EA planning to release a big social game this quarter

Electronic Arts’ No. 2 executive Peter Moore said the company plans to release another “big social title” during the current first-fiscal quarter ending June 30.

In a conference call with analysts, Moore said EA will release the game this quarter, but he declined to name it. Rumors have persistently circulated that EA is working on a Facebook version of SimCity. That title could stir excitement for SimCity (pictured above), which is coming out on the PC later this year as a full-fledged disk-based game.

EA’s last big social title, The Sims Social, soared to tens of millions of users on Facebook last year and temporarily took the No. 2 rank on the social network, second only to Zynga’s CityVille.

The social title is part of EA’s push into digital gaming, which accounted for $1.2 billion of EA’s $4.1 billion in revenues during the past year.

Social is not yet a huge contributor to EA’s bottom line, but it is strategically important because of EA’s competition with Zynga. In terms of contributing to net income, EA chief executive John Riccitiello said on the call that “social is moving to a good place.”

GamesBeat 2012 is VentureBeat’s fourth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. This year we’re calling on speakers from the hottest mobile, social, PC, and console companies to debate new ways to stay on pace with changing consumer tastes and platforms. Join 500+ execs, investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, and press as we explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. The event takes place July 10-11 in San Francisco, and you can get your early-bird tickets here.