Analysts pegged the blame for the sudden dip on less-than-stellar reviews of the company's high-profile shooter, Medal of Honor, which had broken preorder records for the series.

"[EA] shares [are] down because apparently some investors are disappointed by these early reviews," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told the Reuters news service. Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey seconded the notion, saying, "Medal of Honor reviews are not looking good. This can dampen future catalog sales as word of mouth dampens consumer enthusiasm."

That score is also "certainly bugging people," Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets told the Wall Street Journal. However, Sebastian also said the drop could have resulted from a spike in EA shares leading up to the release of Medal of Honor, which the publisher has been pushing as its own Call of Duty. This sentiment was echoed to the Journal by Eric Handler of MKM Partners.