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Electronic Arts to Launch Medal of Honor VR Game on Dec 11

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Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) is expanding its virtual reality (VR)-based gaming portfolio. The company’s studio, Respawn Entertainment, recently announced that Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will release on Dec 11, 2020, globally.

Markedly, the VR title will be available on Facebook’s Oculus Store for Oculus Rift and Steam with OpenVR support and cross-platform play.

The backdrop of this upcoming Medal of Honor game is World War II. The single-player campaign puts “players to a boots-on-the-ground World War II setting that spans the earth, sea and sky, with players jumping from planes, skiing down mountainsides and sabotaging Nazi bases.”

Moreover, the game will also offer a variety of multiplayer modes, some of which are only possible due to VR.

Will an Expanding VR Gaming Portfolio Boost EA’s Market Share?

EA’s plan to launch the VR-based game just prior to the commencement of the holiday season will help it attract gamers.

The company is facing stiff competition in the video-game space, particularly in traditional PC or console-based games from the likes of Activision Blizzard and Take Two Interactive (TTWO - Free Report) . In mobile gaming, Zynga has gained significant traction in recent times.

Markedly, shares of EA have underperformed Activision, Take Two Interactive and Zynga on a year-to-date basis. While EA has returned 16.5%, Zynga, Activision and Take Two Interactive have gained 37%, 32.6% and 30.3%, respectively.

Year-to-Date Performance

 

In such a scenario, an expanding VR-gaming portfolio is likely to boost EA’s competitive position and market share. Apart from Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, the company is set to release a new Star Wars game, Star Wars: Squadrons, which is playable via VR on PS4 and PC with cross-play support.

Moreover, the recent rebranding of EA’s subscription services that now offer more benefits and rewards for its users can be a game changer. Notably, the subscription services, EA Access and Origin Access Basic, are now known as EA Play, with Origin Access Premier called EA Play Pro.

The rebranding comes shortly before the EA Play subscription service is due to arrive on Steam on Aug 31, adding a fourth platform to the service after Origin, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Markedly, an EA Play membership is $4.99 a month, while an EA Play Pro membership is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year. (Read More: Electronic Arts Renames Subscription Service to EA Play)

Further, EA’s expanding game portfolio is a major growth driver. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company expects to deliver 14 titles in fiscal 2021. Notably, in first-quarter fiscal 2021, EA’s revenues rose 20.7% year over year to $1.45 billion. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank(Strong Buy) stocks here.

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