Feb 4 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts EA.O forecast fourth-quarter bookings below Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as the videogame publisher grapples with a slowdown in spending at its popular soccer franchise.

It also announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan.

EA expects fourth-quarter bookings between $1.44 billion and $1.59 billion, compared with estimates of $1.65 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.

The downbeat projection comes a few weeks after the company slashed its annual bookings forecast citing weak in-game spending for "FC 25" and underperformance of its new Dragon Age title amid an uncertain economic environment marked by high inflation.

The unexpected move sparked fears about the trajectory of one of the company's most coveted titles, even as it experiences success with other sports games.

However, CEO Andrew Wilson said the company is "confident in a return to growth in FY26 and beyond," with multiple games under development including the next installment of "Battlefield."

EA's sports portfolio has remained one of its strongest assets, especially its American football titles, which topped sales charts last year and are on track to exceed $1 billion in net bookings for this fiscal year, the company said.

EA is largely dependent on in-game spending for its major sports titles, constantly updating them with new content to keep players engaged.

The company reported third-quarter bookings of $2.22 billion, missing expectations of $2.32 billion. It left its annual bookings forecast unchanged.

Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter was $1.11, compared with $1.07 in the previous year.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com))