Electronic Arts revenue dropped in third quarter

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc reported lower revenue for the third quarter as the video game industry continued to struggle with flagging sales and experienced a weak holiday quarter.

Electronic Arts revenue fell as the console game business has "been extremely soft" as the industry waits for next-generation versions of Sony Corp's PlayStation and Microsoft Corp's's Xbox to boost software sales, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said.

"Also just a soft economy in Europe and America, that in combination with a weak title in 'Medal of Honor' dragged down our revenue for the quarter below what we thought it would be," Jorgensen said.

For the three months ended December 31, the company posted net revenue of $922 million, compared with $1.06 billion a year ago. It reported a net loss of $45 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $205 million, or 62 cents per share a year ago.

Adjusted revenue fell 28.5 percent to $1.18 billion from a year ago, short of analyst estimates of $1.29 billion, according to Thomson-Reuters I/B/E/S. Adjusted earnings per share of 57 cents was slightly above Wall Street's expectation of 56 cents per share.

Shares of Electronic Arts were down 1.8 percent at $14.80 in after-hours trading, after closing at $15.08 on Wednesday.

(Reporting By Malathi Nayak)