I was curious so I went and looked: Mostly true, according to their SEC filings[1]. On page 28 of their 2012 10-K[2] we see their net earnings:

2012: $76M 2011: ($276M) 2010: ($677M) 2009: ($1088M) 2008: ($454M)

So they juuuust squeaked back into profitability last year; probably mainly due to the slowly improving economy (games are luxury items and folks are only now cringing less when they spend on them).

It's hard to know yet whether this ugly launch was actually a bad move for them; dollars don't lie and they appear to be paying enough to get some heavyweight execs.

[1]: http://investor.ea.com/sec.cfm [2]: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ERTS/2357335259x0x590...