EA has rocky quarter but better forecast

Electronic Arts reported a fourth-quarter profit Tuesday that slightly missed Wall Street estimates, but gave an optimistic forecast for the year ahead, as the second biggest U.S. video game maker prepares for the launch of next-generation game consoles. The earnings report capped a rocky quarter in which the Redwood City company ousted its chief executive officer, trimmed costs and scrambled to fix the embarrassing, trouble-plagued launch of its much ballyhooed reboot of its "SimCity" franchise. Electronic Arts has cut jobs and reduced expenses to cushion against a potentially rocky transition to new consoles, said Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen. New-console boostThe industry is anticipating demand for games will be spurred by a new PlayStation 4 from Sony Corp., arriving in time for the holidays, and the next Xbox from Microsoft, which has scheduled a May 21 announcement. Electronic Arts is also moving to regularly update titles such as "FIFA" soccer and "Battlefield" with new material. Monday, the company announced a multiyear agreement with Walt Disney Co. to create games based on "Star Wars" characters, after Disney said it would stop making them itself.