EA expects to make $1 billion from DLC this year

EA's drive to squeeze revenue out of add-on content is expected to generate a whopping figure this year.

EA's 2014 catalogue of games brings with it a huge swathe of DLC and other add-on content.

An EA spokesperson told Bloomberg the publisher expects this additional content to generate over $1 billion in revenue if successful.

The comment was inspired by the success of the Madden NFL series. Analyst firm Cowen & Co said Madden 15 will likely generate over $350 million in revenue when cover charge and DLC are combined.

Longbow Research said the "margins on Madden Ultimate Team are through the roof", and predicted this aspect of the game alone will generate $50 million in revenue.

EA has said that quarterly revenue from Madden DLC has grown 350% year-on-year - and that's for the quarter ending in June, when you'd expect sales to be tailing off in preparation for the next game's release. Wow.

As for the rest of EA's catalogue, this year we're expecting The Sims 4, FIFA 15, NHL 15 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. That's on top of the games we've already had this year - Titanfall, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, EA Sports UFC, 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil - and ongoing add-on sales for the publisher's huge back catalogue.

Thanks, Joystiq.