Videogame publisher Electronic Arts has raised its forecast for fiscal 2025 bookings, helped by strong performance of its sports titles amid a cautious spending environment.

EA’s sports titles “Madden NFL” and “College Football” show strong engagement even as the industry navigates a challenging time marked by higher inflation.

The company now expects full-year bookings in the range of $7.50 billion to $7.80 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $7.30 billion to $7.70 billion.

Last month, the company at its investor day said it expects to achieve the higher end of its annual bookings forecast, with its football titles expected to record over $1 billion in bookings in the fiscal year.

“Madden NFL 25” and “College Football 25” dominated US August video game sales, with the new college sports title claiming the top-selling title of the year, according to industry tracker Circana.

EA’s push into college football “is providing insulation from the industry’s current lack of momentum,” said Joost Van Dreunen, a lecturer at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

To ease investor worries that college football would eat into the sales of the new Madden title, the company launched the “EA Sports MVP Bundle,” featuring both games. The bundle is also seeing strong sales, according to Circana.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects EA’s American football titles to hit $1 billion in the next year, owing to light competition in the space.

The company reported net bookings of $2.08 billion for the second quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of $2.04 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

EA raised its expectations for annual net income to between $1.02 billion and $1.16 billion, from $904m and $1.09 billion.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.15 per share, compared with estimates of $2.02 per share.