Edgar Filing: ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.

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Accelerated filer ¨

Non-accelerated filer ¨

Smaller reporting company ¨

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Document

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K



	þ	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016



	¨	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission File No. 000-17948

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



Delaware		94-2838567
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

209 Redwood Shores Parkway		94065
Redwood City, California		(Zip Code)
(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(650) 628-1500

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title of Each Class		Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value		NASDAQ Global Select Market

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. þ

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No þ

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock, $0.01 par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of October 2, 2015, the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, was $20,088 million.

As of May 23, 2016, there were 301,609,583 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “2016 Proxy”) are incorporated by reference into Part III hereof. The 2016 Proxy is expected to be filed not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year end.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.

2016 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

Table of Contents




		Page
	PART I
Item 1	Business	3
Item 1A	Risk Factors	9
Item 1B	Unresolved Staff Comments	18
Item 2	Properties	18
Item 3	Legal Proceedings	18
Item 4	Mine Safety Disclosures	18

	PART II
Item 5	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	19
Item 6	Selected Financial Data	22
Item 7	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	23
Item 7A	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	39
Item 8	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	42
Item 9	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	82
Item 9A	Controls and Procedures	82
Item 9B	Other Information	82

	PART III
Item 10	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	83
Item 11	Executive Compensation	83
Item 12	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	83
Item 13	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	83
Item 14	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	83

	PART IV
Item 15	Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules	83
Signatures		84
Exhibit Index		86

CAUTIONARY NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, made in this Report are forward looking. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements related to industry prospects, our future economic performance including anticipated revenues and expenditures, results of operations or financial position, and other financial items, our business plans and objectives, including our intended product releases, and may include certain assumptions that underlie the forward-looking statements. We use words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate” (and the negative of any of these terms), “future” and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risk and reflect management’s current expectations, and involve subjects that are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Our actual results could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We will not necessarily update information if any forward-looking statement later turns out to be inaccurate. Risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors,” beginning on page 9.

PART I

Item 1: Business

Overview

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.

Our Strategy

We have three core strategies:

•Players First

•Commitment to Digital

•One EA

Players First

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 relationships with our players. We aim to build these relationships by creating amazing games and services that deliver long-lasting fun and enduring value.

Our games and services are based on a portfolio of intellectual property that includes established brands such as FIFA, Madden NFL, Star Wars, Battlefield, the Sims and Need for Speed. We were the number one publisher on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles and the number four publisher on mobile in the Western World for calendar year 2015 based on available sources and EA estimates. We achieved this result by delivering popular and award-winning games to our players, including FIFA 16, Madden NFL 16, Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield: Hardline.

Commitment to Digital

Players increasingly are buying and playing games digitally rather than purchasing disc-based games from retailers. In addition, players are engaging with those games for longer periods of time, as they purchase additional content and services that we provide digitally. For example, features such as the Ultimate Team mode in our FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL games and digitally delivered expansion packs for our Star Wars, Battlefield and Sims franchises have extended the life of those games by engaging players over longer periods of time. This digital transformation also is creating opportunities in platforms, content models and modalities of play. For example, we have leveraged franchises historically associated with consoles and traditional

PC gaming, such as FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims, SimCity, and Star Wars, to create mobile and PC free-to-download games that are monetized through a business model in which we sell incremental content and/or features in discrete transactions.

Our digital transformation also gives us the opportunity to strengthen our player network. We are investing in a technology foundation to enable us to build player relationships that can last for years instead of for 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 experiences, such as our subscription-based EA Access and Origin Access services.

We believe that our digital revenue, which generally has a higher gross margin relative to packaged goods sales revenue, will continue to increase during fiscal year 2017 relative to packaged goods revenue and in absolute terms as we continue to focus on developing and monetizing products and services that can be delivered digitally.

One EA

The pursuit of our goals requires that we operate as one team that is faster, more focused and constantly evolving, and we have undertaken a cultural shift across our organization in order to become more flexible. We have changed how we develop our games, engaging players through alphas, betas and other programs to seek out more feedback earlier in the game development process. We have also changed the makeup and skill set of our workforce, and combined the art of game-making with the science of managing dynamic live services and marketing those games and services. These changes have enabled us to increase our operational speed and organizational flexibility while improving our fiscal discipline.

Our Games and Services

We develop games and services for consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets, and we market and sell our games and services through retail channels and through digital distribution channels. We believe that flexibility across platforms and distribution channels is critical to maintaining and growing our overall consumer base, which continues to evolve in response to the introduction of new platforms and business models. New gaming platforms, engagement models and business models are expected to continue to emerge in the future, and we intend to evaluate these new platform, engagement and business model opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

Digitally, our console games, additional content and online services can be purchased through Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Store. Our PC games and additional content can be downloaded directly through our Origin online platform, as well as through third-party online download stores. Our mobile, tablet and PC free-to-download games and additional content are available through third-party application storefronts such as the Apple App Store and Google Play. Our massively multi-player online service, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is available both as a free-to-download and as a subscription basis, and certain casual games such as card, puzzle and word games are available through our Pogo online service.

Our packaged goods games are sold in mass market retailers (such as Walmart), electronics specialty stores (such as Best Buy) and game software specialty stores (such as GameStop). Our direct sales to GameStop Corp. represented approximately 11 percent and 13 percent of total net revenue in fiscal years 2015, and 2014, respectively. We sell our games to GameStop Corp. pursuant to numerous and frequent individual purchase orders, which contain delivery and pricing terms. There are no minimum sales or purchase commitments between us and GameStop.

In our games, we utilize established brands that we either wholly own (such as Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, The Sims and Plants v. Zombies) or license from others (such as FIFA, Madden NFL and Star Wars). From time to time, we contract with external game developers, such as Respawn Entertainment, to develop our games or to publish and distribute their games. We also partner with third parties to publish our mobile and PC games in certain Asian territories, such as our partnerships with Tencent Holdings Limited and Nexon Co. Ltd. for FIFA Online 3 in China and Korea, respectively. We believe that leveraging established brands across a diverse range of genres and platforms enables us to build long-term relationships with a wide variety of players. In fiscal year 2016, revenue from sales of FIFA 16 represented approximately 16 percent of our total net revenue; in fiscal year 2015, revenue from sales of FIFA 15 represented approximately 15 percent of our total net revenue; and in fiscal year 2014, revenue from sales of FIFA 14 represented approximately 15 percent of our total net revenue.

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 EA Competitive Gaming Division through which we will focus our efforts in competitive gaming and eSports.

Significant Relationships

Sony & Microsoft. Under the terms of agreements we have entered into with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and its affiliates and with Microsoft Corporation and its affiliates, we are authorized to develop and distribute disc-based and digitally-delivered software products and services compatible with PlayStation 3 and 4 and the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, respectively. As of the date of this filing, we have not entered into a licensed publisher agreement with Sony for PlayStation 4, and the parties currently operate under the terms of existing agreements subject to a new pricing structure with respect to PlayStation 4.

Under the agreements with Sony and Microsoft, we are provided with the non-exclusive right to use, for a fixed term and in a designated territory, technology that is owned or licensed by them to publish our games on their respective platform. Our transactions for disc-based products are made pursuant to individual purchase orders, which are accepted on a case-by case basis by Sony or Microsoft (or their designated replicators), as the case may be. For packaged goods products, we pay the console manufacturers a per-unit royalty for each unit manufactured. With respect to digitally-delivered products, other online content and services sold by the console manufacturers, the console manufacturers pay us either a wholesale price or a percentage royalty on the revenue they derive from their sales. Many key commercial terms of our relationships with Sony and Microsoft - such as manufacturing terms, delivery times, platform policies and approval conditions - are determined unilaterally, and are subject to change by the console manufacturers. Our direct sales to Sony represented approximately 16 percent of total net revenue in fiscal years 2016. Our direct sales to Microsoft represented approximately 14 percent and 10 percent of total net revenue in fiscal years 2016 and 2015 respectively.

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.

Apple, Google and Other App Stores. We have agreements to distribute our mobile applications and additional content through distribution partners worldwide, including Apple and Google. Consumers download our applications for their mobile devices from third party-application storefronts. The distributor charges the consumers a one-time fee if there is a cost to download the application. If the application is a “free-to-download” application, the distributor may still charge the consumer for additional content that is purchased by the consumer within the application. Our distribution agreements establish the fees to be retained by the distributor and the amounts passed through to us for distributing our applications and additional content. These arrangements are typically terminable on short notice. The agreements generally do not obligate the distributors to market or distribute any of our applications.

Publishing Partners in Asia. We have entered into agreements whereby we partner with certain companies, including Tencent Holdings Limited and Nexon Co., Ltd. or their respective affiliates, pursuant to which these companies publish our mobile and PC free-to-download games in certain Asian territories, including China and Korea. Our players download games from the publishers’ platforms, and are charged for additional content purchased within our game environment. The agreements generally establish the amounts that are retained by the publishers, and the amounts that are passed through to us.

Competition

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, primarily from the following:


•	Companies that are focused on developing and publishing games that operate on consoles and on PCs, such as Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft, as well as diversified media companies such as Warner Bros. and Sony and Microsoft, each of which develops and publishes software for its respective console platform;


•	Companies that develop and publish mobile game applications; and


•	Companies that develop and publish PC free-to-download online gaming services.

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 include game quality and ease of use, compatibility of products with certain platforms, brand recognition, price, marketing, and quality of customer service.

Intellectual Property

To establish and protect our intellectual property, we rely on a combination of copyrights, trademarks, patents, patent applications, trade secrets, know-how, license agreements, confidentiality provisions and procedures and other contractual provisions. We actively engage in enforcement and other activities to protect our intellectual property. In addition, we engage in activities designed to limit the impact of abuse of our digital products and services, including monitoring our games for evidence of exploitation and re-balancing our game environments in the event that such abuse is discovered.

Governmental Regulation

We are subject to a number of foreign and domestic laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet. In addition, laws and regulations that may have an impact on our business relating to user privacy, data collection and retention, content, advertising and information security have been adopted or are being considered for adoption by many countries throughout the world.

Seasonality

We have historically experienced the highest percentage of our sales in our third fiscal quarter due to seasonal holiday demand; however, there can be no assurance that this will continue. In addition, we defer the recognition of a significant amount of net revenue related to our online-enabled games over an extended period of time. As a result, the quarter in which we generate the highest sales volume may be different from the quarter in which we recognize the highest amount of net revenue.

Employees

As of March 31, 2016, we had approximately 8,500 regular, full-time employees, over 5,200 of whom were outside the United States. We believe that our ability to attract and retain qualified employees is a critical factor in the successful development of our products and that our future success will depend, in large measure, on our ability to continue to attract and retain qualified employees. Approximately 8 percent of our employees, all of whom work for DICE, our Swedish development studio, are represented by a union.

Investor Information

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, are available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of our website at http://ir.ea.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Except as expressly set forth in this Form 10-K annual report, the contents of our website are not incorporated into, or otherwise to be regarded as part of this report

Information about Geographic Areas and Research & Development Expense

Information regarding financial data by geographic area is set forth in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Note 18, “Segment Information”. Information regarding financial data is set forth in Part II, Item 6 of this Form 10-K under the heading “Selected Financial Data,” and information regarding certain risks attendant to our foreign operations is set forth in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K under the heading “Financial Results” and “Trends in Our Business” For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, research and development expenses were $1,109 million, $1,094 million and $1,125 million, respectively.

Executive Officers

The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers as of May 26, 2016:



Name	Age	Position
Andrew Wilson	41	Chief Executive Officer
Blake Jorgensen	56	Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Peter R. Moore	61	Executive Vice President, Chief Competition Officer
Patrick Söderlund	42	Executive Vice President, EA Studios
Laura Miele	46	Executive Vice President, Global Publishing
Kenneth Moss	50	Chief Technology Officer
Christopher Bruzzo	46	Chief Marketing Officer
Joel Linzner	64	Executive Vice President, Worldwide Business Affairs
Gabrielle Toledano	49	Executive Vice President, Chief Talent Officer
Samantha Smith	47	Senior Vice President, EA Mobile and Maxis
Kenneth A. Barker	49	Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Jacob J. Schatz	47	Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Wilson has served as EA’s Chief Executive Officer and as a director of EA since September 2013. Prior to his appointment as our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wilson held several positions within the Company since joining EA in May 2000, including Executive Vice President, EA SPORTS from August 2011 to September 2013 and Senior Vice President, EA SPORTS from March 2010 to August 2011. Mr. Wilson serves on the Board of Directors of the World Surf League.

Mr. Jorgensen has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer since September 2012. Prior to joining EA, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Levi Strauss & Co. from July 2009 to August 2012. From June 2007 to June 2009, Mr. Jorgensen served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo! Inc. Mr. Jorgensen earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his Economics degree from Stanford University.

Mr. Moore has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Competition Officer since December 2015. Previously, he served as EA’s Chief Operating Officer from August 2011 until March 2016 and as President, EA SPORTS from September 2007 to August 2011. From January 2003 until he joined EA in 2007, Mr. Moore was with Microsoft where he served as head of Xbox marketing and was later named as Corporate Vice President, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division, a position in which he led both the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses. Mr. Moore holds a bachelor's degree from Keele University, United Kingdom, and a Master's degree from California State University, Long Beach.

Mr. Söderlund has served as Executive Vice President, EA Studios since September 2013. Prior to that time, he served as Executive Vice President, EA Games Label from August 2011 to September 2013. From December 2010 to July 2011, he served as Executive Vice President, Group General Manager - FPS/Driving. Mr. Söderlund joined EA in October 2006 when EA purchased DICE studios where he was the Chief Executive Officer.

Laura Miele has served as Executive Vice President, Global Studios since April 2016. Ms. Miele joined the Company in March 1996 and has held several positions at the Company, including Senior Vice President, Americas Publishing, General Manager of the Company’s Star Wars business, Senior Vice President of Games Label Marketing and Group Vice President of Games Label Marketing. Ms. Miele serves on the board of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Mr. Moss has served as Chief Technology Officer since July 2014. Prior to joining EA, he served as Vice President of Market Places Technology, Science and Data at eBay Inc. since November 2011. Prior to joining eBay, he co-founded CrowdEye, Inc. in September 2008 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Moss graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Molecular Biology.

Mr. Bruzzo has served as Chief Marketing Officer since September 2014. Prior to joining EA, he served as Senior Vice President at Starbucks Corporation from June 2011 to August 2014 and Vice President from June 2008 to June 2011. Mr. Bruzzo is currently a director of Blue Nile, Inc. Mr. Bruzzo graduated from Whitworth University with a B.A. in Political Studies.

Mr. Linzner has served as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Business Affairs since April 2016. From March 2005 until April 2016, Mr. Linzner was EA's Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs. Prior to joining EA in July 1999, Mr. Linzner served as outside litigation counsel to EA and several other companies in the video game industry. Mr. Linzner earned his J.D. from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, after graduating from Brandeis University. He is a member of the Bar of the State of California and is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and several United States District Courts.

Ms. Toledano has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer since April 2007. Ms. Toledano was Senior Vice President, Human Resources at EA from February 2006 to March 2007. Ms. Toledano also serves on the Board of Directors of Jive Software, Inc., TalentSky, Inc. and Visier, Inc., privately-held companies. Ms. Toledano earned both her undergraduate degree in Humanities and her graduate degree in Education from Stanford University.

Ms. Smith joined EA in March 2015 as Senior Vice President and Group GM. She took over leadership of EA Mobile in July 2015 and Maxis in September 2015. Prior to joining EA, she served as Senior Vice President, Production & Development at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since February 2007. Ms. Smith graduated from Ashland University with a B.A. in Broadcasting.

Mr. Barker has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer since April 2006. From February 2012 to August 2012, he also served as Interim Chief Financial Officer. From June 2003 to April 2006, Mr. Barker held the position of Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining EA, Mr. Barker was employed at Sun Microsystems, Inc., as Vice President and Corporate Controller from October 2002 to June 2003 and Assistant Corporate Controller from April 2000 to September 2002. Prior to that, he was an audit partner at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Barker serves on the Board of Directors of Corsair Components, Inc., the Audit Committee of Community Gatepath, a non-profit organization and on the Accounting Advisory Board for the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Barker graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. degree in Accounting.

Mr. Schatz has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since June 2014. Mr. Schatz joined EA in 1999 and prior to his current role, he served as Deputy General Counsel and as Vice President since 2006. Mr. Schatz earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and received his B.A. in Government from Pomona College. Mr. Schatz is a member of the Bar of the State of California and is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and several United States District Courts.


Item 1A.	Risk Factors

Our business is subject to many risks and uncertainties, which may affect our future financial performance. If any of the events or circumstances described below occurs, our business or financial performance could be harmed, our actual results could differ materially from our expectations and the market value of our stock could decline. The risks and uncertainties discussed below are not the only ones we face. There may be additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe could be material that may harm our business or financial performance.

Our business is intensely competitive and “hit” driven. If we do not deliver “hit” products and services, or if consumers prefer our competitors’ products or services over our own, our operating results could suffer.

Competition in our industry is intense. Many new products and services are regularly introduced in each major industry segment (console, mobile and PC free-to-download), but only a relatively small number of “hit” titles account for a significant portion of total revenue in each segment. Our competitors range from large established companies to emerging start-ups, and we expect new competitors to continue to emerge throughout the world. If our competitors develop and market more successful products or services, offer competitive products or services at lower price points, or if we do not continue to develop consistently high-quality and well-received products and services, our revenue, margins, and profitability will decline.

We maintain a relatively limited product portfolio in an effort to focus on developing high-quality products with the potential to become “hits”. High-quality titles, even if highly-reviewed, may not turn into “hit” products. Many “hit” products within our industry are iterations of prior hit products with large established consumer bases and significant brand recognition, which makes competing in certain product categories challenging. In addition, hit products or services of our competitors may take a larger share of consumer spending than we anticipate, which could cause our products and services to underperform relative to revenue expectations. Publishing a relatively small number of major titles each year also concentrates risk in those titles and means each major title has greater associated risk. The increased importance of extra content and live services revenue to our business heightens this risk as extra content and live services for poorly-received or underperforming games may generate lower than expected sales. A significant portion of our revenue has historically been derived from games and services based on a few popular franchises. For example, in fiscal year 2016, net revenue generated from the sale of products and services associated with our three largest franchises accounted for approximately 55 percent of our net revenue. The underperformance of a single major title and the associated extra content may have a large adverse impact on our financial results.

Our operating results will be adversely affected if we do not consistently meet our product development schedules or if key events, sports seasons or movies that we tie our product release schedules to are delayed, cancelled or poorly received.

Our ability to meet product development schedules is affected by a number of factors both within and outside our control, including feedback from our players, the creative processes involved, the coordination of large and sometimes geographically dispersed development teams, the complexity of our products and the platforms for which they are developed, the need to fine-tune our products prior to their release, and, in certain cases, approvals from third parties. We have experienced development delays for our products in the past, which caused us to delay or cancel release dates. We also seek to release certain products in conjunction with key events, such as the beginning of a sports season, major sporting event, or the release of a related movie. If such a key event were delayed, cancelled or poorly received, our sales would likely suffer materially. Any failure to meet anticipated production or release schedules would likely result in a delay of revenue and/or possibly a significant shortfall in our revenue, increase our development and/or marketing expenses, harm our profitability, and cause our operating results to be materially different than anticipated.

Our business is highly seasonal with the highest percentage of our sales occurring in the quarter ending in December. While our sales generally follow this seasonal trend, there can be no assurance that this trend will continue. If we miss key selling periods for products, for any reason, including product delays, product cancellations, or delayed introduction of a new platform for which we have developed products, our sales are likely to suffer significantly. Additionally, macroeconomic conditions or the occurrence of unforeseen events that negatively impact retailer or consumer buying patterns during the quarter ending in December are likely to harm our financial performance disproportionately.

Our business is dependent on the success and availability of platforms developed by third parties, as well as our ability to develop commercially successful products and services for these platforms.

The success of our business is driven in part by the commercial success and adequate supply of platforms developed by third parties. Our success also depends on our ability to accurately predict which platforms will be successful in the marketplace, our ability to develop commercially successful products and services for these platforms and our ability to effectively manage the transition from current generation platforms to next generation platforms. We must make product development decisions and commit significant resources well in advance of anticipated platform release dates and may incur significant expense to adjust our product portfolio and development efforts in response to changing consumer platform preferences. Additionally, we may enter into certain exclusive licensing arrangements that affect our ability to deliver or market products or services on certain platforms. A platform for which we are developing products and services may not succeed as expected or new platforms may take market share and game software consumers away from platforms for which we have devoted significant resources. If consumer demand for the platforms for which we are developing products and services is lower than our expectations, we may be unable to fully recover the investments we have made in developing our products and services, and our financial performance will be harmed. Alternatively, a platform for which we have not devoted significant resources could be more successful than we had initially anticipated, causing us to not be able to take advantage of meaningful revenue opportunities.

Technology changes rapidly in our business and if we fail to anticipate or successfully implement new technologies in our games or adopt new business strategies, distribution technologies or methods, the quality, timeliness and competitiveness of our products and services may suffer.

Rapid technology changes in our industry require us to anticipate, sometimes years in advance, which technologies we must implement and take advantage of in order to make our products and services competitive in the market. We have invested, and in the future may invest, in new business strategies, technologies, products, and services. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and no assurance can be given that the technology we choose to adopt and the products and services that we pursue will be successful and will not materially adversely affect our reputation, financial condition, and operating results. We also may miss opportunities to adopt technology, or develop products and services that become popular with consumers, which could adversely affect our revenues. It may take significant time and resources to shift our focus to such technologies, putting us at a competitive disadvantage.

Our product development usually starts with particular platforms and distribution methods in mind, and a range of technical development and game feature goals that we hope to be able to achieve. We may not be able to achieve these goals, or our competition may be able to achieve them more quickly and effectively than we can. In either case, our products and services may be technologically inferior to our competitors’, less appealing to consumers, or both. If we cannot achieve our technology goals within the original development schedule for our products and services, then we may delay their release until these goals can be achieved, which may delay or reduce revenue and increase our development expenses. Alternatively, we may increase the resources employed in research and development in an attempt to accelerate our development of new technologies, either to preserve our product or service launch schedule or to keep up with our competition, which would increase our development expenses.

Security breaches and cyber threats could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

As our digital business grows, we continually face cyber risks and threats that seek to damage, disrupt or gain access to our networks, our products and services, and supporting infrastructure. Our business partners, including our channel partners, also are subject to these risks. Such cyber risks and threats may be difficult to detect. Any failure to prevent or mitigate security breaches or cyber risk could result in interruptions to the services we provide, degrade the user experience, cause our users to lose confidence in our products, as well as significant legal and financial exposure. This could harm our business and reputation, disrupt our relationships with partners and diminish our competitive position.

Successful exploitation of our systems can have other negative effects upon the products, services and user experience we offer. In particular, the virtual economies that we have established in many of our games are subject to abuse, exploitation and other forms of fraudulent activity that can negatively impact our business. Virtual economies involve the use of virtual currency and/or virtual assets that can be redeemed by a player within a particular game or game service. The abuse or exploitation of our virtual economies include the illegitimate generation and sale of virtual items in black markets. Our online services have been impacted by in-game exploits and the use of automated processes to generate virtual currency illegitimately in the past, which were traded in black markets. These kinds of activities and the steps that we take to address these issues may result in a loss of anticipated revenue, interfere with players’ enjoyment of a balanced game environment and cause reputational harm.

We may experience outages and disruptions of our online services that may harm our business.

We are investing and expect to continue to invest in technology, hardware and software to support the online functionality of our portfolio of products and services. Launching and operating games and services with online features, developing related technologies and implementing online business initiatives is expensive and complex. Execution of these initiatives could result in operational failures and other issues impacting the technical stability of our products and services. In addition, having the necessary infrastructure to support the online functionality of our products and services is vital to our growth and success. Our products and services could be adversely impacted by outages, disruptions and failures in our network and related infrastructure, as well as in the online platforms or services of key business partners who offer or support our products and services.

Our business is subject to currency fluctuations.

International sales are a fundamental part of our business. For our fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, international net revenue comprised 57 percent of our total net revenue, and we expect international sales to continue to account for a significant portion of our total net revenue. As a result of our international sales, and also the denomination of our foreign investments and our cash and cash equivalents in foreign currencies, we are exposed to the effects of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Strengthening of the U.S. dollar, particularly relative to the Euro, British pound sterling, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan and South Korean won, has a negative impact on our reported international net revenue but a positive impact on our reported international operating expenses (particularly when the U.S. dollar strengthens against the Swedish krona and the Canadian dollar) because these amounts are translated at lower rates. For example, during our fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, our reported international revenue would have been $266 million higher and our operating expenses would have been $113 million higher on a constant currency basis. We use foreign currency hedging contracts to mitigate some foreign currency risk. However, these activities are limited in the protection they provide us from foreign currency fluctuations and can themselves result in losses.

Declines or fluctuations in the recurring portion of our business may have a negative impact on our financial and operating results.

Our business model includes revenue that we deem recurring in nature, such as revenue from our annualized titles (e.g., FIFA and Madden NFL), and associated services, and ongoing mobile businesses. While we are confident in our ability to forecast the revenue from these areas of our business with greater certainty than for new offerings, we cannot provide assurances that consumers will purchase these games and services on a consistent basis. Furthermore, we may cease to offer games and services that we previously had deemed to be recurring in nature. Consumer purchases of our games and services may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including their level of satisfaction with our games and services, our ability to improve and innovate our annualized titles, our ability to adapt our games and services to new platforms, outages and disruptions of our online services, the games and services offered by our competitors, our marketing and advertising efforts or declines in consumer activity generally as a result of economic downturns, among others. Any decline or fluctuation in the recurring portion of our business may have a negative impact on our financial and operating results.

Our adoption of new business models could fail to produce our desired financial returns.

From time to time we seek to establish and implement new business models. Forecasting our revenues and profitability for any new business models is inherently uncertain and volatile. Our actual revenue and profit for these businesses may be significantly greater or less than our forecasts. Additionally, these new business models could fail, resulting in the loss of our investment in the development and infrastructure needed to support these new business models, as well as the opportunity cost of diverting management and financial resources away from more successful and established businesses.

If we are unable to maintain or acquire licenses to include intellectual property owned by others in our games, or to maintain or acquire the rights to publish or distribute games developed by others, our business may be harmed.

Many of our products and services are based on or incorporate intellectual property owned by others. For example, our EA SPORTS products include rights licensed from major sports leagues and players’ associations and our Star Wars products include rights licensed from Disney. Competition for these licenses and rights is intense. If we are unable to maintain these licenses and rights or obtain additional licenses or rights with significant commercial value, our revenue, profitability and cash flows may decline significantly. Competition for these licenses also may increase the amounts that we must pay to licensors and developers, through higher minimum guarantees or royalty rates, which could significantly increase our costs and reduce our profitability.

If external game developers fail to meet product development schedules or are unable to honor their obligations to us, our financial results may be harmed.

We may contract with external game developers to develop our games or to publish or distribute their games. While we maintain contractual protections, we have less control over the product development schedules of these games developed by external game developers, and we depend on their ability to meet product development schedules. If these developers cannot meet product development schedules, acquire certain approvals or are otherwise unable to honor their obligations to us, we may delay or cancel previously announced games, which could result in a delay or significant shortfall in anticipated revenue, harm our profitability and reputation, and cause our financial results to be materially affected.

Our business could be adversely affected if our consumer protection, data privacy and security practices are not adequate, or perceived as being inadequate, to prevent data breaches, or by the application of consumer protection and data privacy and security laws generally.

In the course of our business, we collect, process, store and use consumer and other information, including personal information, passwords and credit card information. Although we take measures to protect this information from unauthorized access, acquisition, disclosure and misuse, our security controls, policies and practices may not be able to prevent the improper or unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of such information. In addition, third party vendors and business partners which in the course of our business receive access to information that we collect also may not prevent data security breaches with respect to the information we provide them or fully enforce our policies, contractual obligations and disclosures regarding the collection, use, storage, transfer and retention of personal data. The unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of this information could significantly harm our reputation, compel us to comply with disparate breach notification laws and otherwise subject us to proceedings by governmental entities or others and substantial legal liability. A perception that we do not adequately secure consumer and other information could result in a loss of current or potential consumers and business partners, as well as a loss of anticipated revenues. Our key business partners also face these risks with respect to information they collect and data security breaches with respect to such information could cause reputational harm to them and negatively impact our ability to offer our products and services through their platforms.

We are also subject to payment card association rules and obligations pursuant to contracts with payment card processors. Under these rules and obligations, if information is compromised, we could be liable to payment card issuers for the cost of associated expenses and penalties. In addition, if we fail to follow payment card industry security standards, even if no consumer information is compromised, we could incur significant fines or experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs.

In addition, data privacy, security and consumer-protection laws are evolving, and the interpretation and application of these laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere are often uncertain, contradictory and changing. It is possible that these laws may be interpreted or applied in a manner that is adverse to us or otherwise inconsistent with our practices, which could result in litigation, regulatory investigations and potential legal liability or require us to change our practices in a manner adverse to our business. As a result, our reputation may be harmed, we could incur substantial costs, and we could lose both consumers and revenue.

Negative player perceptions about our brands, products, services and/or business practices may damage our business and the costs incurred in addressing player concerns may increase our operating expenses.

Player expectations regarding the quality, performance and integrity of our products and services are high. Players may be critical of our brands, products, services and/or business practices for a wide variety of reasons. These negative player reactions may not be foreseeable or within our control to manage effectively, including perceptions about gameplay fairness, negative

player reactions to game content, components and services, or objections to certain of our business practices. In the past, we have taken actions, including delaying the release of our games and discontinuing services for our games, after taking into consideration, among other things, feedback from the player community even if those decisions negatively impacted our operating results in the short term. We expect to continue to take actions to address concerns as appropriate, including actions that may result in additional expenditures and the loss of revenue. Negative player sentiment about our business practices also can lead to investigations from regulatory agencies and consumer groups, as well as litigation, which, regardless of their outcome, may be costly, damaging to our reputation and harm our business.

If we release defective products or services, our operating results could suffer.

Our products and services are extremely complex software programs, and are difficult to develop and distribute. We have quality controls in place to detect defects in our products and services before they are released. Nonetheless, these quality controls are subject to human error, overriding, and reasonable resource or technical constraints. Therefore, these quality controls and preventative measures may not be effective in detecting all defects in our products and services before they have been released into the marketplace. In such an event, we could be required to or may find it necessary to offer a refund for the product or service, suspend the availability or sale of the product or service or expend significant resources to cure the defect, each of which could significantly harm our business and operating results.

During console system transition periods, our operating results have been volatile. Any inability to offset declining sales from legacy generation consoles could negatively impact our operating results.

Historically, new video game console systems have been developed and released every few years, which has caused the video game software market to be cyclical as well. In these periods of transition, sales of software for legacy generation console systems typically slow or decline in response to the anticipated and actual introduction of new consoles and new generation software sales typically stabilize after new consoles are widely established with the consumer base.

In November 2013 Sony released the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft released the Xbox One. Consistent with previous periods of console transition, we have seen consumers purchase fewer products and services for legacy generation consoles (i.e., the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively) as the current generation consoles have gained consumer acceptance. During our 2016 fiscal year, sales associated with these legacy generation consoles declined significantly, and we expect these declines to continue, or possible accelerate, during our 2017 fiscal year. Any inability to offset declining sales from legacy generation consoles could negatively impact our operating results.

Our business is subject to regulation and the adoption of proposed legislation we oppose could negatively impact our business.

We are subject to a number of foreign and domestic laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet. In addition, laws and regulations relating to user privacy, data collection, retention, electronic commerce, virtual items and currency, consumer protection, content, advertising, localization, and information security have been adopted or are being considered for adoption by many countries throughout the world. These laws could harm our business by limiting the products we are able to offer to our consumers or the manner in which we offer these products. The costs of compliance with these laws may increase in the future as a result of changes in interpretation. Furthermore, any failure on our part to comply with these laws or the application of these laws in an unanticipated manner may harm our business and result in penalties or significant legal liability.

We are subject to laws in certain foreign countries, and adhere to industry standards in the United States, that mandate rating requirements or set other restrictions on the advertisement or distribution of interactive entertainment software based on content. In addition, certain foreign countries allow government censorship of interactive entertainment software products. Adoption of ratings systems, censorship or restrictions on distribution of interactive entertainment software based on content could harm our business by limiting the products we are able to offer to our customers. In addition, compliance with new and possibly inconsistent regulations for different territories could be costly, delay or prevent the release of our products in those territories.

In addition, we may include additional competitive modes in our games and manage competitions based on our games and services. Although we structure and operate these skill based competitions with applicable laws in mind, our skill based competitions in the future could become subject to evolving rules and regulations and expose us to significant liability, penalties and reputational harm.

If we do not continue to attract and retain key personnel, we will be unable to effectively conduct our business.

The market for technical, creative, marketing and other personnel essential to the development and marketing of our products and services and management of our businesses is extremely competitive. Our leading position within the interactive entertainment industry makes us a prime target for recruiting our executives as well as key creative and technical talent. If we cannot successfully recruit and retain the employees we need, or replace key employees following their departure, our ability to develop and manage our business will be impaired.

If our marketing and advertising efforts fail to resonate with our customers, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our products and services are marketed worldwide through a diverse spectrum of advertising and promotional programs such as online and mobile advertising, television advertising, retail merchandising, website development, event sponsorship and direct communications with our consumers including via email. Our ability to sell our products and services is dependent in part upon the success of these programs. If the marketing for our products and services fails to resonate with our customers, particularly during the critical holiday season or during other key selling periods, or if advertising rates or other media placement costs increase, these factors could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.

A significant portion of our sales are made to a relatively small number of customers, and disruptions to sales through these customers could negatively impact our business.

We derive a significant percentage of our net revenue through sales to our top customers. The concentration of a significant percentage of our sales through one, or a few, large customers could lead to a short-term disruption to our business if certain of these customers significantly reduced their purchases or ceased to carry our products. We also could be more vulnerable to collection risk if one or more of these large customers became unable to pay for our products or declared bankruptcy. Additionally, receivables from our customers generally increase in our December fiscal quarter as sales of our games and services generally increase in anticipation of the holiday season. Having a significant portion of our net revenue concentrated in sales through a few customers could reduce our negotiating leverage with these customers. If one or more of our key customers experience deterioration in their business, or become unable to obtain sufficient financing to maintain their operations, our business could be harmed.

Our channel partners have significant influence over the products and services that we offer on their platforms.

Our agreements with our channel partners typically give them significant control over the approval, manufacturing and distribution of the products and services that we develop for their platform. In particular, our arrangements with Sony and Microsoft could, in certain circumstances, leave us unable to get our products and services approved, manufactured and distributed to customers. For our digital products and services delivered via digital channels such as Sony’s PlayStation Network, Microsoft’s Xbox Store, Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, each respective channel partner has policies and guidelines that control the promotion and distribution of these titles and the features and functionalities that we are permitted to offer through the channel. Moreover, certain of our channel partners can determine and change unilaterally certain key terms and conditions, including the ability to change their user and developer policies and guidelines. In many cases our channel partners also set the rates that we must pay to provide our games and services through their online channels, and retain flexibility to change their fee structures or adopt different fee structures for their online channels, which could adversely impact our costs, profitability and margins. If our channel partners establish terms that restrict our offerings through their channels, or significantly impact the financial terms on which these products or services are offered to our customers, our business could be harmed.

Our business is subject to risks generally associated with the entertainment industry, any of which could significantly harm our operating results.

Our business is subject to risks that are generally associated with the entertainment industry, many of which are beyond our control. These risks could negatively impact our operating results and include: the popularity, price and timing of our games; economic conditions that adversely affect discretionary consumer spending; changes in consumer demographics; the availability and popularity of other forms of entertainment; and critical reviews and public tastes and preferences, which may change rapidly and cannot necessarily be predicted.

We rely on business partners in many areas of our business and our business may be harmed if they are unable to honor their obligations to us or their actions may put us at risk.

We rely on various business partners, including third-party service providers, vendors, licensing partners, development partners, and licensees in many areas of our business. In addition, we may have disputes with our business partners that may impact our business and/or financial results. Their actions may put our business and our reputation at risk. In many cases, our business partners may be given access to sensitive and proprietary information in order to provide services and support to our teams, and they may misappropriate our information and engage in unauthorized use of it. In addition, the failure of these third parties to provide adequate services and technologies, or the failure of the third parties to adequately maintain or update their services and technologies, could result in a disruption to our business operations. Further, disruptions in the financial markets, economic downturns, poor business decisions, or reputational harm may adversely affect our business partners and they may not be able to continue honoring their obligations to us or we may cease our arrangements with them. Alternative arrangements and services may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or we may experience business interruptions upon a transition to an alternative partner or vendor. If we lose one or more significant business partners, our business could be harmed.

We may be subject to claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, which could harm our business.

From time to time, third parties may claim that we have infringed their intellectual property rights. For example, patent holding companies may assert patent claims against us in which they seek to monetize patents they have purchased or otherwise obtained. Although we take steps to avoid knowingly violating the intellectual property rights of others, it is possible that third parties still may claim infringement. In addition, our products often utilize complex, cutting-edge technology that may be subject to intellectual property claims.

Existing or future infringement claims against us, whether valid or not, may be time consuming and expensive to defend. Such claims or litigations could require us to pay damages and other costs, stop selling the affected products, redesign those products to avoid infringement, or obtain a license, all of which could be costly and harm our business. In addition, many patents have been issued that may apply to potential new modes of delivering, playing or monetizing game software products and services, such as those that we produce or would like to offer in the future. We may discover that future opportunities to provide new and innovative modes of game play and game delivery to consumers may be precluded by existing patents that we are unable to license on reasonable terms.

From time to time we may become involved in other legal proceedings, which could adversely affect us.

We are currently, and from time to time in the future may become, subject to legal proceedings, claims, litigation and government investigations or inquiries, which could be expensive, lengthy, and disruptive to normal business operations. In addition, the outcome of any legal proceedings, claims, litigation, investigations or inquiries may be difficult to predict and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition.

Acquisitions, investments, divestitures and other strategic transactions could result in operating difficulties and other negative consequences.

We may make acquisitions or enter into other strategic transactions including (1) acquisitions of companies, businesses, intellectual properties, and other assets, (2) minority investments in strategic partners, and (3) investments in new interactive entertainment businesses as part of our long-term business strategy. These transactions involve significant challenges and risks including that the transaction does not advance our business strategy, that we do not realize a satisfactory return on our investment, that we acquire unknown liabilities, diversion of management’s attention from our other businesses, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses, write-offs of goodwill, intangibles, or acquired in-process technology, or other increased cash and non-cash expenses. In addition, we may not integrate these businesses successfully, including experiencing difficulty in the integration of business systems and technologies, the integration and retention of new employees, or in the maintenance of key business and customer relationships. These events could harm our operating results or financial condition. We also may divest or sell assets or a business and we may have difficulty selling such assets or business on acceptable terms in a timely manner. This could result in a delay in the achievement of our strategic objectives, cause us to incur additional expense, or the sale of such assets or business at a price or on terms that are less favorable than we anticipated.

Our products and brands are subject to the threat of piracy, unauthorized copying and other forms of intellectual property infringement.

We regard our products and brands as proprietary and take measures to protect our products, brands and other confidential information from infringement. We are aware that some unauthorized copying of our products and brands occurs, and if a significantly greater amount were to occur, it could negatively impact our business.

Piracy and other forms of unauthorized copying and use of our content and brands are persistent problems for us, and policing is difficult. Further, the laws of some countries in which our products are or may be distributed either do not protect our products and intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, or are poorly enforced. Legal protection of our rights may be ineffective in such countries. In addition, although we take steps to enforce and police our rights, factors such as the proliferation of technology designed to circumvent the protection measures used in our products, the availability of broadband access to the Internet, the refusal of Internet service providers or platform holders to remove infringing content in certain instances, and the proliferation of online channels through which infringing product is distributed all have contributed to an expansion in unauthorized copying of our products and brands.

We may experience outages and disruptions of our infrastructure that may harm our business.

We may be subject to outrages or disruptions of our infrastructure, including information technology system failures and network disruptions. These may be caused by natural disasters, cyber-incidents, weather events, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, acts of terrorism or other events. System redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and the Company’s disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Such failures or disruptions could prevent access to our products, services or online stores selling our products and services. Our corporate headquarters in Redwood City, CA and our studio in Burnaby, British Columbia are located in seismically active regions, and certain of our game development activities and other essential business operations are conducted at these locations. An event that results in the disruption of any of our critical business or IT systems could harm our ability to conduct normal business operations.

We utilize debt financing and such indebtedness could adversely impact our business and financial condition.

We have $1 billion in senior unsecured notes (the “Senior Notes”) and $163 million in convertible senior notes (the “Convertible Notes”) outstanding as of March 31, 2016. We expect to settle $27 million of the Convertible Notes during the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as a result of conversions prior to maturity by the holders thereof. Any Convertible Notes that are not converted prior to maturity will mature in July 2016. We also have an unsecured committed $500 million revolving credit facility. While the facility is currently undrawn, we may use the proceeds of any future borrowings for general corporate purposes. We may enter into other financial instruments in the future.

Our indebtedness could affect our financial condition and future financial results by, among other things:


•	Requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of any cash flow from operations to the payment of principal of, and interest on, our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of such cash flow to fund our growth strategy, working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes;


•	Utilizing funds that are domiciled in foreign tax jurisdictions in order to make the cash payments upon any redemption of the Senior Notes. If we were to choose to use such funds, we would be required to accrue any additional taxes on any portion of the repatriation where no United States income tax had been previously provided; and


•	Limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry.

The agreements governing our indebtedness impose restrictions on us and require us to maintain compliance with specified covenants. In particular, the revolving credit facility includes a maximum capitalization ratio and minimum liquidity requirements. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control. If we breach any of these covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders or noteholders, then, subject to applicable cure periods, our outstanding indebtedness may be declared immediately due and payable. In addition, changes by any rating agency to our credit rating may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities, as well as the potential costs associated with any potential refinancing our indebtedness. Downgrades in our credit rating could also restrict our ability to obtain additional financing in the future and could affect the terms of any such financing.

In connection with the offering of the Convertible Notes, we entered into certain privately-negotiated transactions to reduce the potential dilution with respect to our common stock upon conversion of the Convertible Notes. We also entered into separate, privately-negotiated warrant transactions whereby we sold warrants to independent third parties. The effect of these activities could have an effect on the market price of our common stock and the trading price of the Notes. In addition, the counterparties to these agreements are financial institutions and we are subject to the risk that one or more of these counterparties might default on the transactions.

Changes in our tax rates or exposure to additional tax liabilities could adversely affect our earnings and financial condition.

We are subject to taxes in the United States and in various foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide income tax provision, tax assets, and accruals for other taxes, and there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Our effective income tax rate could be adversely affected by our profit levels, by changes in our business, reorganization of our business and operating structure, changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the elections we make, changes in applicable tax laws, or changes in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, as well as other factors. We are also required to pay taxes other than income taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property and goods and services taxes, in both the United States and foreign jurisdictions. Furthermore, we are regularly subject to audit by tax authorities with respect to both income and such other non-income taxes. Adverse changes in our effective income tax rate, unfavorable audit results or tax rulings, or other changes resulting in significant additional tax liabilities could have material adverse effects upon our earnings, cash flows, and financial condition.

Our reported financial results could be adversely affected by changes in financial accounting standards.

Our reported financial results are impacted by the accounting standards promulgated by the SEC and national accounting standards bodies and the methods, estimates, and judgments that we use in applying our accounting policies. For example, accounting standards affecting software revenue recognition have affected and could continue to significantly affect the way we account for revenue and costs related to our products and services. We recognize all of the revenue from bundled sales (i.e., online-enabled games that include updates on a when-and-if-available basis or a matchmaking service) on a deferred basis over an estimated offering period. The related costs of revenues are expensed as incurred instead of deferred and recognized ratably. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which will replace existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. While we have not yet determined the effect of the new standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements, we believe the new standard may require us to materially change the way we account for revenue by requiring us to recognize more revenue upon delivery of the primary product than we currently do under current accounting standards. The new standard may also require us to materially change the way we account for related costs by requiring us to capitalize and amortize certain costs over the period the related assets are transferred to the customer.

As we enhance, expand and diversify our business and product offerings, the application of existing or future financial accounting standards, particularly those relating to the way we account for revenue, costs and taxes, could have a significant adverse effect on our reported results although not necessarily on our cash flows.

Our stock price has been volatile and may continue to fluctuate significantly.

The market price of our common stock historically has been, and we expect will continue to be, subject to significant fluctuations. These fluctuations may be due to factors specific to us (including those discussed in the risk factors above, as well as others not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material), to changes in securities analysts’ earnings estimates or ratings, to our results or future financial guidance falling below our expectations and analysts’ and investors’ expectations, to factors affecting the entertainment, computer, software, Internet, media or electronics industries, to our ability to successfully integrate any acquisitions we may make, or to national or international economic conditions. In particular, economic downturns may contribute to the public stock markets experiencing extreme price and trading volume volatility. These broad market fluctuations have and could continue to adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Item 1B: Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2: Properties

We own our 660,000-square-foot Redwood Shores headquarters facilities located in Redwood City, California, which includes a product development studio and administrative and sales functions. We also own a 418,000-square-foot product development studio facility in Burnaby, Canada. In addition to the properties we own, we lease approximately 1.1 million square feet in North America and 929,000 square feet in Europe and Asia at various research and development, sales and administration and distribution facilities, including leases for our development studios in Orlando, Florida and Stockholm, Sweden.

While we continually evaluate our facility requirements, we believe that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate our future needs. For information regarding our lease commitments, see Note 13 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8 in this report. For information on long-lived assets by geography, see Note 18 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Item 8 in this report.

Item 3: Legal Proceedings

On July 29, 2010, Michael Davis, a former NFL running back, filed a putative class action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the Company, alleging that certain past versions of Madden NFL included the images of certain retired NFL players without their permission. In March 2012, the trial court denied the Company’s request to dismiss the complaint on First Amendment grounds. In January 2015, that trial court decision was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the case was remanded back to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, where the case is pending.

We are also subject to claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. We do not believe that any liability from any reasonably foreseeable disposition of such claims and litigation, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Item 4: Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II


Item 5:	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “EA”. The following table sets forth the quarterly high and low closing sales price per share of our common stock from April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2016.



	Prices
	High		Low
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015:
First Quarter	$	37.15	$	26.67
Second Quarter	38.42		33.31
Third Quarter	48.33		32.62
Fourth Quarter	58.24		45.96
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2016:
First Quarter	68.00		56.03
Second Quarter	75.16		63.43
Third Quarter	76.77		65.04
Fourth Quarter	70.83		55.50

Holders

There were approximately 1,305 holders of record of our common stock as of May 23, 2016, and the closing price of our common stock was $73.24 per share as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market. In addition, a significant number of beneficial owners of our common stock hold their shares in street name.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

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. Under the May 2015 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 any specific number of shares under this program and it may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time. We repurchased approximately 2.1 million shares for approximately $134 million under this program during the three months ended March 31, 2016. We repurchased approximately 6.9 million shares for approximately $461 million during fiscal year 2016 under the May 2015 program. We continue to actively repurchase shares.

In February 2016, we announced a new $500 million stock repurchase program. This new program was incremental to the existing two-year $1 billion stock repurchase program announced in May 2015 and had an expiration date of May 31, 2016. We completed repurchases under the February 2016 program during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. We repurchased approximately 7.8 million shares for approximately $500 million under this new program.

The following table summarizes the number of shares repurchased in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016:



Fiscal Month	Total Number of Shares Purchased	Average Price Paid per Share		Total Number of Shares Purchased as part of Publicly Announced Programs	Maximum Dollar Value that May Still Be Purchased Under the Programs (in millions)
January 3 - January 30, 2016	577,061	$	66.52	577,061	$	634
January 31 - February 27, 2016	1,989,912	$	60.36	1,989,912	$	1,013
February 28 - April 2, 2016	7,374,038	$	64.38	7,374,038	$	539
	9,941,011	$	63.70	9,941,011

Transactions Related to our Convertible Notes and Convertible Note Hedge

During the quarter ended March 31, 2016, we issued, in the aggregate, 2,752,672 shares of our common stock to holders of

our 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 (the “Convertible Notes”) that converted such Convertible Notes prior to the quarter ended March 31, 2016 pursuant to their terms. These shares of common stock were issued on multiple dates in January, February and March 2016 in reliance on Section 3(a)(9) of The Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

During the quarter ending June 30, 2016, we expect to settle $27 million in cash and a number of shares of our

common stock equal in value to the excess conversion value. For example, based on the closing stock price of our common

stock of $65.92 at the end of the quarter ended March 31, 2016, approximately 0.4 million shares of our common stock would

be issuable to converting holders. The actual amount of shares issuable upon conversion will be determined based upon the

market price of our common stock during an observation period following any conversion. For more information regarding the

Convertible Notes and the conversion terms thereof, please see “Note 12 - Financing Arrangement” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K.

In connection with the conversions of the Convertible Notes that were settled during the quarter ended December 31, 2015, we exercised our option under privately negotiated convertible note hedge transactions (the “Convertible Note Hedge”) to acquire 2,752,679 shares of our common stock. The counterparties to the Convertible Note Hedge may be deemed “affiliated purchasers” and may have purchased the shares of our common stock deliverable to us upon exercise of our option during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Subsequent to March 31, 2016, we expect to receive a number of shares of our common stock under the Convertible Note Hedge substantially equal to the number of shares of our common stock to be issued in connection with any conversions of the Convertible Notes. For more information regarding the Convertible Note Hedge, please see “Note 12 - Financing Arrangement” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K.

Stock Performance Graph

The following information shall not be deemed to be “filed” with the SEC nor shall this information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing.

The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns during the period from March 31, 2011 through March 31, 2016, for our common stock, the S&P 500 Index (to which EA was added in July 2002), the NASDAQ Composite Index, and the RDG Technology Composite Index, each of which assumes an initial value of $100. Each measurement point is as of the end of each fiscal year. The performance of our stock depicted in the following graph is not necessarily indicative of the future performance of our stock.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

Among Electronic Arts Inc., the S&P 500 Index, the NASDAQ Composite Index,

and the RDG Technology Composite Index



*	Based on $100 invested on March 31, 2011 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends.



	March 31,
	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
Electronic Arts Inc.	$	100	$	84	$	91	$	149	$	301	$	339
S&P 500 Index	100		109		124		151		170		173
NASDAQ Composite Index	100		114		122		160		187		187
RDG Technology Composite Index	100		117		117		151		174		178

Item 6: Selected Financial Data

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

SELECTED FIVE-YEAR CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

(In millions, except per share data)



	Year Ended March 31,
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA	2016				2015				2014			2013			2012
Net revenue	$	4,396			$	4,515			$	3,575		$	3,797		$	4,143
Cost of revenue	1,354				1,429				1,347			1,388			1,598
Gross profit	3,042				3,086				2,228			2,409			2,545
Total operating expenses	2,144				2,138				2,195			2,288			2,510
Operating income	898				948				33			121			35
Gains on strategic investments, net	—				—				—			39			—
Interest and other income (expense), net	(21		)		(23		)		(26		)	(21		)	(17		)
Income before provision for (benefit from) income taxes	877				925				7			139			18
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(279		)		50				(1		)	41			(58		)
Net income	$	1,156			$	875			$	8		$	98		$	76
Earnings per share:
Basic	$	3.73			$	2.81			$	0.03		$	0.32		$	0.23
Diluted	$	3.50			$	2.69			$	0.03		$	0.31		$	0.23
Number of shares used in computation:
Basic	310				311				308			310			331
Diluted	330				325				316			313			336
	As of March 31,
BALANCE SHEETS DATA	2016				2015				2014			2013			2012
Cash and cash equivalents	$	2,493			$	2,068			$	1,782		$	1,292		$	1,293
Short-term investments	1,341				953				583			388			437
Marketable equity securities	—				—				—			—			119
Working capital	1,936			(a)	973			(a)	748			408			489
Total assets	7,050				6,147				5,716			5,070			5,491
0.75% convertible senior notes due 2016, net	163			(a)	633			(a)	580			559			539
Senior notes, net	989			(b)	—				—			—			—
Other long-term liabilities	245				333				324			327			374
Total liabilities	3,652				3,080				3,294			2,803			3,033
Total stockholders’ equity	3,396			(a)	3,036			(a)	2,422			2,267			2,458

(a)

The Convertible Notes are currently convertible at the option of the holder through July 13, 2016, and the carrying value of the Convertible Notes was reclassified as a current liability and the excess of the principal amount over the carrying value of the Convertible Notes was reclassified from permanent equity to temporary equity in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015. See Note 12 - Financing Arrangements to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K as it relates to the Convertible Notes, the convertibility of the Convertible Notes, and the Convertible Note Hedge and Warrants, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 6.

(b)

Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

OVERVIEW

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, 2016, 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.

About Electronic Arts

We are a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. We develop, market, publish and distribute games, content and services that can be played by consumers on a variety of platforms, which include consoles (such as the PlayStation from Sony, and the Xbox from Microsoft), PCs, mobile phones and tablets. Some of our games are based on our wholly-owned intellectual property (e.g., Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, The Sims and Plants vs. Zombies), and some of our games leverage content that we license from others (e.g., FIFA, Madden NFL and Star Wars). We also publish and distribute games developed by third parties (e.g., Titanfall). Our products and services may be purchased through multiple distribution channels, including physical and online retailers, platform providers such as console manufacturers, providers of free-to-download PC games, mobile carriers and directly through Origin, our own digital distribution platform.

Financial Results

Our key financial results for our fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 were as follows:


•	Total net revenue was $4,396 million, down 3 percent year-over-year. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates, we estimate that total net revenue would have been $4,662 million, up 3 percent year over year.


•	Digital revenue was $2,409 million, up 10 percent year-over-year.


•	International net revenue was $2,489 million, down 3 percent year-over-year.


•	Gross margin was 69.2 percent.


•	Operating expenses were $2,144 million.


•	Net income was $1,156 million, with diluted earnings per share of $3.50.


•	Operating cash flow was $1,223 million.


•	Cash and cash equivalents were $2,493 million and short-term investments were $1,341 million.

Trends in Our Business

Digital Transformation. Our business continues to transform from a traditional packaged goods business model to one in which our games and services are sold and delivered digitally, with additional content, features and services helping to extend the life of our packaged goods and digital games. For example, the Ultimate Team mode incorporated into iterations of our FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL franchises and expansion packs available digitally for our Star Wars, Battlefield and Sims franchises have kept many of our players engaged with those games for longer periods of time. Our digital transformation is also creating opportunities in platforms, content models and modalities of play. For example, we have leveraged franchises typically associated with consoles and traditional PC gaming, such as FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims, SimCity and Star Wars, to create mobile and PC free-to-download games that are monetized through a business model through which we sell incremental content and/or features in discrete transactions. We also provide our EA Access service for the Xbox One and Origin Access service on PC, which offer players access to a selection of EA games and other benefits for a monthly or annual fee.

We significantly increased our digital net revenue from $1,833 million in fiscal year 2014 to $2,199 million in fiscal year 2015 and $2,409 million during fiscal year 2016. We expect this portion of our business to continue to grow through fiscal year 2017 and beyond as we continue to focus on developing and monetizing products and services that can be delivered digitally.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates. International sales are a fundamental part of our business, and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar (particularly relative to the Euro, British pound sterling, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan and South Korean won) has a negative impact on our reported international net revenue, but a positive impact on our reported international operating expenses (particularly the Swedish krona and Canadian dollar) because these amounts are translated at lower rates as compared to periods in which the U.S. Dollar is weaker. While we use foreign currency hedging contracts to mitigate some foreign currency exchange risk, these activities are limited in the protection that they provide us and can themselves result in losses. We estimate that foreign currency exchange rates had a negative impact of $266 million on our reported net revenue during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015, but the strengthening of the U.S. dollar had a positive impact of $113 million on our reported operating expenses as a significant portion of those expenses are incurred outside the United States.

Mobile and PC Free-to-Download Games. The proliferation of mobile phones and tablets has significantly increased the consumer base for mobile games. The broad consumer acceptance of business models which allow consumers to try new games with no up-front cost and pay for additional content or in-game items, has led to growth in the mobile gaming industry. Likewise, the mass introduction and wide consumer acceptance of free-to-download, micro-transaction-based PC games played over the Internet has also broadened our consumer base. We expect revenue generated from mobile and PC free-to-download games to remain an important part of our business.

We track an estimate of monthly active users (“MAUs”) for our mobile business, which we believe is a useful indicator of player engagement trends for that business. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, we had average MAUs of over 160 million. MAUs are the aggregate number of individuals who accessed a particular game on a particular device in the last 30 days as of the measurement date. For our calculation, an individual who either plays two of our games on a single device, or the same game on two devices in the relevant period, would be counted as two users. Average MAUs for a particular period is the average of the MAUs at each month-end during that period. MAUs are calculated using internal company data based on tracking the activity of user accounts. We also include in this calculation data provided by our third party publishing partners for certain games that we develop but we exclude information from third party titles that we publish. From time to time, we adjust the calculation for user activity that is inconsistent with our methodology. We believe that the numbers are reasonable estimates of our user base for the applicable period of measurement; however, factors relating to user activity may impact these numbers. Our methodology for calculating MAUs may differ from the methodology used by other companies to calculate this metric.

Concentration of Sales Among the Most Popular Games. In all major segments of our industry, we see a large portion of games sales concentrated on the most popular titles, and many of those titles are sequels of prior games. Similarly, a significant portion of our revenue historically has been derived from games and services based on a few popular franchises, several of which we have released on an annual or bi-annual basis. For example, in fiscal year 2016, net revenue generated from the sale of products and services associated with our three largest franchises accounted for approximately 55 percent of our net revenue. We expect this trend to continue.

Recurring Revenue Sources. Our business model includes revenue that we deem recurring in nature, such as revenue from our annualized titles (such as FIFA and Madden NFL) and associated services, our ongoing mobile business and subscription programs. We have greater confidence in our ability to forecast revenue from these areas of our business than for new offerings. As we continue to leverage the digital transformation in our industry and incorporate new content models and modalities of play into our games, our goal is to continue to look for opportunities to expand the recurring portion of our business.

Recent Developments

Stock Repurchase Program. 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. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, we repurchased approximately 6.9 million shares for approximately $461 million under the May 2015 program. We continue to actively repurchase shares under this program.

On February 3, 2016, our Board of Directors authorized a new program to repurchase up to $500 million of EA’s common stock. This program was incremental to the May 2015 program. We have completed repurchases under the February 2016 program, repurchasing 7.8 million shares for approximately $500 million.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

Our Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these Consolidated Financial Statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, contingent assets and liabilities, and revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. The policies discussed below are considered by management to be critical because they are not only important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations, but also because application and interpretation of these policies requires both management judgment and estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain and unknown. As a result, actual results may differ materially from our estimates.

Revenue Recognition, Sales Returns and Allowances, and Bad Debt Reserves

We derive revenue principally from sales of interactive software games, and related content (e.g., micro-transactions) and services on consoles (such as the PlayStation from Sony and the Xbox from Microsoft), PCs, mobile phones and tablets. We evaluate revenue recognition based on the criteria set forth in FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605, Revenue Recognition and ASC 985-605, Software: Revenue Recognition. We classify our revenue as either product revenue or service and other revenue.

Product revenue. Our product revenue includes revenue associated with the sale of software games or related content, whether delivered via a physical disc (e.g., packaged goods) or delivered digitally (e.g., full-game downloads, extra-content), and licensing of game software to third-parties. Product revenue also includes revenue from mobile full-game downloads that do not require our hosting support (e.g., premium mobile games) in order to utilize the game or related content (i.e. can be played with or without an Internet connection), and sales of tangible products such as hardware, peripherals, or collectors’ items.

Service and other revenue. Our service revenue includes revenue recognized from time-based subscriptions and games or related content that requires our hosting support in order to utilize the game or related content (i.e., can only be played with an Internet connection). This includes (1) entitlements to content that are accessed through hosting services (e.g., micro-transactions for Internet-based, social network and free-to-download mobile games), (2) massively multi-player online (“MMO”) games (both software game and subscription sales), (3) subscriptions for our Battlefield Premium, EA Access, and Pogo-branded online game services, and (4) allocated service revenue from sales of software games with an online service element (i.e., “matchmaking” service). Our other revenue includes advertising and non-software licensing revenue.

With respect to the allocated service revenue from sales of software games with a matchmaking service 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 matchmaking service with the residual value allocated to product revenue. Our estimate of the selling price of the matchmaking service is comprised of several factors including, but not limited to, prior selling prices for the matchmaking service, 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 matchmaking service on a regular basis and use this methodology consistently to allocate revenue between product and service for software game sales with a matchmaking service.

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


•	Evidence of an arrangement. Evidence of an agreement with the customer that reflects the terms and conditions to deliver the related products or services must be present.


•	Fixed or determinable fee. If a portion of the arrangement fee is not fixed or determinable, we recognize revenue as the amount becomes fixed or determinable.


•	Collection is deemed probable. Collection is deemed probable if we expect the customer to be able to pay amounts under the arrangement as those amounts become due. If we determine that collection is not probable as the amounts become due, we generally conclude that collection becomes probable upon cash collection.

•

Delivery. For packaged goods, delivery is considered to occur when a product is shipped and the risk of loss and rewards of ownership have transferred to the customer. For digital downloads, delivery is considered to occur when the software is made available to the customer for download. For services and other, delivery is generally considered to occur as the service is delivered, which is determined based on the underlying service obligation. If there is significant uncertainty of acceptance, revenue is recognized once acceptance is reasonably assured.

Online-Enabled Games

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 an online matchmaking service that permits consumers to play against each other via the Internet without a separate fee. U.S. GAAP requires us to account for the consumer’s right to receive unspecified updates or the matchmaking service for no additional fee as a “bundled” sale, or multiple-element arrangement.

We have an established historical pattern of providing unspecified updates (e.g., player roster updates to Madden NFL 16) to online-enabled games and related content at no additional charge to the consumer. We do not have vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value (“VSOE”) for these unspecified updates, and thus, as required by U.S. GAAP, we recognize revenue from the sale of these online-enabled games and related content over the period we expect to offer the unspecified updates to the consumer (“estimated offering period”).

Estimated Offering Period

Because the offering period is not an explicitly defined period, we must make an estimate of the offering period. Determining the estimated offering period is inherently subjective and is subject to regular revision based on historical online usage. For example, in determining the estimated offering period for unspecified updates associated with our online-enabled games, we consider the period of time consumers are online as online connectivity is required. On an annual basis, we review consumers’ online gameplay of all online-enabled games that have been released 12 to 24 months prior to the evaluation date. For example, if our evaluation date is April 1, 2015, we evaluate all online-enabled games released between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. Based on this population of games, for all players that register the game online within the first six months of release of the game to the general public, we compute the weighted-average number of days for each online-enabled game, based on when a player initially registers the game online to when that player last plays the game online. We then compute the weighted-average number of days for all online-enabled games by multiplying the weighted-average number of days for each online-enabled game by its relative percentage of total units sold from these online-enabled games (i.e., a game with more units sold will have a higher weighting to the overall computation than a game with fewer units sold). Under a similar computation, we also consider the estimated period of time between the date a game unit is sold to a reseller and the date the reseller sells the game unit to an end consumer (i.e., time in channel). Based on these two calculations we then consider the method of distribution. For example, physical software games sold at retail would have a composite offering period equal to the online gameplay plus time in channel as opposed to digitally distributed software games which are delivered immediately via digital download and thus have no concept of channel. Additionally, we consider results from prior analyses, known and expected online gameplay trends, as well as disclosed service periods for competitors’ games in determining the estimated offering period for future sales.

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.

Other Multiple-Element Arrangements

In some of our multiple-element arrangements, we sell tangible products with software and/or software-related offerings. These tangible products are generally either peripherals or ancillary collectors’ items, such as figurines and comic books. Revenue for these arrangements is allocated to each separate unit of accounting for each deliverable using the relative selling prices of each deliverable in the arrangement based on the selling price hierarchy described below. If the arrangement contains more than one software deliverable, the arrangement consideration is allocated to the software deliverables as a group and then allocated to each software deliverable.

We determine the selling price for a tangible product deliverable based on the following selling price hierarchy: VSOE (i.e., the price we charge when the tangible product is sold separately) if available, third-party evidence (“TPE”) of fair value (i.e., the price charged by others for similar tangible products) if VSOE is not available, or our best estimate of selling price (“BESP”) if neither VSOE nor TPE is available. Determining the BESP is a subjective process that is based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, recent selling prices and related discounts, market conditions, customer classes, 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.

Principal Agent Considerations

We evaluate sales of our interactive software games via third party storefronts, including digital storefronts such as Microsoft’s Xbox Games Store, Sony PSN, Apple App Store, and Google Play, in order to determine whether or not we are acting as the primary obligor in the sale to the end consumer, which we consider in determining if revenue should be reported gross or net of fees retained by the storefront. Key indicators that we evaluate in determining gross versus net treatment include but are not limited to the following:


•	The party responsible for delivery/fulfillment of the product or service to the end consumer


•	The party responsible for the billing, collection of fees and refunds to the end consumer


•	The storefront and Terms of Sale that govern the end consumer’s purchase of the product or service


•	The party that sets the pricing with the end consumer and has credit risk

Based on evaluation of the above indicators, we have determined that generally the third party is considered the primary obligor to end consumers for the sale of our interactive software games. We therefore report revenue related to these arrangements net of the fees retained by the storefront.

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 revenue that we report.

We determine our allowance for doubtful accounts by evaluating the following: customer creditworthiness, current economic trends, historical experience, age of current accounts receivable balances, and changes in financial condition or payment terms of 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.

Royalties and Licenses

Our royalty expenses consist of payments to (1) content licensors, (2) independent software developers, and (3) co-publishing and distribution affiliates. License royalties consist of payments made to celebrities, professional sports organizations, movie studios and other organizations for our use of their trademarks, copyrights, personal publicity rights, content and/or other intellectual property. Royalty payments to independent software developers are payments for the development of intellectual property related to our games. Co-publishing and distribution royalties are payments made to third parties for the delivery of products.

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. Royalty liabilities are classified as current liabilities to the extent such royalty payments are contractually due within the next 12 months.

Each quarter, we also evaluate the expected future realization of our royalty-based assets, as well as any unrecognized minimum commitments not yet paid to determine amounts we deem unlikely to be realized through product and service sales. Any impairments or losses determined before the launch of a product are generally charged to research and development expense. Impairments or losses determined post-launch are charged to cost of revenue. We evaluate long-lived royalty-based assets for impairment using undiscounted cash flows when impairment indicators exist. If impairment exists, then the assets are written down to fair value. Unrecognized minimum royalty-based commitments are accounted for as executory contracts, and therefore, any losses on these commitments are recognized when the underlying intellectual property is abandoned (i.e., cease use) or the contractual rights to use the intellectual property are terminated.

Income Taxes

We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for both (1) the expected impact of differences between the financial statement amount and the tax basis of assets and liabilities and (2) the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax losses and tax credit carryforwards. We record a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets when it is considered more likely than not that all or a portion of our deferred tax assets will not be realized. In making this determination, we are required to give significant weight to evidence that can be objectively verified. It is generally difficult to conclude that a valuation allowance is not needed when there is significant negative evidence, such as cumulative losses in recent years. Forecasts of future taxable income are considered to be less objective than past results. Therefore, cumulative losses weigh heavily in the overall assessment.

In addition to considering forecasts of future taxable income, we are also required to evaluate and quantify other possible sources of taxable income in order to assess the realization of our deferred tax assets, namely the reversal of existing deferred tax liabilities, the carry back of losses and credits as allowed under current tax law, and the implementation of tax planning strategies. Evaluating and quantifying these amounts involves significant judgments. Each source of income must be evaluated based on all positive and negative evidence; this evaluation involves assumptions about future activity. Certain taxable temporary differences that are not expected to reverse during the carry forward periods permitted by tax law cannot be considered as a source of future taxable income that may be available to realize the benefit of deferred tax assets.

From the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 to the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, we maintained a 100% valuation allowance against most of our U.S. deferred tax assets because there was insufficient positive evidence to overcome the existing negative evidence such that it was not more likely than not that the U.S. deferred tax assets were realizable. While we reported U.S. pre-tax income in fiscal year 2015, because we reported U.S. pre-tax losses during the previous seven fiscal years, as well as in the

second and third quarters of fiscal year 2016, we continued to maintain the 100% valuation allowance through the third quarter of fiscal year 2016.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, we realized significant U.S. pre-tax income for both the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. As of March 31, 2016, we had reported positive operating performance in the U.S. for two consecutive fiscal years and had also reported a cumulative three-year U.S. pre-tax profit. In addition, during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, we completed our financial plan for fiscal year 2017 and expect continued positive operating performance in the U.S. We also considered forecasts of future taxable income and evaluated the utilization of tax credit carryforwards prior to their expiration. After considering these factors, we determined that the positive evidence overcame any negative evidence and concluded that it was more likely than not that the U.S. deferred tax assets were realizable. As a result, we released the valuation allowance against all of the U.S. federal deferred tax assets and a portion of the U.S. state deferred tax assets during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016. Accordingly, we recorded a $453 million income tax benefit in fiscal year 2016 for the reversal of a significant portion of our deferred tax valuation allowance.

As of March 31, 2016, we maintained a valuation allowance of $114 million, primarily related to specific U.S. state deferred tax assets and foreign capital loss carryovers, due to uncertainty about the future realization of these assets. In determining the amount of deferred tax assets that are more likely than not to be realized, we evaluated the potential to realize the assets through the utilization of tax loss and credit carrybacks, the reversal of existing taxable temporary differences, future taxable income exclusive of the reversal of existing taxable temporary differences, and certain tax planning strategies.

In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the tax law and ultimate tax determination is uncertain. As part of the process of preparing our Consolidated Financial Statements, we are required to estimate our income taxes in each jurisdiction in which we operate prior to the completion and filing of tax returns for such periods. This process requires estimating both our geographic mix of income and our uncertain tax positions in each jurisdiction where we operate. These estimates involve complex issues and require us to make judgments about the likely application of the tax law to our situation, as well as with respect to other matters, such as anticipating the positions that we will take on tax returns prior to our actually preparing the returns and the outcomes of disputes with tax authorities. The ultimate resolution of these issues may take extended periods of time due to examinations by tax authorities and statutes of limitations. In addition, changes in our business, including acquisitions, changes in our international corporate structure, changes in the geographic location of business functions or assets, changes in the geographic mix and amount of income, as well as changes in our agreements with tax authorities, valuation allowances, applicable accounting rules, applicable tax laws and regulations, rulings and interpretations thereof, developments in tax audit and other matters, and variations in the estimated and actual level of annual pre-tax income can affect the overall effective income tax rate.

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-05, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Topic 350-40). The amendments of this ASU will help entities evaluate the accounting for fees paid by a customer in a cloud computing arrangement by providing guidance as to whether an arrangement includes the sale or license of software. The requirements will be effective for annual periods (and interim periods within those annual periods) beginning after December 15, 2015. The amendment may be adopted either prospectively to all arrangements entered into or materially modified after the effective date or retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted. We expect to adopt this new standard in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. We do not expect the adoption to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, related to simplifications of employee share-based payment accounting. This pronouncement eliminates the APIC pool concept and requires that excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies be recorded in the income statement when awards are settled. The pronouncement also addresses simplifications related to statement of cash flows classification, accounting for forfeitures, and minimum statutory tax withholding requirements. The pronouncement is effective for annual periods (and for interim periods within those annual periods) beginning after December 15, 2016. We are currently evaluating the timing and the impact of this new standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments (Topic 825-10), which requires that most equity investments be measured at fair value, with subsequent changes in fair value recognized in net income. The ASU also impacts financial liabilities under the fair value option and the presentation and disclosure requirements for financial instruments.

The requirements will be effective for annual periods (and interim periods within those annual periods) beginning after December 15, 2017. We are currently evaluating the impact of this new standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-04, Liabilities – Extinguishments of Liabilities (Subtopic 405-20): Recognition of Breakage for Certain Prepaid Stored-Value Products. The amendments in the ASU are designed to provide guidance and eliminate diversity in the accounting for derecognition of prepaid stored-value product liabilities. Typically, a prepaid stored-value product liability is to be derecognized when it is probable that a significant reversal of the recognized breakage amount will not subsequently occur. This is when the likelihood of the product holder exercising its remaining rights becomes remote. This estimate shall be updated at the end of each period. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual periods (and interim periods within those annual periods) beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the timing of adoption and impact of this new standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The ASU will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. This new revenue standard, as amended by ASU 2015-14, is effective in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), which clarifies the guidance in the new revenue standard on assessing whether an entity is a principal or agent in a revenue transaction. This conclusion impacts whether an entity reports revenue on a gross or net basis. In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing, which clarifies the guidance in the new revenue standard regarding an entity’s identification of its performance obligations in a contract, as well as an entity’s evaluation of the nature of its promise to grant a license of intellectual property and whether or not that revenue is recognized over time or at a point in time. In May 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, which amends the guidance in the new revenue standard on collectibility, noncash consideration, presentation of sales tax, and transition. The amendments are intended to address implementation issues that were raised by stakeholders and provide additional practical expedients to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new revenue standard. These pronouncements have the same effective date as the new revenue standard. While we are currently evaluating the method of adoption and the impact of the new revenue standard, as amended, on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures, we believe the adoption of the new standard may have a significant impact on the accounting for certain transactions with multiple elements or “bundled” arrangements (for example, sales of online-enabled games for which we do not have VSOE for unspecified future updates) because the requirement to have VSOE for undelivered elements under current accounting standards is eliminated under the new standard. Accordingly, we may be required to recognize as revenue a portion of the sales price upon delivery of the software, as compared to the current requirement of recognizing the entire sales price ratably over an estimated offering period. While we are still evaluating the total impact of the new revenue standard, as amended, we believe adoption of this new standard will have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The FASB issued this update to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The updated guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption of the update is permitted. We are currently evaluating the timing of adoption and impact of this new standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Our fiscal year is reported on a 52- or 53-week period that ends on the Saturday nearest March 31. Our results of operations for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 contained 53 weeks and ended on April 2, 2016. Our results of operations for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 each contained 52 weeks and ended on March 28, 2015 and March 29, 2014, respectively. For simplicity of disclosure, all fiscal periods are referred to as ending on a calendar month-end.

Net Revenue

Net revenue consists of sales generated from (1) video games sold as packaged goods or as digital downloads and designed for play on consoles (such as the PlayStation from Sony and the Xbox from Microsoft) and PCs, (2) video games for mobile phones and tablets, (3) separate software products and content and online game services associated with these products, (4) licensing our game software to third parties, (5) allowing other companies to manufacture and sell our products in conjunction with other products, and (6) advertisements on our online web pages and in our games.

Comparison of Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2015

Net Revenue

For fiscal year 2016, net revenue was $4,396 million and decreased $119 million, or 3 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2015. This decrease was driven by a $757 million decrease in revenue primarily from Titanfall, and the Battlefield and FIFA World Cup franchises. This decrease was partially offset by a $638 million increase in revenue primarily from the Star Wars, Madden NFL and SimCity franchises.

Net Revenue by Product Revenue and Service and Other Revenue

Our net revenue by product revenue and service and other revenue for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 was as follows (in millions):



	Year Ended March 31,
	2016		2015		$ Change			% Change
Net revenue:
Product	$	2,497	$	2,568	$	(71	)	(3	)%
Service and other	1,899		1,947		(48		)	(2	)%
Total net revenue	$	4,396	$	4,515	$	(119	)	(3	)%

Product Revenue

For fiscal year 2016, product revenue was $2,497 million, primarily driven by FIFA 16, FIFA 15 and Star Wars Battlefront. Product revenue decreased $71 million, as compared to fiscal year 2015. This decrease was driven by a $434 million decrease primarily from the Need for Speed, Battlefield and FIFA World Cup franchises. This decrease was partially offset by a $363 million increase primarily from Star Wars Battlefront and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Service and Other Revenue

For fiscal year 2016, service and other revenue was $1,899 million, primarily driven by FIFA Ultimate Team and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Service and other revenue for fiscal year 2016 decreased $48 million, or 2 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2015. This decrease was driven by a $421 million decrease primarily from Titanfall and Battlefield 4 Premium. This decrease was partially offset by a $373 million increase primarily from the Madden NFL franchise, Need for Speed 2015 and SimCity BuildIt.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 was as follows (in millions):



	March 31, 2016		% of Related Net Revenue		March 31, 2015		% of Related Net Revenue		% Change		Change as a % of Related Net Revenue
Cost of revenue:
Product	$	938	37.6	%	$	1,028	40.0	%	(8.8	)%	(2.4	)%
Service and other	416		21.9	%	401		20.6	%	3.7	%	1.3	%
Total cost of revenue	$	1,354	30.8	%	$	1,429	31.7	%	(5.2	)%	(0.9	)%

Cost of Product Revenue

Cost of product revenue consists of (1) inventory costs, (2) certain royalty expenses for celebrities, professional sports, movie studios and other organizations, and independent software developers, (3) manufacturing royalties, net of volume discounts and other vendor reimbursements, (4) expenses for defective products, (5) write-offs of post launch prepaid royalty costs and losses on previously unrecognized licensed intellectual property commitments, (6) amortization of certain intangible assets,

(7) personnel-related costs, and (8) warehousing and distribution costs. We generally recognize volume discounts when they are

earned from the manufacturer (typically in connection with the achievement of unit-based milestones); whereas other vendor

reimbursements are generally recognized as the related revenue is recognized.

Cost of product revenue decreased by $90 million, or 8.8 percent in fiscal year 2016, as compared to fiscal year 2015. Cost of product revenue decreased primarily due to a loss of $122 million on previously unrecognized licensed intellectual property commitment recognized during fiscal year 2015. Excluding the impact of the $122 million loss, cost of product revenue increased $32 million, or 4 percent, primarily due to an increase in royalty costs driven by Star Wars Battlefront, which was launched during the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, with no comparable royalty-bearing title launched during fiscal year 2015.

Cost of Service and Other Revenue

Cost of service and other revenue consists primarily of (1) royalty costs, (2) data center, bandwidth and server costs associated

with hosting our online games and websites, (3) inventory costs, (4) platform processing fees from operating our website-based

games on third party platforms, and (5) credit card fees associated with our service revenue.

Cost of service and other revenue increased by $15 million, or 3.7 percent in fiscal year 2016, as compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase was primarily due to an increase in inventory costs due to the launch of Need for Speed 2015 during fiscal year 2016, offset by a decrease in inventory costs due to Titanfall, launched for the Xbox 360 during fiscal year 2015.

Total Cost of Revenue as a Percentage of Total Net Revenue

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, total cost of revenue as a percentage of total net revenue remained relatively consistent as compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred by our production studios for personnel-related costs, related overhead costs, contracted services, depreciation and any impairment of prepaid royalties for pre-launch products. Research and development expenses for our online products include expenses incurred by our studios consisting of direct development and related overhead costs in connection with the development and production of our online games. Research and development expenses also include expenses associated with our digital platform, software licenses and maintenance, and management overhead.

Research and development expenses for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2016		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		$ Change		% Change
$	1,109	25	%	$	1,094	24	%	$	15	1	%

Research and development expenses increased by $15 million, or 1 percent, in fiscal year 2016, as compared to fiscal year 2015. Excluding the estimated $70 million positive impact of foreign currency exchange rates, we estimate that research and development would have increased by $85 million. This $85 million increase on a constant currency basis was primarily due to

(1) a $44 million increase in personnel-related costs primarily resulting from higher payroll taxes, the fiscal year 2016 containing 53 weeks as compared to 52 weeks in fiscal year 2015, and annual salary increases, (2) a $22 million increase in contracted services, primarily related to the Titanfall and UFC franchises, and Unravel, during fiscal year 2016, as compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year, and (3) a $21 million increase in stock-based compensation.

Marketing and Sales

Marketing and sales expenses consist of personnel-related costs, related overhead costs, advertising, marketing and promotional expenses, net of qualified advertising cost reimbursements from third parties.

Marketing and sales expenses for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2016		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		$ Change			% Change
$	622	14	%	$	647	14	%	$	(25	)	(4	)%

Marketing and sales expenses decreased by $25 million, or 4 percent, in fiscal year 2016, as compared to fiscal year 2015. Excluding the estimated $25 million positive impact of foreign currency exchange rates, marketing and sales expense remained consistent during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 as compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist of personnel and related expenses of executive and administrative staff, corporate functions such as finance, legal, human resources, and information technology (“IT”), related overhead costs, fees for professional services such as legal and accounting, and allowances for doubtful accounts.

General and administrative expenses for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2016		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		$ Change		% Change
$	406	9	%	$	386	9	%	$	20	5	%

General and administrative expenses increased by $20 million, or 5 percent, in fiscal year 2016, as compared to fiscal year 2015. Excluding the estimated $19 million positive impact of foreign currency exchange rates, general and administrative expenses would have increased by $39 million. This $39 million increase on a constant currency basis was primarily due to (1) a $18 million increase in facilities-related expenses, (2) a $18 million increase in personnel-related costs primarily resulting from higher payroll taxes, the fiscal year 2016 containing 53 weeks as compared to 52 weeks in fiscal year 2015, and annual salary increases, (3) a $10 million increase in stock-based compensation. This was partially offset by a $6 million decrease in litigation matters during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015.

Income Taxes

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes for fiscal years 2016 and 2015 was as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2016			Effective Tax Rate		March 31, 2015		Effective Tax Rate
$	(279	)	(31.8	)%	$	50	5.4	%

the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016. Accordingly, we recorded a $453 million income tax benefit in fiscal year 2016 for the reversal of a significant portion of our deferred tax valuation allowance.

Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2016 was a tax benefit of 31.8 percent, primarily due to the reversal of the U.S. deferred tax valuation allowance. Excluding the impact of the reversal of the valuation allowance, our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2016 would have been 19.8 percent, which differs from the statutory rate of 35.0 percent primarily due to non-U.S. profits subject to a reduced or zero tax rates.

Our effective tax rate for the fiscal year 2015 differs from the statutory rate of 35.0 percent as a result of the utilization of U.S. deferred tax assets subject to a valuation allowance and tax benefits related to the expiration of statutes of limitations and the resolution of examinations by taxing authorities.

Prior to fiscal year 2016, our effective income tax rates have been significantly affected by the U.S. valuation allowance. As a result of the release of the valuation allowance in fiscal year 2016, we do not anticipate that our effective income tax rates for fiscal year 2017 and future periods will be as significantly affected by changes in our deferred tax valuation allowance as they were prior to fiscal year 2017. Our effective income tax rates for fiscal year 2017 and future periods will continue to depend on a variety of factors, including changes in the deferred tax valuation allowance, changes in our business such as acquisitions and intercompany transactions, changes in our international structure, changes in the geographic location of business functions or assets, changes in the geographic mix of income, changes in or termination of our agreements with tax authorities, applicable accounting rules, applicable tax laws and regulations, rulings and interpretations thereof, developments in tax audit and other matters, and variations in our annual pre-tax income or loss. We incur certain tax expenses that do not decline proportionately with declines in our pre-tax consolidated income or loss. As a result, in absolute dollar terms, our tax expense will have a greater influence on our effective tax rate at lower levels of pre-tax income or loss than at higher levels. In addition, at lower levels of pre-tax income or loss, our effective tax rate will be more volatile.

Historically, we have considered all undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries to be indefinitely reinvested outside of the United States and, accordingly, no U.S. taxes have been provided thereon. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, we issued the Senior Notes and announced a $500 million stock repurchase program. In light of these future obligations, we reevaluated our intent to indefinitely reinvest all earnings of foreign subsidiary companies, and concluded that a portion of earnings of certain subsidiaries will no longer be considered to be indefinitely reinvested. As a result, we have recognized a deferred tax liability of $43 million for U.S. income taxes with respect to such earnings. We currently intend to continue to indefinitely reinvest a substantial majority of the undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries outside of the United States.

Comparison of Fiscal Year 2015 to Fiscal Year 2014

Net Revenue

For fiscal year 2015, net revenue was $4,515 million and increased $940 million, or 26 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2014. This increase was driven by a $1,481 million increase in revenue primarily from the FIFA and Madden NFL franchises, and Titanfall. This increase was partially offset by a $541 million decrease in revenue primarily from the SimCity, Crysis, Dead Space, and NCAA Football franchises, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Net Revenue by Product Revenue and Service and Other Revenue

Our net revenue by product revenue and service and other revenue for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 was as follows (in millions):



	Year Ended March 31,
	2015		2014		$ Change		% Change
Net revenue:
Product	$	2,568	$	2,134	$	434	20	%
Service and other	1,947		1,441		506		35	%
Total net revenue	$	4,515	$	3,575	$	940	26	%

Product Revenue

For fiscal year 2015, product revenue was $2,568 million, primarily driven by FIFA 15, FIFA 14 and Battlefield 4. Product revenue increased $434 million, or 20 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2014. This increase was driven by an $837 million increase primarily from the FIFA, Madden NFL and Dragon Age franchises. This increase was partially offset by a $403 million decrease primarily from the Crysis, Dead Space, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Army of Two franchises.

Service and Other Revenue

For fiscal year 2015, service and other revenue was $1,947 million, primarily driven by FIFA Ultimate Team, Titanfall, and Battlefield 4 Premium. Service and other revenue for fiscal year 2015 increased $506 million, or 35 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2014. This increase was driven by a $660 million increase primarily from Titanfall and the FIFA and Plants vs Zombies franchises. This increase was partially offset by a $154 million decrease primarily from SimCity franchise, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Pogo-branded online games services.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 was as follows (in millions):



	March 31, 2015		% of Related Net Revenue		March 31, 2014		% of Related Net Revenue		% Change		Change as a % of Related Net Revenue
Cost of revenue:
Product	$	1,028	40.0	%	$	1,032	48.4	%	(0.4	)%	(8.4	)%
Service and other	401		20.6	%	315		21.9	%	27.3	%	(1.3	)%
Total cost of revenue	$	1,429	31.7	%	$	1,347	37.7	%	6.1	%	(6.0	)%

Cost of Product Revenue

Cost of product revenue decreased by $4 million, or 0.4 percent in fiscal year 2015, as compared to fiscal year 2014. Cost of product revenue decreased primarily due to an increase of digital product offerings (which have a lower average cost than our packaged goods and other product net revenue) during fiscal year 2015, as compared to the fiscal year 2014, partially offset by a loss of $122 million on a previously unrecognized licensed intellectual property commitment recognized during the three months ended June 30, 2014.

Cost of Service and Other Revenue

Cost of service and other revenue increased by $86 million, or 27.3 percent in fiscal year 2015, as compared to fiscal year 2014. The increase was primarily due to an increase in royalty-related costs due to FIFA Ultimate Team, Madden Ultimate Team, and Titanfall.

Total Cost of Revenue as a Percentage of Total Net Revenue

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, total cost of revenue as a percentage of total net revenue decreased by 6.0 percent as compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the loss of $122 million on previously unrecognized license intellectual property recognized during three months ended June 30, 2014, total cost of revenue as a percentage of total net revenue decreased 8.8 percent as a result of an increase in our digital products and services that generally have a lower cost than our packaged goods and other products.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2014		% of Net Revenue		$ Change			% Change
$	1,094	24	%	$	1,125	31	%	$	(31	)	(3	)%

Research and development expenses decreased by $31 million, or 3 percent, in fiscal year 2015, as compared to fiscal year 2014. Excluding the $20 million positive impact of foreign currency exchange rates due to translation and related cash flow hedging activities, we estimate that research and development would have decreased by $11 million. This $11 million decrease was primarily due to a $15 million decrease in personnel-related costs resulting from a reduction in headcount and a $17

million decrease in contracted services as a result of higher development contracted services in fiscal year 2014 due to Titanfall, Battlefield 4, and EA Sports UFC as compared to the current fiscal year. These decreases were partially offset by a $21 million increase in facility-related costs primarily due to $6 million in operating costs for new office expansions and $5 million in certain facility closures.

Marketing and Sales

Marketing and sales expenses for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2014		% of Net Revenue		$ Change			% Change
$	647	14	%	$	680	19	%	$	(33	)	(5	)%

Marketing and sales expenses decreased by $33 million, or 5 percent, in fiscal year 2015, as compared to fiscal year 2014. The decrease was primarily due to (1) a $9 million decrease in personnel-related costs, (2) a $10 million decrease in facility-related costs, and (3) a $9 million decrease in contracted services due to fewer frontline title releases during fiscal year 2015 than during fiscal year 2014.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2014		% of Net Revenue		$ Change			% Change
$	386	9	%	$	410	11	%	$	(24	)	(6	)%

General and administrative expenses decreased by $24 million, or 6 percent, in fiscal year 2015, as compared to fiscal year 2014, primarily due to a $30 million expense related to the settlement of a litigation matter during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 and an $23 million decrease in costs incurred on a license, both related to our college football franchise. This was partially offset by an $11 million increase primarily related to other litigation matters and a $16 million increase in personnel-related costs during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.

Acquisition-Related Contingent Consideration

Acquisition-related contingent consideration for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 were as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2015		% of Net Revenue		March 31, 2014		% of Net Revenue		$ Change		% Change
(3	)	—	%	(35	)	(1	)%	$	32	91	%

During fiscal year 2015, acquisition-related contingent consideration credits decreased by $32 million, or 91 percent, as compared to fiscal year 2014, primarily resulting from changes in the fair market value of the acquisition-related contingent consideration of our PopCap acquisition during fiscal year 2014. The PopCap earn-out expired on December 31, 2013. No payments were made under this earn-out.

Income Taxes

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 was as follows (in millions):



March 31, 2015		Effective Tax Rate		March 31, 2014			Effective Tax Rate
$	50	5.4	%	$	(1	)	(14.3	)%

Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2015 was a tax expense of 5.4 percent. The fiscal year 2015 effective tax rate differs from the statutory rate of 35.0 percent primarily due to the utilization of U.S. deferred tax assets, which were subject to a valuation allowance, excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation deductions allocated directly to contributed capital, and non-U.S. profits subject to a reduced or zero tax rates. The provision for income taxes for fiscal year 2015 differs from the benefit from income taxes for fiscal year 2014 primarily due to benefits related to the expiration of statutes of limitations and the resolution of examinations by taxing authorities recorded in fiscal year 2014.

Our effective tax rate for the fiscal year 2014 differs from the statutory rate of 35.0 percent as a result of the utilization of U.S. deferred tax assets subject to a valuation allowance and tax benefits related to the expiration of statutes of limitations and the resolution of examinations by taxing authorities.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES



	As of March 31,						Increase
(In millions)	2016			2015			Increase
Cash and cash equivalents	$	2,493		$	2,068		$	425
Short-term investments	1,341			953			388
Total	$	3,834		$	3,021		$	813
Percentage of total assets	54		%	49		%
	Year Ended March 31,						Change
(In millions)	2016			2015			Change
Cash provided by operating activities	$	1,223		$	1,067		$	156
Cash used in investing activities	(484		)	(470		)	(14		)
Cash used in financing activities	(306		)	(255		)	(51		)
Effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(8		)	(56		)	48
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	$	425		$	286		$	139

Changes in Cash Flow

Operating Activities. Cash provided by operating activities increased $156 million during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015. The increase was driven by a $281 million increase in net income, partially offset by the settlement of noncurrent operating obligations.

Investing Activities. Cash used in investing activities increased $14 million during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015 primarily driven by a $230 million increase in purchases of short-term investments. This was partially offset by a $214 million increase in proceeds from the sales and maturities of short-term investment during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 as compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.

Financing Activities. Cash used in financing activities increased $51 million during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015 due to a $681 million increase in repurchases of shares of our common stock mainly driven by the repurchase program authorized in February 2016, and $470 million of repayments of our Convertible Notes in connection with conversions of the Convertible Notes prior to maturity. This was offset by (1) $989 million net proceeds from the issuance of Senior Notes during February 2016, (2) a $64 million increase in excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation recognized, and (3) a $47 million increase in proceeds from the exercise of stock options and ESPP.

Short-term Investments

Due to our mix of fixed and variable rate securities, our short-term investment portfolio is susceptible to changes in short-term interest rates. As of March 31, 2016, our short-term investments had gross unrealized gains of $2 million, or less than 1 percent of the total in short-term investments, and gross unrealized losses of less than $1 million, or less than 1 percent of the total in short-term investments. From time to time, we may liquidate some or all of our short-term investments to fund operational needs or other activities, such as capital expenditures, business acquisitions or stock repurchase programs. Depending on which short-term investments we liquidate to fund these activities, we could recognize a portion, or all, of the gross unrealized gains or losses.

Convertible Notes and Convertible Note Hedge

In July 2011, we issued $632.5 million aggregate principal amount of 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 (the “Convertible Notes”), of which $163 million aggregate principal amount remained outstanding as of March 31, 2016. The Convertible Notes will mature on July 15, 2016, unless purchased earlier or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date.

The Convertible Notes are convertible at the option of the holder through July 13, 2016. During fiscal year 2016, approximately $497 million principal value of the Convertible Notes were converted by holders thereof. During fiscal year 2016, we repaid $470 million principal balance of the Convertible Notes and issued approximately 7.8 million shares of common stock to noteholders with a fair value of $518 million, resulting in a loss on extinguishment of $10 million. We also received and cancelled approximately 7.8 million shares of common stock from the exercise of the Convertible Note Hedge during fiscal year 2016.

Subsequent to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 and through May 23, 2016, we received an immaterial amount of conversion requests for the Convertible Notes. During the quarter ending June 30, 2016, we expect to settle conversion requests with $27 million in cash and a number of shares of our common stock equal in value to the excess conversion value. Based on the closing price of our common stock of $65.92 at the end of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, approximately 0.4 million shares of our common stock would be issuable to converting holders. The actual amount of shares issuable upon conversion will be determined based upon the market price of our common stock during an observation period following any conversion.

Warrants

We have outstanding Warrants with independent third parties to acquire up to 19.9 million shares of our common stock (which is also equal to the number of shares of our common stock that notionally underlie the Convertible Notes), with a strike price of $41.14. The Warrants have a dilutive effect with respect to our common stock to the extent that the market price per share of our common stock exceeds $41.14 on or prior to the expiration date of the Warrants. The Warrants automatically exercises over a 60 trading day period beginning on October 17, 2016. Based on the closing price of our common stock of $65.92 at the end of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016, approximately 7.5 million shares of our common stock would be issuable to Warrant holders. The actual amount of shares issuable upon exercise will be determined based upon the market price of our common stock during the 60 day trading period beginning on October 17, 2016.

See Note 12 - Financing Arrangements to the Consolidated Financial Statements as it relates to the Convertibles Notes, the Convertible Note Hedge and Warrants, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.

Senior Notes

In February 2016, we issued $600 million aggregate principal amount of 3.70% Senior Notes due March 1, 2021 (the “2021 Notes”) and $400 million aggregate principal amount of 4.80% Senior Notes due March 1, 2026 (the “2026 Notes,” and together with the 2021 Notes, the “Senior Notes”). We used the net proceeds of $989 million for general corporate purposes, including the payment of amounts due upon conversion of our Convertible Notes and the repurchase of our common stock, including under the $500 million stock repurchase program approved in February 2016. The effective interest rate was 3.94% for the 2021 Notes and 4.97% for the 2026 Notes. Interest is payable semiannually in arrears, on March 1 and September 1 of each year, beginning on September 1, 2016. See Note 12 - Financing Arrangements to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K as it relates to our Senior Notes, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.

Credit Facility

In March 19, 2015, we entered into a $500 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks. As of March 31, 2016, no amounts were outstanding under the credit facility. See Note 12 - Financing Arrangements to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K as it relates to our credit facility, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.

Financial Condition

We believe that our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, cash generated from operations and available financing facilities will be sufficient to meet our operating requirements for at least the next 12 months, including working capital requirements, capital expenditures, debt repayment obligations, and potentially, future acquisitions, stock repurchases, or strategic investments. We may choose at any time to raise additional capital to repay debt, strengthen our financial position, facilitate expansion, repurchase our stock, pursue strategic acquisitions and investments, and/or to take advantage of business opportunities as they arise. There can be no assurance, however, that such additional capital will be available to us on favorable terms, if at all, or that it will not result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders.

As of March 31, 2016, approximately $2 billion of our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were domiciled in foreign tax jurisdictions. While we have no plans to repatriate these funds to the United States in the short term, if we choose to do so, we may be required to accrue and pay additional taxes on any portion of the repatriation where no United States income tax had been previously provided.

In May 2014, a special committee of our Board of Directors, on behalf of the full Board of Directors, authorized a two-year program to repurchase up to $750 million of our common stock. Since inception, we repurchased approximately 9.2 million shares for approximately $394 million under this program.

In May 2015, our Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $1 billion of our common stock. This stock repurchase program, which expires on May 31, 2017, supersedes and replaces the stock repurchase authorization approved in May 2014. Under the May 2015 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 any specific number of shares under this program and it may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time.

During fiscal year 2016, we repurchased approximately 1.0 million shares for approximately $57 million under the May 2014 program and we repurchased approximately 6.9 million shares for approximately $461 million under the May 2015 program. We continue to actively repurchase shares under the May 2015 program.

In February 2016, we announced a new $500 million stock repurchase program. This new program was incremental to the existing two-year $1 billion stock repurchase program announced in May 2015. We completed repurchases under the February 2016 program during the quarter ended March 31, 2016. We repurchased approximately 7.8 million shares for approximately $500 million under this new program.

We have a “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 on file with the SEC. This shelf registration statement, which includes a base prospectus, allows us at any time to offer any combination of securities described in the prospectus in one or more offerings. Unless otherwise specified in a prospectus supplement accompanying the base prospectus, we would use the net proceeds from the sale of any securities offered pursuant to the shelf registration statement for general corporate purposes, including for working capital, financing capital expenditures, research and development, marketing and distribution efforts, and if opportunities arise, for acquisitions or strategic alliances. Pending such uses, we may invest the net proceeds in interest-bearing securities. In addition, we may conduct concurrent or other financings at any time.

Our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity could be affected by various risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, those related to customer demand and acceptance of our products, our ability to collect our accounts receivable as they become due, successfully achieving our product release schedules and attaining our forecasted sales objectives, the impact of acquisitions and other strategic transactions in which we may engage, the impact of competition, economic conditions in the United States and abroad, the seasonal and cyclical nature of our business and operating results, risks of product returns and the other risks described in the “Risk Factors” section, included in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments

Note 13 - Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K as it relates to our contractual obligations and commercial commitments is incorporated by reference into this Item 7.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

As of March 31, 2016, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC, that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues and expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, or capital resources that are material to investors.

INFLATION

We believe the impact of inflation on our results of operations has not been significant in any of the past three fiscal years.

Item 7A: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

MARKET RISK

We are exposed to various market risks, including changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and market prices, which have experienced significant volatility. Market risk is the potential loss arising from changes in market rates and market prices. We employ established policies and practices to manage these risks. Foreign currency forward contracts are used to hedge anticipated exposures or mitigate some existing exposures subject to foreign exchange risk as discussed below. While we do not hedge our short-term investment portfolio, we protect our short-term investment portfolio against different market risks, including interest rate risk as discussed below. Our cash and cash equivalents portfolio consists of highly liquid investments

with insignificant interest rate risk and original or remaining maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase. We do not enter into derivatives or other financial instruments for speculative trading purposes and do not hedge our market price risk relating to marketable equity securities, if any.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates. International sales are a fundamental part of our business, and the strengthening of the U.S dollar (particularly relative to the Euro, British pound sterling, Australian dollar, Chinese yuan and South Korea won) has a negative impact on our reported international net revenue, but a positive impact on our reported international operating expenses (particularly the Swedish krona and Canadian dollar) because these amounts are translated at lower rates as compared to periods in which the U.S. dollar is weaker. While we use foreign currency hedging contracts to mitigate some foreign currency exchange risk, these activities are limited in the protection that they provide us and can themselves result in losses. Foreign currency exchange rates had a negative impact on our reported net revenue during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015, but the strengthening of the U.S. dollar had a positive impact on our reported operating expenses as a significant portion of those expenses are incurred outside the United States.

Cash Flow Hedging Activities. From time to time, we hedge a portion of our foreign currency risk related to forecasted foreign-currency-denominated sales and expense transactions by purchasing foreign currency forward contracts that generally have maturities of 18 months or less. These transactions are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges. Our hedging programs are designed to reduce, but do not entirely eliminate, the impact of currency exchange rate movements in net revenue and research and development expenses.

Balance Sheet Hedging Activities. We use foreign currency forward contracts to mitigate foreign currency risk associated with foreign-currency-denominated monetary assets and liabilities, primarily intercompany receivables and payables. The foreign currency forward contracts generally have a contractual term of three months or less and are transacted near month-end.

We believe the counterparties to our foreign currency forward contracts are creditworthy multinational commercial banks. While we believe the risk of counterparty nonperformance is not material, a sustained decline in the financial stability of financial institutions as a result of disruption in the financial markets could affect our ability to secure creditworthy counterparties for our foreign currency hedging programs.

Notwithstanding our efforts to mitigate some foreign currency exchange rate risks, there can be no assurance that our hedging activities will adequately protect us against the risks associated with foreign currency fluctuations. As of March 31, 2016, a hypothetical adverse foreign currency exchange rate movement of 10 percent or 20 percent would have resulted in potential declines in the fair value on our foreign currency forward contracts used in cash flow hedging of $83 million and $167 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2016, a hypothetical adverse foreign currency exchange rate movement of 10 percent or 20 percent would have resulted in potential losses on our foreign currency forward contracts used in balance sheet hedging of $27 million and $53 million, respectively. This sensitivity analysis assumes an adverse shift of all foreign currency exchange rates; however, all foreign currency exchange rates do not always move in such manner and actual results may differ materially. See Note 4 - Derivative Financial Instruments to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K as it relates to our derivative financial instruments, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 7A.

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our short-term investment portfolio. We manage our interest rate risk by maintaining an investment portfolio generally consisting of debt instruments of high credit quality and relatively short maturities. However, because short-term investments mature relatively quickly and are required to be reinvested at the then-current market rates, interest income on a portfolio consisting of short-term investments is more subject to market fluctuations than a portfolio of longer term investments. Additionally, the contractual terms of the investments do not permit the issuer to call, prepay or otherwise settle the investments at prices less than the stated par value. Our investments are held for purposes other than trading. Also, we do not use derivative financial instruments in our short-term investment portfolio.

As of March 31, 2016, our short-term investments were classified as available-for-sale securities and, consequently, were recorded at fair value with unrealized gains or losses resulting from changes in fair value reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax, in stockholders’ equity.

Notwithstanding our efforts to manage interest rate risks, there can be no assurance that we will be adequately protected against risks associated with interest rate fluctuations. At any time, a sharp change in interest rates could have a significant impact on the fair value of our investment portfolio. The following table presents the hypothetical changes in the fair value of our short-term investment portfolio as of March 31, 2016, arising from potential changes in interest rates. The modeling technique estimates the change in fair value from immediate hypothetical parallel shifts in the yield curve of plus or minus 50 basis points (“BPS”), 100 BPS, and 150 BPS.



(In millions)	Valuation of Securities Given an Interest Rate Decrease of X Basis Points						Fair Value as of March 31, 2016		Valuation of Securities Given an Interest Rate Increase of X Basis Points
(In millions)	(150 BPS)		(100 BPS)		(50 BPS)		Fair Value as of March 31, 2016		50 BPS		100 BPS		150 BPS
Corporate bonds	$	744	$	741	$	737	$	734	$	730	$	726	$	723
U.S. Treasury securities	399		395		392		390		386		383		380
U.S. agency securities	171		170		169		167		167		166		165
Commercial paper	50		50		50		50		50		50		50
Total short-term investments	$	1,364	$	1,356	$	1,348	$	1,341	$	1,333	$	1,325	$	1,318

Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements



	Page
Consolidated Financial Statements of Electronic Arts Inc. and Subsidiaries:
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2016 and 2015	43
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended March 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014	44
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the Years Ended March 31, 2016, 2015, 2014	45
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the Years Ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014	46
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014	47
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements	48
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	81

Financial Statement Schedule:
The following financial statement schedule of Electronic Arts Inc. and Subsidiaries for the years ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 is filed as part of this report and should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements of Electronic Arts Inc. and Subsidiaries:

Schedule II — Valuation and Qualifying Accounts	85

Other financial statement schedules have been omitted because the information called for in them is not required or has already been included in either the Consolidated Financial Statements or the Notes thereto.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS



(In millions, except par value data)	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	2,493		$	2,068
Short-term investments	1,341			953
Receivables, net of allowances of $159 and $140, respectively	233			362
Inventories	33			36
Deferred income taxes, net	—			54
Other current assets	254			247
Total current assets	4,354			3,720
Property and equipment, net	439			459
Goodwill	1,710			1,713
Acquisition-related intangibles, net	57			111
Deferred income taxes, net	387			13
Other assets	103			131
TOTAL ASSETS	$	7,050		$	6,147

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	89		$	68
Accrued and other current liabilities	710			794
0.75% convertible senior notes due 2016, net	161			602
Deferred net revenue (online-enabled games)	1,458			1,283
Total current liabilities	2,418			2,747
Senior notes, net	989			—
Income tax obligations	80			70
Deferred income taxes, net	2			80
Other liabilities	163			183
Total liabilities	3,652			3,080
Commitments and contingencies (See Note 13)
0.75% convertible senior notes due 2016 (See Note 12)	2			31
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value. 10 shares authorized	—			—
Common stock, $0.01 par value. 1,000 shares authorized; 301 and 310 shares issued and outstanding, respectively	3			3
Additional paid-in capital	1,349			2,127
Retained earnings	2,060			904
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(16		)	2
Total stockholders’ equity	3,396			3,036
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY	$	7,050		$	6,147

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS



	Year Ended March 31,
(In millions, except per share data)	2016			2015			2014
Net revenue:
Product	$	2,497		$	2,568		$	2,134
Service and other	1,899			1,947			1,441
Total net revenue	4,396			4,515			3,575
Cost of revenue:
Product	938			1,028			1,032
Service and other	416			401			315
Total cost of revenue	1,354			1,429			1,347
Gross profit	3,042			3,086			2,228
Operating expenses:
Research and development	1,109			1,094			1,125
Marketing and sales	622			647			680
General and administrative	406			386			410
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	—			(3		)	(35		)
Amortization of intangibles	7			14			16
Restructuring and other charges	—			—			(1		)
Total operating expenses	2,144			2,138			2,195
Operating income	898			948			33
Interest and other income (expense), net	(21		)	(23		)	(26		)
Income before provision for (benefit from) income taxes	877			925			7
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(279		)	50			(1		)
Net income	$	1,156		$	875		$	8
Earnings per share:
Basic	$	3.73		$	2.81		$	0.03
Diluted	$	3.50		$	2.69		$	0.03
Number of shares used in computation:
Basic	310			311			308
Diluted	330			325			316

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)



	Year Ended March 31,
(In millions)	2016			2015			2014
Net income	$	1,156		$	875		$	8
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Change in unrealized net gains and losses on available-for-sale securities	4			1			—
Reclassification adjustment for net realized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities	—			—			—
Change in unrealized net gains and losses on derivative instruments	5			20			(19		)
Reclassification adjustment for net realized gains and losses on derivative instruments	(12		)	11			9
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(15		)	(67		)	(22		)
Total other comprehensive loss, net of tax	(18		)	(35		)	(32		)
Total comprehensive income (loss)	$	1,138		$	840		$	(24	)

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(In millions, share data in thousands)



	Common Stock				Additional Paid-in Capital			Retained Earnings		Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)			Total Stockholders’ Equity
	Shares		Amount		Additional Paid-in Capital			Retained Earnings		Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)			Total Stockholders’ Equity
Balances as of March 31, 2013	302,164		$	3	$	2,174		$	21	$	69		$	2,267
Total comprehensive income (loss)	—		—		—			8		(32		)	(24		)
Issuance of common stock	9,278		—		16			—		—			16
Stock-based compensation	—		—		150			—		—			150
Tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—		—		13			—		—			13
Balances as of March 31, 2014	311,442		3		2,353			29		37			2,422
Total comprehensive income (loss)	—		—		—			875		(35		)	840
Issuance of common stock	6,508		—		(24		)	—		—			(24		)
Reclassification of equity component of convertible notes	—		—		(31		)	—		—			(31		)
Repurchase and retirement of common stock	(8,269	)	—		(337		)	—		—			(337		)
Stock-based compensation	—		—		144			—		—			144
Tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—		—		22			—		—			22
Balances as of March 31, 2015	309,681		3		2,127			904		2			3,036
Total comprehensive income (loss)	—		—		—			1,156		(18		)	1,138
Issuance of common stock	6,645		—		(49		)	—		—			(49		)
Reclassification of equity component of convertible notes	—		—		29			—		—			29
Settlement of convertible notes	7,823		—		(1		)	—		—			(1		)
Exercise of convertible note hedge	(7,823	)	—		—			—		—			—
Repurchase and retirement of common stock	(15,724	)	—		(1,018		)	—		—			(1,018		)
Stock-based compensation	—		—		178			—		—			178
Tax benefit from stock-based compensation	—		—		83			—		—			83
Balances as of March 31, 2016	300,602		$	3	$	1,349		$	2,060	$	(16	)	$	3,396

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS



	Year Ended March 31,
(In millions)	2016			2015			2014
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income	$	1,156		$	875		$	8
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	197			220			227
Loss on conversion of convertible notes	10			—			—
Stock-based compensation	178			144			150
Acquisition-related contingent consideration	—			(3		)	(35		)
Net losses on investments	—			—			2
Change in assets and liabilities:
Receivables, net	127			(54		)	(12		)
Inventories	3			19			(13		)
Other assets	19			87			(56		)
Accounts payable	13			(46		)	(18		)
Accrued and other liabilities	(252		)	31			(3		)
Deferred income taxes, net	(403		)	1			16
Deferred net revenue (online-enabled games)	175			(207		)	446
Net cash provided by operating activities	1,223			1,067			712
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital expenditures	(93		)	(95		)	(97		)
Proceeds from maturities and sales of short-term investments	941			727			401
Purchase of short-term investments	(1,332		)	(1,102		)	(600		)
Acquisition of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired	—			—			(5		)
Net cash used in investing activities	(484		)	(470		)	(301		)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Proceeds from issuance of senior notes, net of issuance costs	989			—			—
Payment of convertible notes	(470		)	—			—
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	107			60			77
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	86			22			13
Repurchase and retirement of common stock	(1,018		)	(337		)	—
Acquisition-related contingent consideration payment	—			—			(1		)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(306		)	(255		)	89
Effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(8		)	(56		)	(10		)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	425			286			490
Beginning cash and cash equivalents	2,068			1,782			1,292
Ending cash and cash equivalents	$	2,493		$	2,068		$	1,782
Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash paid during the year for income taxes, net	$	35		$	2		$	29
Cash paid during the year for interest	$	4		$	6		$	6

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement