The company behind games such as "Madden NFL 10" also said Monday it is laying off 1,500 employees, or about 17 percent, to focus on games that have higher profit margins.

The fiscal second quarter's net loss was $391 million, or $1.21 a share, 26 percent wider than the loss from a year earlier.

Net sales fell 12 percent to $788 million in the July-September period. But sales including deferred revenue from online games grew 2 percent to $1.15 billion, inching past Wall Street's expectations.