May 6 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts ( EA ) forecast fiscal

2026 bookings above Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as the

videogame publisher bets on the strong performance of its sports

titles and the launch of a new "Battlefield" game.

EA's positive outlook signals the gaming industry's optimism

around sales resilience in the face of a broader pullback in

consumer spending amid macroeconomic volatility stemming from

U.S. tariffs.

Last week, Roblox ( RBLX ) had also raised its annual

bookings forecast and beat quarterly results estimates.

"As we look to the future, we're confident in our ability to

execute across a deep pipeline - beginning this summer with the

highly anticipated reveal of Battlefield," said EA CEO Andrew

Wilson.

EA's bet on the new game in the more-than-two-decades-old

"Battlefield" franchise comes just days after Take-Two

Interactive delayed the release of the long-awaited

"Grand Theft Auto VI" out of its fiscal 2026.

Analysts have said the delay in GTA VI reduces competition

and could drive higher sales for other videogame publishers.

For EA, gamers have also chosen to stick with proven titles

from its sports portfolio such as soccer franchise "FC" and

"Madden NFL".

EA on Tuesday said monetization for "FC" was up double

digits after a January update. The soccer franchise had

underperformed earlier this year.

EA forecast fiscal 2026 bookings to be in the range of $7.60

billion to $8 billion, compared with estimates of $7.62 billion,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

The outlook is also higher than the $7.36 billion in

bookings EA recorded for the fiscal ended March 31 this year.

It reported fourth-quarter bookings of $1.80 billion,

beating estimates of $1.56 billion, aided by strong sales of its

multiplayer action-adventure game "Split Fiction" which became

one of the best-selling games in March.