Electronic Arts Inc reported better-than-expected results on strong sales of The Sims 3 video game and cost-cutting, sending its shares up as high as 4 percent on Tuesday.

The results provided a measure of good news for the video game industry, which has struggled lately as the economic downturn continued to pinch consumer spending and take its toll on sales. [nN29205340]

EA also affirmed its forecast for the fiscal year.

Electronic Arts, which said it was the No. 1 video game publisher in Europe and North America in the June quarter, this year announced plans to cut about 11 percent of its workforce and close facilities, as it winnowed its product portfolio down to focus on fewer titles.

The company's restructuring effort is largely complete, Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said in an interview.

Electronic Arts posted a net loss of $234 million, or 72 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, versus a net loss of $95 million, or 30 cents a share, last year.

Excluding items, Electronic Arts reported a loss of 2 cents a share, better than the average analyst estimate of a loss of 12 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell to $644 million, but non-GAAP revenue rose 34 percent to $816 million, ahead of Wall Street's forecast for $735.7 million.

Electronic Arts sold 3.7 million copies of The Sims 3, and 1.8 million copies of EA Sports Active, its best-selling title ever for Nintendo's <7974.OS> Wii, the most popular home console.

The company doubled its revenue on Wii titles in the quarter.

Electronic Arts also affirmed its fiscal 2010 forecast for earnings excluding items of $1 a share on non-GAAP revenue of $4.3 billion.

Shares of Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts are up about 35 percent this year. Its stock closed at $21.89 on the Nasdaq and rose to $22.07 in extended trading.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Nintendo Software