boosted by ...